meaning of graceful writing

Question

In one of my posts (meaning of "stiff") a contributor explains "stiff" as "Lacking grace" and "charm". Actually, he cited that explanation from a dictionary.

Obviously, grace is the opposite, at least, in writing style. And then, what does graceful writing mean?

Cambridge Dictionary gives this definition about "grace"

1. a quality of moving in a smooth, relaxed, and attractive way

Joanna has natural grace and elegance.

which describes moving, does not seems for writing

2. the quality of being pleasantly polite, or a willingness to be fair and honest

They accepted their defeat with good grace

this one seems to the answer.

3. approval or kindness, especially (in the Christian religion) that is freely given by God to all humans

which does not seems relevant

4. a prayer said by Christians before a meal to thank God for the food

which does not seems relevant either

5. a period of time left or allowed before something happens or before something must be done

which seems irrelevant as well.

So, the #2 definition would be the only choice available, that is, politeness, fair and honest.

Is my understanding right?

Answer 1

Let's look at some dictionary definitions first:

graceful(1): characterized by beauty of movement, style, form, or execution synonyms: beautiful, elgant, fluent smooth antonyms: ugly, clumsy, awkard

graceful(2):suggesting taste, ease, and wealth synonyms: elegant, refined

I think the first definition applies here. Now consider these two paragraphs:

"I don't like online video sharing sites because they are a waste of time and the content is low quality."

"There are two reason as to why I dislike going on online video sharing sites; Firstly, I believe they are an absolute waste of time; Secondly, the conent on these websites is not up to par."

Both of these paragraphs express the same idea, the writer doesn't like online video sharing sites, but one of them does it in a very crude, disorganized way; the writer hasn't put any effort into choosing the right words, punctuating and organizing the text as opposed to the other writer who has done a lot to make the text read smoother. He has chosen good words, punctuated appropriately and organized the text.

the point is there are many factors which contribute to a piece of writing being "graceful" and I don't think one could list all of them here, however, in my personal opinion, writing that is well-written, well-punctuated, organized and maybe even a bit humorous is graceful.