So what? I hear
you ask about the last post….. You obviously chose the names to fit your case. What
I did in fact was first brainstorm names and then try to find some evidence
in the relevant Wikipedia entry that suggested their “Outsider” status – whether
in terms of nationality, academic discipline, ethnicity or gender… . It wasn’t
difficult….
But I will
accept that “good writing” is a rather subjective phrase.
I personally need
prose to be taut – not overblown.
And prefer quotes
from other authors to be worked naturally into the text – rather than forming forbidding
bibliographies which clearly serve no other purpose than that of a glorified
virility symbol.
I don’t need an
author to prove to me that (s)he’s read the relevant literature – what I need
is an indication that (s)he has the empathy to be able to select books for my
further study that the author considers will help me. And authors can do that only if they are actually writing for me
– not for one of their students or colleagues.
Steven
Pinker is particularly good on this point
At this point, I
can see that the focus of the post is shifting
from the question of how to recognise good writing to the easier one of we all
might learn to express our thoughts better in writing…..
I was
particularly intrigued with the quote from Charles
Handy about how his experience of doing the 2 minute 40 sec BBC spot “Thought for the Day”
had taught him to hone his text down to the essential core….In that particular
case to 450 words!
A
year or so ago I stumbled on a useful format to help me present my thoughts
more briefly and clearly – viz a table with questions such as what had sparked
off the thoughts and what the basic message was which I wanted to leave with
the reader.
I also found that this was a useful format and discipline
when I wanted to make notes about a book which I had found interesting – not least
because it leaves a great archive for me to access eg https://nomadron.blogspot.com/2018/03/why-we-should-not-be-so-cynical-about.html
and https://nomadron.blogspot.com/2020/10/how-myths-take-root-and-are-difficult.html
And the 1982 article
on Economical
writing I quoted recently shows the way by being divided into 28 sections -
each of which is headed by a delightfully short and clear statement or injunction
viz
The author (McCloskey)'s injunction
|
What I think (s)he Means
|
Writing is
the economist’s craft
|
Most economists
are so focused on the message that they forget they are engaged in communications
– which implies a reader
|
Writing is thinking
|
Most writing is thinking aloud…trying to clarify
one’s own confusions….to be ready for an audience, it needs to go through
about a dozen drafts
|
Rules can help,
but bad rules hurt
|
A lot of books
have been written about how to improve one’s writing style – some of them
downright silly
|
Be Thou clear
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Clarity is not
the same as precision – and requires a lot of experiment and effort. Indeed I
would rephrase the adage as “Strive to be Clear”
|
The detailed
rules are numerous
|
“most advice
about writing is actually about rewriting”!
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The rules are
empirical
|
The next 2
adages confused me
|
Classical rhetoric
guides even the economical writer
|
Give up
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You too can be fluent
|
Contains some lovely advice about the process of
composing and transposing one’s thoughts and words
|
You will need
tools, tax deductible
|
On the importance
of words
|
Keep your
spirits up, forge ahead etc
|
We’ve got to get
the words flowing on the paper….don’t be a perfectionist….it’s just a first
draft…many more to go!
|
Speak to an audience of human beings
|
Probably the most important point….who is the
paper for? Imagine a typical reader!
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Avoid boilerplate
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Don’t use clichés
or chunks of text everyone knows
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Control your
tone
|
You can (and
probably should) be conversational – but if you want to be taken seriously
don’t joke around
|
Paragraphs should have points
|
Readers hate to see several pages of only text.
Break it up when you sense you’re moving to a new point
|
Use tables and graphics – and make them readable
|
For me, crucial
|
Footnotes are
nests for pedants
|
Love it!
|
Make your writing cohere
|
Very interesting section with points I had never
come across before
|
Use your ear
|
A sentence consists of a subject, verb and
object, We often overburden with qualifying clauses.
|
Avoid elegant variation
|
Clumsy way of saying we should not use a lot of
adjectives or adverbs to say the same thing
|
Check and tighten; rearrange and fit
|
Priceless advice….we should be doing this all
the time
|
Rhetorical questions?
|
Interesting question
|
Use verbs, active ones
|
Some good points made
|
Avoid words that bad writers use
|
Some very useful examples given
|
Be concrete
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Great example of circumlocution
|
Be plain
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Cut out the flowery language
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Avoid cheap
typotricks
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Don’t use acronyms
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Avoid this,
that, these, those
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Useful point
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Above all, look at your words
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Words so easily take over our thoughts. Be
suspicious of the words that come initially to mind ….
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