161–170 of 282 posts
Most of the time, we should write simply, but there are many times when we should be more colorful.
Also the fact that we must choose simple writing is a shortcoming and a lack of proper education. If the only word I know to express a romantic feeling is "love," well that is going to seriously limit me.
The PG headline is really the first half of a larger sentence: Write like you talk, and try to talk in concise, plain language. If you have trouble doing this, the Hemingway App might help. http://www.hemingwayapp.com/ There are a lot of problems with the way people write. Some writers are too writerly, some are trapped in journalese or legalese, most are too vague. But better than any -ese is being able to communica…
I know that when I try to make important points on the fly, I'm more than likely to ramble and not speak entirely eloquently, but it seems clear that what PG is saying is ultimately just "Don't confuse your reader by trying to sound to smart."
Jargon and highfalutin words should also be avoided whenever possible. For instance, if you have the choice of using either "abstruse" or "obscure," I recommend choosing "obscure" every time. Plain-spoken English ftw.
(I also find it wonderfully ironic that pg chose such an obscure synonym for "obscure" to represent the word obscure. bravo.)
"...here’s this fundamental difference that comes up in freshman comp and haunts you all the way through teaching undergrads: there is a fundamental difference between expressive writing and communicative writing. One of the biggest problems in terms of learning to write, or teaching anybody to write, is getting it in your nerve endings that the reader cannot read your mind. That what you say isn’t interesting simply because you, yourself, say it. Whether that translates to a feeling of obligation to the reader I don’t know, but we’ve all probably sat next to people at dinner or on public transport who are producing communication signals but it’s not communicative expression. It’s expressive expression, right? And actually it’s in conversation that you can feel most vividly how alienating and unpleasant it is to feel as if someone is going through all the motions of communicating with you but in actual fact you don’t even need to be there at all."
"Conversations with David Foster Wallace" (Literary Conversations Series, page 113
A big thing that pg seems to be unaware is that most of us are expressive, not communicative, when we talk. Stylistically, it's true that plain English is the way to go. However, the deeper problem lies in our (in)ability to communicate our thoughts, in writing or in speech.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you keep making comments like this one, which is in a totally inappropriate style, you will end up being silently banned from HN (I mean that this sometimes happens, I didn't downvote you); which is a shame judging from your other brief and on-point comments. This really isn't reddit.
What is inappropriate about the style? This is a genuine question. I am not a native speaker and I think I might be missing something that is obvious to you.
Also,
>> Not one mention of Strunk and White: "Elements of Style" in a piece about writing?
Is it a reasonable expectation that every article about writing should mention "Elements of Style"? If one article doesn't mention it, is it reasonable to imply that the author "does not know shit about writing"?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
pg was a published technical writer and widely read essayist before Y Combinator.
which is perhaps why he can "write as he talks", and get away with it. He honed his craft. I work with a few programmers who write exactly as they talk, and it is littered with misplaced, dangling modifiers, and misspellings of things like "bury the lead" vs "bury the lede". The overall structure of arguments is haphazard too. Writing is hard, and I think the best way to get better is to write things that you _want_…