Write Like You Code
chrisbehan.ca
Write Like You Code
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Re: Write Like You Code
#2My physics supervisor used to tell me:
"Write in Fourier space, starting at zero frequency and working your way up."
Re: Write Like You Code
#3This writing advice -- recycled from newspaper house style guides -- to use only simple and common words in efficient sentences is becoming almost universal, and yet "good writing" doesn't always obey these rules. Sometimes you need a certain obliqueness and sesquipedalianism to convey a certain effect that simple directness can't achieve. To paraphrase Mark Twain, sometimes you need the right word and not its second cousin; even if the right word happens to be polysyllabic and relatively obscure. Why should literary fiction have all the fun?
Oh, and the author misspelt "sesquipedalian".
edit (added): The Urdu humourist Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi was often accused of using overly difficult words and obscure literary references from Pashto, Sanskritised Hindi, Persian and Arabic in his Urdu writing. He admitted to favouring "mushkil-pasandi" ('a preference for difficulty') and exhorted readers to raise their standards continuously. And IMO with this device he raised the quality of his own writing from what would have been only a series of somewhat funny observations and gag jokes to masterpieces of the genre.
Re: Write Like You Code
#4This writing advice -- recycled from newspaper house style guides -- to use only simple and common words in efficient sentences is becoming almost universal, and yet "good writing" doesn't always obey these rules. Sometimes you need a certain obliqueness and sesquipedalianism to convey a certain effect that simple directness can't achieve. To paraphrase Mark Twain, sometimes you need the right word and not its second…
Alternating between single clause sentences and sentences with two clauses, as the author of the article mostly does, is also not an example of good writing. It is perfectly efficient, just not particularly good. The clauses themselves should patter, creating ventricles that, like the heart, comprise contrasting units through which the gist is substantiated. A lot of the reader's cognitive overhead can be offloaded to the interest of a sentence's construction.
Re: Write Like You Code
#5This writing advice -- recycled from newspaper house style guides -- to use only simple and common words in efficient sentences is becoming almost universal, and yet "good writing" doesn't always obey these rules. Sometimes you need a certain obliqueness and sesquipedalianism to convey a certain effect that simple directness can't achieve. To paraphrase Mark Twain, sometimes you need the right word and not its second…
Alternating between single clause sentences and sentences with two clauses, as the author of the article mostly does, is also not an example of good writing. It is perfectly efficient, just not particularly good. The clauses themselves should patter, creating ventricles that, like the heart, comprise contrasting units through which the gist is substantiated. A lot of the reader's cognitive overhead can be offloaded t…
This sounds very interesting but I have trouble picturing it.
Could you provide an example of text with this structure/rhythm?
Re: Write Like You Code
#6This writing advice -- recycled from newspaper house style guides -- to use only simple and common words in efficient sentences is becoming almost universal, and yet "good writing" doesn't always obey these rules. Sometimes you need a certain obliqueness and sesquipedalianism to convey a certain effect that simple directness can't achieve. To paraphrase Mark Twain, sometimes you need the right word and not its second…
Alternating between single clause sentences and sentences with two clauses, as the author of the article mostly does, is also not an example of good writing. It is perfectly efficient, just not particularly good. The clauses themselves should patter, creating ventricles that, like the heart, comprise contrasting units through which the gist is substantiated. A lot of the reader's cognitive overhead can be offloaded t…
I agree -- that sort of rhythm may be to the point and good for some goals of technical writing, but is pretty sterile. My favourite quote about sentence pacing:
> This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.
(Gary Provost)
Re: Write Like You Code
#7This writing advice -- recycled from newspaper house style guides -- to use only simple and common words in efficient sentences is becoming almost universal, and yet "good writing" doesn't always obey these rules. Sometimes you need a certain obliqueness and sesquipedalianism to convey a certain effect that simple directness can't achieve. To paraphrase Mark Twain, sometimes you need the right word and not its second…
I agree with the whole article though, except for the note about using sesquipedalian words. I agree that there are, in fact, creative usages of such words that make making a point achieve a stronger impact, and I enjoy learning a new word or two from whatever I'm reading. Expanding my vocabulary is one of my motivations for reading as a non-native English speaker.
Re: Write Like You Code
#8The advice should not be a rule of thumb.
Fortunately not every communication has for sole purpose to transmit information efficiently. Most communication indeed are not an elevator pitch nor should be BLUF.
Efficient writing style or communication style in general does not correlate well with an economy of signs. A certain type of communication, targeted to busy people for example, does.
Should I want to extend the article to absurd limits, it could read "do not write poetry nor prose".
Please DO write poetry or prose, we need it. Simply avoid it when your readers do not want or expect it (eg. at work).
Re: Write Like You Code
#9It's the other way round. Good code is like good writing, because code _is_ writing: its primary purpose is to convey ideas. To computers, but more importantly, to other humans as well.
Re: Write Like You Code
#10The linked Reddit post is kinda amazing:
"Drunk Post: Things I've learned as a Sr Engineer": https://www.reddit.com/r/ExperiencedDevs/comments/nmodyl/dru...