What makes writing more readable?
pudding.cool
What makes writing more readable?
1–10 of 113 posts
Re: What makes writing more readable?
#2This talks about the word and phrasing aspects of writing which is great. Another good read on the subject is On Writing Well.
It seems that a sizable chunk of developers (and academics) who write struggle with the visual aspects of writing (and I'm not saying I do it amazingly). For example, developers love not to impose width restrictions on their personal blogs. But studies show that that makes text harder to read [0]. Some great writers like danluu.com are popular despite ignoring the visual aspects of readability. (And I don't mean to pick on Dan but it's a recent site I was looking at.)
My point is that it's easier to find ways to improve on your readability concerning words and phrasing. It's not as easy to find good tips on improving visual readability too.
Re: What makes writing more readable?
#3Really interesting article. I strongly agree with the general premise of this article.
With that said, I'm confused about algorithm 2 (difficult words). How does adding "Yes!" in front of a sentence change it from a 0.45 reading level to a 0.25?
Am I missing something?? Was something else changed in that sentence?
I also think it's interesting that the article accurately pointed out that writers will censor themselves when writing for the intellectually challenged. And yet, I see examples of censorship in this very article (intentionally or not).
For example: "In recent decades, as disability activists have won more civil rights, both in the US and internationally, accessible writing has gained greater attention." vs "People with disabilities have more rights than ever before."
I feel like leaving out "civil" from rights could be construed as censorship. After all, what good is it to know you have rights if you don't even know what type of rights they are?
Re: What makes writing more readable?
#4There are some improvements in the "more readable" text, but also some noticeable regressions:
"Born premature" is an established turn of phrase. You read it, you know exactly what is meant. "Born early" is not an established phrase. You have to think about it more. It could mean "born early in the morning" or "born before her time" or "born prematurely". You can figure it out, it's not rocket science, but it's a little papercut of having to expend some effort. You have to think and pick the most likely meaning.
"Very small when she was born" is readable enough, though you do have to spend a bit of effort discarding the possibility that the author is simply drawing attention to the fact that babies are small to set up some future point.
"She has trouble seeing" is not as clear as the original "...which has impacted [...] eyesight". True, "impacted" is unwieldy and could be improved, but the causal link between the premature birth and the health difficulties is no longer explicit and must now be inferred, taking more mental effort from the reader.
Re: What makes writing more readable?
#5There are some improvements in the "more readable" text, but also some noticeable regressions: "Born premature" is an established turn of phrase. You read it, you know exactly what is meant. "Born early" is not an established phrase. You have to think about it more. It could mean "born early in the morning" or "born before her time" or "born prematurely". You can figure it out, it's not rocket science, but it's a lit…
I agree - the causal link is very important to note.
In terms of born premature vs born early, I understand that premature is the medical term. As a medical student, I also understand that it can be helpful to use more precise words in describing a situation.
However, I personally think that a lot of our medical jargon is due for simplification. For example, is there really any benefit to saying "epistaxis" rather than "bloody nose", or "rhinorrhea" rather than "runny nose"?
In the case of "born early" - premature and preterm are already interchangeable. I wouldn't mind adding born early to the mix.
Re: What makes writing more readable?
#6Discussed a few days ago:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30378139
(Disclaimer: Former Submission by me)
Re: What makes writing more readable?
#7I've found the most readable text is often the text that is natural. The more you torture the wording by over-thinking it the more you diverge from natural language. Sure, you may improve it from an analytical standpoint, but a large portion of reading is a subconscious process and your subconscious doesn't like it when the writing has been poured through ten filters before hitting the page.
Re: What makes writing more readable?
#8Some of these are clear improvements - but many of them are simplifications that lose depth and nuance.
The world is filled with detail, tailoring text to meet the needs of people unable to grasp that detail does not remove it - It obfuscates it.
Sometimes simple and direct language is good. Sometimes it makes the entire conversation devoid of usefulness or meaning.
Work to understand which context is appropriate for what you write.
Re: What makes writing more readable?
#9I've found the most readable text is often the text that is natural. The more you torture the wording by over-thinking it the more you diverge from natural language. Sure, you may improve it from an analytical standpoint, but a large portion of reading is a subconscious process and your subconscious doesn't like it when the writing has been poured through ten filters before hitting the page.
This seems like a separate point, many people don't actually speak in plain language... so their "natural" way of writing is similarly inaccessible.
Re: What makes writing more readable?
#10In my opinion, one of the easiest ways for writers to make things more readable is to not use synonyms for technical terms. If you are a researcher and you have referred to the "cell membrane", don't turn around and refer to that same thing as the "plasma membrane", "cytoplasmic membrane" or "phospholipid bilayer" later on in your article unless you have a damn good reason.