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Cormac McCarthy's tips on how to write a science paper (2019) [pdf]

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Re: Cormac McCarthy's tips on how to write a science paper (2019) [pdf]

#71

Post by oh_my_goodness »

suuuuuuuu wrote: post #22
mariusor wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would assume that his suggestions for clarity in "scientific papers" and his literary style don't overlap all that much to infer the former from the later.

This is certainly the case, but it does make it all the more amusing that the myth > Commas denote a pause in speaking.... Speak the sentence aloud to find pauses. made its way into this article. Hard to imagine that this particular point, to which I might attribute many of the comma splices I see in scientific writing, actually came from a professional writer.

It goes without saying that you're a better writer than Cormac McCarthy. Tell us something beyond that.

Re: Cormac McCarthy's tips on how to write a science paper (2019) [pdf]

#72

Post by DiscourseFan »

I agree with most of the advice given here; but the footnotes thing, I feel like there are many authors (Freud and Kant come to mind immediately) where losing the footnotes would take away from the content. There is definitely some value in having non-linear writing, even for work that isn't creative.

Re: Cormac McCarthy's tips on how to write a science paper (2019) [pdf]

#73

Post by mhuffman »

kylecazar wrote: post #2

"Use minimalism to achieve clarity. While you are writing, ask yourself: is it possible to preserve my original message without that punctuation mark, that word, that sentence, that paragraph or that section?" This echoes advice I first read in Strunk & White. It remains the most actionable tip for better writing I'm aware of, technical or otherwise. Aside: I consider McCarthy's residency at SFI an ideal job

"Use minimalism to achieve clarity. While you are writing, ask yourself: is it possible to preserve my original message without that punctuation mark, that word, that sentence, that paragraph or that section?"

This is rich, coming from the guy that spends multiple paragraphs describing an empty ditch in the desert.

Re: Cormac McCarthy's tips on how to write a science paper (2019) [pdf]

#74

Post by suuuuuuuu »

oh_my_goodness wrote: post #71
suuuuuuuu wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is certainly the case, but it does make it all the more amusing that the myth > Commas denote a pause in speaking.... Speak the sentence aloud to find pauses. made its way into this article. Hard to imagine that this particular point, to which I might attribute many of the comma splices I see in scientific writing, actually came from a professional writer.

It goes without saying that you're a better writer than Cormac McCarthy. Tell us something beyond that.

The implication was that likely not all of the advice in this article, which was written by biologists, is actually attributable to McCarthy.

Re: Cormac McCarthy's tips on how to write a science paper (2019) [pdf]

#77

Post by rcpt »

DiscourseFan wrote: post #72

I agree with most of the advice given here; but the footnotes thing, I feel like there are many authors (Freud and Kant come to mind immediately) where losing the footnotes would take away from the content. There is definitely some value in having non-linear writing, even for work that isn't creative.

Would love to get David Foster Wallace's advice on scientific papers

Re: Cormac McCarthy's tips on how to write a science paper (2019) [pdf]

#78

Post by MangoToupe »

gmueckl wrote: post #34
buildmonkey wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Footnotes make scientific work more accessible and enrich the conversation. In Laurie Garrett’s “The Coming Plague”, the footnotes alone are worth the price. Even in monographs, when reviewing literature in an area where I’m not a specialist, I find footnotes valuable.

Footnotes effectively have no place in CS, engineering or natural sciences. Other disciplines treat footnotes very differently, I think.

I disagree completely. There are many different sorts of works you can publish relating to a given field, and some of them benefit from the asides and additional context that footnotes can provide, particularly pedagogical works targeting an audience of a wide breadth of experience.

Re: Cormac McCarthy's tips on how to write a science paper (2019) [pdf]

#80

Post by Eisenstein »

mhuffman wrote: post #73
kylecazar wrote: post #2

"Use minimalism to achieve clarity. While you are writing, ask yourself: is it possible to preserve my original message without that punctuation mark, that word, that sentence, that paragraph or that section?" This echoes advice I first read in Strunk & White. It remains the most actionable tip for better writing I'm aware of, technical or otherwise. Aside: I consider McCarthy's residency at SFI an ideal job

"Use minimalism to achieve clarity. While you are writing, ask yourself: is it possible to preserve my original message without that punctuation mark, that word, that sentence, that paragraph or that section?" This is rich, coming from the guy that spends multiple paragraphs describing an empty ditch in the desert.

Apparently he thinks that is the minimum required. There is no metric included with the statement.
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