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Writing Rules: Advice From The Times on Writing Well

learning.blogs.nytimes.com

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Re: Writing Rules: Advice From The Times on Writing Well

#11

Post by zwp »

ilamont wrote: post #2

If only my high school and college teachers had given advice like this. Instead, we were forced to follow the Edwardian rules of Strunk & White and teachers generally looked down upon any non-standard form of literature, including the science fiction I was reading at the time -- books by Wolfe, Delany, LeGuin and Gibson (this was in the late '80s). As for the suggestion in the article to follow the voice in your head…

> the voice in your head

I recommend "The Writer's Voice" (Alvarez) for more on this.

Re: Writing Rules: Advice From The Times on Writing Well

#12

Post by Spearchucker »

ThePawnBreak wrote: post #8
Spearchucker wrote: post #5

It's a really good post that speaks to good style. What bleaks me out about an industry in which syntax permeates everything, is how much we tank at basic grammar, spelling and vocabulary. And then there're the hipster buzzwords that makes many cringe - Friend me/text me. On premise. Ping me. Your very clever. That effects me. Practical advise is out there. http://www.wittenburg.co.uk/Blog.aspx?id=4b6816fd-ca1d-4e46-…

Sorry to be pedantic, but "advise" is a verb; the correct form would be "advice", which is a noun.

Don't apologise - the irony of what I did there isn't lost on me.

Re: Writing Rules: Advice From The Times on Writing Well

#13

Post by yummies »

tptacek wrote: post #3

Nouns formed from other parts of speech are called nominalizations. Academics love them; so do lawyers, bureaucrats and business writers. I call them “zombie nouns” because they cannibalize active verbs, suck the lifeblood from adjectives and substitute abstract entities for human beings. \o/

for me, this was the most illuminating bit of advice given in this article. the source is very informative:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/zombie-nouns...

Re: Writing Rules: Advice From The Times on Writing Well

#14

Post by dhimes »

tptacek wrote: post #3

Nouns formed from other parts of speech are called nominalizations. Academics love them; so do lawyers, bureaucrats and business writers. I call them “zombie nouns” because they cannibalize active verbs, suck the lifeblood from adjectives and substitute abstract entities for human beings. \o/

Another pet peeve of mine is going the other way: making verbs out of other parts of speech- particularly nouns:

We'll impact that as soon as possible.

Re: Writing Rules: Advice From The Times on Writing Well

#16

Post by tptacek »

yummies wrote: post #13
tptacek wrote: post #3

Nouns formed from other parts of speech are called nominalizations. Academics love them; so do lawyers, bureaucrats and business writers. I call them “zombie nouns” because they cannibalize active verbs, suck the lifeblood from adjectives and substitute abstract entities for human beings. \o/

for me, this was the most illuminating bit of advice given in this article. the source is very informative: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/zombie-nouns...

It's also a focal instruction in _Style: Towards Clarity And Grace_, itself probably the most nerd-friendly guide to writing (I couldn't read any 3 pages without thinking of some new program I could write to automatically "improve" my writing).

Re: Writing Rules: Advice From The Times on Writing Well

#17

Post by mapleoin »

dhimes wrote: post #14
tptacek wrote: post #3

Nouns formed from other parts of speech are called nominalizations. Academics love them; so do lawyers, bureaucrats and business writers. I call them “zombie nouns” because they cannibalize active verbs, suck the lifeblood from adjectives and substitute abstract entities for human beings. \o/

Another pet peeve of mine is going the other way: making verbs out of other parts of speech- particularly nouns: We'll impact that as soon as possible.

Or as Calvin and Hobbes used to say:

Verbing weirds language.

Re: Writing Rules: Advice From The Times on Writing Well

#18

Post by dfc »

Spearchucker wrote: post #5

It's a really good post that speaks to good style. What bleaks me out about an industry in which syntax permeates everything, is how much we tank at basic grammar, spelling and vocabulary. And then there're the hipster buzzwords that makes many cringe - Friend me/text me. On premise. Ping me. Your very clever. That effects me. Practical advise is out there. http://www.wittenburg.co.uk/Blog.aspx?id=4b6816fd-ca1d-4e46-…

"there're" is cringe worthy...

Re: Writing Rules: Advice From The Times on Writing Well

#20

Post by cpeterso »

dhimes wrote: post #14
tptacek wrote: post #3

Nouns formed from other parts of speech are called nominalizations. Academics love them; so do lawyers, bureaucrats and business writers. I call them “zombie nouns” because they cannibalize active verbs, suck the lifeblood from adjectives and substitute abstract entities for human beings. \o/

Another pet peeve of mine is going the other way: making verbs out of other parts of speech- particularly nouns: We'll impact that as soon as possible.

For example, when did "ask" become a noun? Is that something they teach in business school? ;)
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