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Steps to Improve Your Writing

adamfaliq.wordpress.com

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Re: Steps to Improve Your Writing

#51

Post by DrBazza »

jasode wrote: post #47
DrBazza wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Does the word "drinks" also bother you? No, but if you went to a pub and had several 'drinkings', then yes. "Learnings" is incorrect. > Does a language get to change and evolve at all? Yes, and despite my dislike for "learnings" it looks like it is here to stay unfortunately. It's "business English", amplified by the internet. When I tell friends and family about "learnings" their response is, to put it mildly, "wh…

>"Learnings" is incorrect. Not arguing with you but genuinely asking a question because I'm an armchair linguist that wants to dissect what's truly bothering you... Why is "learnings" incorrect but most of these other words ending in "-ings" acceptable? : https://www.thefreedictionary.com/words-that-end-in-ings#w10 In other words, what's the invisible rule that makes words like "readings" for "reading"/"read", "greet…

Thanks.

> has been around since at least 1483

I should have guessed that it would have been used "before".

> what's truly bothering you...

I should say "Learnings sounds incorrect to me". Just the use of it makes me cringe. Just like nails across a blackboard.

Ironically, I do quite enjoy "obscure" English, in the sense that the US use 'fall' and 'soccer', both of which are "old" English, but fallen out of use in the UK.

Re: Steps to Improve Your Writing

#52

Post by buran77 »

DrBazza wrote: post #40
rimliu wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

English is my fourth language. I hate seeing advice like "use simple, reduced vocabulary". Dumbing everything down is not a way to go. Feynman said, that if you cannot explaind it to a child you do not understand it, not that you should communicate with everyone like they were kids.

> Feynman said, that if you cannot explaind it to a child you do not understand it, not that you should communicate with everyone like they were kids. That's not what I said, there was a full stop, not a comma. I was applying Feynman's idea to writing, if you can't explain something simply in plain English, you really should rewrite it to reach a wider audience. > I hate seeing advice like "use simple, reduced vocabu…

I think it boils down to "don't use a five dollar word when a fifty cent word will do".

It's not a matter of always using simple language, sometimes that doesn't cut it. Some concepts can't be broken down to the simplest words and still keep the quality of the conversation, the precision, the density of information.

I think it's just better to keep language as simple as it can be, as simple as the topic dictates. Don't complicate it just for the sake of sounding smart if the discussion doesn't require it.

Re: Steps to Improve Your Writing

#53

Post by dkarl »

DrBazza wrote: post #25

Definitely these two: 1. Good writing is clear 4. Good writing is concise Use a simple, reduced vocabulary, as your readers are likely to have English as a second language (e.g. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-44569277 ). And as Richard Feynman pointed out, try explaining it to a child. If you can't go back and rewrite it. Don't use (modern) slang, and avoid writing 'conversational' English. It's "lessons" not "lear…

"Welp" might be a regional dialect, but it is used a bit differently from "well," evoking resignation about something disappointing that can't be changed. "Welp, with the gas out, we can't use the range and oven to cook the nice dinner we planned, so we'll heat something up in the microwave instead." People who say "welp" also say "well," so it makes sense to distinguish them in writing. That's not to say "welp" is appropriate diction for every kind of writing and every kind of audience, but where it's appropriate, it's appropriate.

"Whelp" has a standard English meaning, but I suppose you might see it used to mean "welp" as well. I dislike this spelling, because in my experience, people who pronounce "whale" and "wail" differently also pronounce "whelp" (the dog one) and "welp" (resignation) differently, but I don't know if that is universally true.

Re: Steps to Improve Your Writing

#54

Post by mariodiana »

Regarding rule two, cohesion, I remember being struck by the writing in this New Yorker piece from 2011 on the subject of Rwandan bicycle racers. This goes beyond good writing. The writer didn't merely begin his sentences with what he had just said or with what he could count on being familiar to the reader. I noticed that the writer would take a paragraph and somehow manage to raise a question in my mind, and then in the next paragraph he would answer that question. This happened over and over.

Give it a read!

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/07/11/climbers-phili...

Re: Steps to Improve Your Writing

#55

Post by mohamez »

adamfaliq wrote: post #21
torh wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can bear the pain of writing in high school, but I almost gave up in university And this should be "could"?

Fixed it :)

As a non-native English speaker, your blog post and your interactions and feedback to replies and suggestions to fix some "mistakes" on your blog post is an inspiration for me, because I've always struggled to start writing fearing that I'll make "banal" and "obvious" mistakes that will decrease my credibility on the subject I'm writing about.

Re: Steps to Improve Your Writing

#56

Post by Daub »

From the article title: "How to Write Well...". Surely instead "How to Write Effectively..."?

Aside from that, I understand the OP’s pain in learning how to write. My initiation by fire in the craft of writing was when I supervised my first PhD. It was like like the labours of Sisyphus.

One principle I can add to the list of principles that is evolving here, if you think your book/thesis is finished, it probably isn’t. That is why God gave us Editors. Notice I have capitalized both God and Editors.

Re: Steps to Improve Your Writing

#57

Post by DrBazza »

dkarl wrote: post #53
DrBazza wrote: post #25

Definitely these two: 1. Good writing is clear 4. Good writing is concise Use a simple, reduced vocabulary, as your readers are likely to have English as a second language (e.g. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-44569277 ). And as Richard Feynman pointed out, try explaining it to a child. If you can't go back and rewrite it. Don't use (modern) slang, and avoid writing 'conversational' English. It's "lessons" not "lear…

"Welp" might be a regional dialect, but it is used a bit differently from "well," evoking resignation about something disappointing that can't be changed. "Welp, with the gas out, we can't use the range and oven to cook the nice dinner we planned, so we'll heat something up in the microwave instead." People who say "welp" also say "well," so it makes sense to distinguish them in writing. That's not to say "welp" is a…

This one seems to be 100% USA, and then spread over social media. The same as Valley-speak became really popular after Clueless came out in the 90s. I can't recall seeing 'welp' anywhere before 2017.

Re: Steps to Improve Your Writing

#58

Post by hobby-coder-guy »

DrBazza wrote: post #25

Definitely these two: 1. Good writing is clear 4. Good writing is concise Use a simple, reduced vocabulary, as your readers are likely to have English as a second language (e.g. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-44569277 ). And as Richard Feynman pointed out, try explaining it to a child. If you can't go back and rewrite it. Don't use (modern) slang, and avoid writing 'conversational' English. It's "lessons" not "lear…

Welp/whelp means “well fuck”, but less intense.

Re: Steps to Improve Your Writing

#59

Post by rhn_mk1 »

DrBazza wrote: post #57
dkarl wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Welp" might be a regional dialect, but it is used a bit differently from "well," evoking resignation about something disappointing that can't be changed. "Welp, with the gas out, we can't use the range and oven to cook the nice dinner we planned, so we'll heat something up in the microwave instead." People who say "welp" also say "well," so it makes sense to distinguish them in writing. That's not to say "welp" is a…

This one seems to be 100% USA, and then spread over social media. The same as Valley-speak became really popular after Clueless came out in the 90s. I can't recall seeing 'welp' anywhere before 2017.

I just checked my chat history - I used it in 2013, and there's a huge flood of "welp" from my chat partner between 2015 and 2019. (In 2020, the ball is on my side of the court again, it seems. Welp.)

Re: Steps to Improve Your Writing

#60

Post by rhn_mk1 »

DrBazza wrote: post #40
rimliu wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

English is my fourth language. I hate seeing advice like "use simple, reduced vocabulary". Dumbing everything down is not a way to go. Feynman said, that if you cannot explaind it to a child you do not understand it, not that you should communicate with everyone like they were kids.

> Feynman said, that if you cannot explaind it to a child you do not understand it, not that you should communicate with everyone like they were kids. That's not what I said, there was a full stop, not a comma. I was applying Feynman's idea to writing, if you can't explain something simply in plain English, you really should rewrite it to reach a wider audience. > I hate seeing advice like "use simple, reduced vocabu…

> Writing is about reaching all of your audience.

Sorry to be nitpicking. It sounds like what you really mean is "writing is about reaching the widest audience possible". I would argue that it's not true. Writers can try to reach any limited slice of the public they dream of, and nothing more beyond that.

That means writing doesn't need to be as simple as possible. Merely as simple as needed.

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