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How to write more clearly, think more clearly, and learn complex material [pdf]

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Re: How to write more clearly, think more clearly, and learn complex material [pdf]

#81

Post by WhateverHappns »

oytis wrote: post #19
ta988 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes there is an obvious advantage to fuzzyness in writing as it lets the readers make their own path in a story. But not everybody likes that, lots of readers enjoy being taken for a guided tour.

For me it is rather that this style doesn't encourage my own thinking. The idea is kind of the opposite, that is that simple writing should free mental capacity, but in my case it just puts my mind in a relaxed state where it can only consume information, while more sophisticated style kindles creativity and interaction with what's written rather than pure consumption

Yes! I've had this _exact_ thought while reading "Sell Like Crazy". Such a badly written book in this sense. Tons of ideas and methods but it doesn't truly stick in my mind if everything is ELI5'd to infinity. I'd rather read fiction (e.g. Murakami) where I have to close the book and think before I continue.

Re: How to write more clearly, think more clearly, and learn complex material [pdf]

#83

Post by johnqian »

I think this is a great presentation. I've found that learning to write has largely a process of unlearning everything I was taught in secondary school. In school we were conditioned to excrete as much bullshit as we could in a fixed amount of time. Everything we learned--new vocabulary, literary techniques--we were told was for sounding more sophisticated, which we unknowingly interpreted as verbose. I even remember a loved English teacher saying "the purpose of the first sentence in a short answer is make yourself sound smarter than you are. You shouldn't answer the question until at least the second sentence." And for some reason, every argument needed 3 supporting reasons, even though in real life there's almost always just one dominant reason.

Turns out actual good writing has precisely the opposite spirit. It's about compressing ideas into their simplest forms. New words are invented to make us more concise, not less. I wish I had realized this many years ago, before writing my essays for college admission.

Re: How to write more clearly, think more clearly, and learn complex material [pdf]

#85

Post by shanusmagnus »

V__ wrote: post #26
shanusmagnus wrote: post #23

People who dig this deck may dig this book: https://www.amazon.com/Clear-Simple-Truth-Writing-Classic/dp... The best single book I've ever read on writing well. Had a big impact on me outside of writing, too.

Looks interesting. May I ask what would be the most valuable lesson you got out of it?

The most enduring lesson was an attitudinal shift toward the reader. The book's stance is that the reader is capable of and interested in understanding whatever it is that you want to say, and your job is not to dazzle her, or persuade her, but rather to provide her the conceptual building blocks to conclude what you have yourself concluded.

After reading the book I realized that, without ever having consciously decided to, I had been writing at least a little bit to signal how smart and creative and insightful I was, vs trying to communicate effectively. This was a revelation, and not a happy one -- so much misdirected vanity, to so little purpose!

Re: How to write more clearly, think more clearly, and learn complex material [pdf]

#86

Post by civilized »

k__ wrote: post #77
_ddzr wrote: post #71

Key takeaways: 1. One of the best ways to improve your writing is to learn how to cut out words that are not necessary 2. Stuffy writing is bad writing! It lowers the power of your brain and mine! 3. What words should you never use in writing? Words whose exact meanings you don’t know! Never use a word unless you know EXACTLY what it means 4. If your writing is nonsense, maybe your thoughts are nonsense too! 5. To ke…

1. is not obvious. For example, if you want to tell a story or go for specific emotions.

There will be exceptions to all these rules at the expert level, but less expert people should probably follow them.

I was reminded of this recently after reading an essay by a high schooler. The essay was actually pretty insightful, but I couldn't help but notice the way in which the words that the author said seemed to be a great deal more than strictly necessary to communicate the point that he was trying to make to the audience that he was speaking to at the time he was writing the essay.

Perchance.

Re: How to write more clearly, think more clearly, and learn complex material [pdf]

#87

Post by mnhn1 »

k__ wrote: post #77
_ddzr wrote: post #71

Key takeaways: 1. One of the best ways to improve your writing is to learn how to cut out words that are not necessary 2. Stuffy writing is bad writing! It lowers the power of your brain and mine! 3. What words should you never use in writing? Words whose exact meanings you don’t know! Never use a word unless you know EXACTLY what it means 4. If your writing is nonsense, maybe your thoughts are nonsense too! 5. To ke…

1. is not obvious. For example, if you want to tell a story or go for specific emotions.

These contexts don't change the idea in rule 1, but they do change the definition of what is "necessary". There are words that "dilute" a message and are not necessary to convey the literal meaning. But usually we don't want just the literal meaning of things, we want a certain level of dilution. Without it, prose can be clear and specific, but at the same time becomes dense and unreadable. Lots of academic writing is like that.

There are words that are necessary for the _overall effect_, even if not necessary for the literal communication goal of a set of words.

Re: How to write more clearly, think more clearly, and learn complex material [pdf]

#88

Post by shanusmagnus »

shanusmagnus wrote: post #23

People who dig this deck may dig this book: https://www.amazon.com/Clear-Simple-Truth-Writing-Classic/dp... The best single book I've ever read on writing well. Had a big impact on me outside of writing, too.

It's too late to edit my comment, but as long as we're talking about it, I just read this article linked earlier today on HN, and it's such a lovely example of the classical style:

https://www.residentcontrarian.com/p/what-does-shitty-job-me...

The author is clearly trying to give the reader what he/she knows about this subject, clearly and simply. It is straightforward, a delight to read, and an inspiration.

Re: How to write more clearly, think more clearly, and learn complex material [pdf]

#90

Post by newbamboo »

photochemsyn wrote: post #31

One useful first step in becoming a better writer - in particular if your subject is complex - is to to delete your Twitter account and never look at another Twitter thread. Character limits kill creativity and complexity. The presentation does leave out one very necessary requirement for becoming a good-to-great writer: you have to do a lot of reading. If you're going to write about a complex scientific or technical…

Twitter has a lot in common with writing poetry. I think it can be a good practice, depending on one’s goals. But I agree with your general point about reading a lot. I think it’s important to read a lot of different styles/genres: fiction, academic writing, journalism, old stuff, new stuff, translations, great literature in various languages, ad copy, so on. Most good writing is about conforming/mimicry and being especially considerate of the reader. Exceptional writing is a different thing. A lot of bad writing comes from regular people trying to write exceptionally. It’s hard to learn to write dumber, but thankfully the internet lets us all practice a bunch. Whether we like it or not, most people prefer Stephen king to Henry James or Proust.
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