In other words, learn to write well.
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If a word can be cut, cut it.
Or even …
Cut cuttable words.
From an original 13 words to 3. But not necessarily better.
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Cut unneeded words.
3 words, makes sense, less awkward.
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So this article is informative, however, it is calling the kettle black:
Item number 5: Beware of the Curse of Knowledge - don’t use words that others don’t (without explaining it first) this immediately followed by:
Item number 6: Who is Will Strunk, and why do I care what he represents? Is there an article that he wrote about item #6? At least give us a hyperlink to his article: because I don’t know him, nor his article or life’s work. Shouldn’t you explain who he is, and why I care, instead of just referring to him and leave me (us) hanging?
Item number 7: ditto: who the heck is William Safire, and why do I care?
Item number 13: Find the best word: sounds good: when was the last time you heard the word cohere in everyday language? I had to say it out loud to finally understand what frauenfelder was trying to relate.
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Excellent.
ETA Though I prefer ‘unnecessary’ to ‘unneeded’ - but that’s just me.
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Sometimes you really do have to assume a minimum baseline of knowledge, though. Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style” is controversial these days, but it used to be impossible to graduate high school without at least a passing familiarity…
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I considered “unnecessary”, but that’s a word that depends on purpose. Simply to be read is fine, but for spoken works people stumble on it.
It was a tossup.
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calling the kettle black
Oops, skipped Rule 7, eh?
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The problem is, when he knows something, it’s hard to imagine what it’s like not to know it. If I were him, I’d just omit the useless words. Why is he trying to go meta, and not just let the statement stand on its own? If only he read this aloud, and revised it several times with the single goal of improving the prose.
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“Eschew surplussage” – Twain
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I spent all morning putting in a comma and all afternoon taking it out.
– Oscar Wilde (apocraphal, maybe)
Minimize the use of commas. Writing short sentences tends to be clearer.
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" 1. Reverse-engineer what you read. If it feels like good writing, what makes it good? If it’s awful, why?"
In other words, to write good, write like good writers write.
The man is not really an intellectual heavyweight, is he.
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ixnay ordsway
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Not necessary if you’re writing for your echo chamber.
It’s largely unknown in the UK, where the equivalent reference would probably be to Fowler’s Modern English.
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And if he wrote an article of singing tips, it might be worth reading.
Cool, let’s try them out:
Steven Pinker hates humans.
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1-Be clear.
2-Be concise.
3-Be correct.
4-If you violate any rule, be prepared to take criticism gracefully.
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