Making keystrokes matter has only grown in importance as communication and the text that powers it become increasingly inseparable. Many tools we rely on each day—Gmail, Slack, Asana—would be empty shells without the words.
Saturday, April 18, 2015
How to Write with Substance
Making keystrokes matter has only grown in importance as communication and the text that powers it become increasingly inseparable. Many tools we rely on each day—Gmail, Slack, Asana—would be empty shells without the words.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I really like this article, not only because it encompasses Calvin and Hobbes (one of the greater works of literature) but also points out something I notice others and myself doing. When faced with some of the assignments that we are assigned here at CMU Drama, some may feel that they need to know exactly what they’re talking about. A good example could be Susan’s box projects, many people created interesting things, but not everyone knew exactly how they made it interesting. The trap there is that one could mistake the absolute knowledge of the thing you made as more valuable than the discussion about it and why it’s interesting. Big words are nice, and some of them convey a meaning that can’t really be conveyed in other words or phrases, but the whole point of the words is to convey that message. If you fail to do that through over stuffing your vocabulary, then you are missing the whole point.
Oof. So many mixed feelings about this article. While many of the points (structure as an afterthought, circularity, etc.) are spot on, I have to wonder at the validity of "writing for one person". There are too many potential pitfalls to this that render finding a "practical" choice nearly impossible. In the example diagram, the author compared a general audience to "Maya". Maya's appreciation of humor cannot be assumed to translate to everyone a particular document might need to reach. Buffet's example makes more sense in that he uses his sister as a metric against which to gauge readability or average intelligibility. But that said, Buffet still is not changing the thematic tone or overall presentation of his information (funny, dry, etc.). He is merely adjusting the level of explanation.
Finally, as I look back over what I have written above, there is a solid chance this errs on the side of obfuscated and dense writing. I cannot really say I am bothered by that. I have worked to craft a style that provides enough context for a reader, without having to compromise on my usage of "difficult" vocabulary. Sure it's a challenge, but if it teaches someone something new, then isn't it worth it?
Writing is a very interesting topic that many people have different opinions on. Many people believe that the longer the essay the better it will be because it has more information. That is not always true because sometimes less is more. Long essays tend to have a lot of fluff and often repeat similar ideas a lot. It is a skill to be able to condense your writing down to the important information. In school everyone is taught how to expand their ideas in order to have enough words or pages for a specific assignment. Just because it is a long essay, does not mean it is better than a shorter essay. Figuring out which information is the most important and only including it is a very difficult skill. Gearing your paper to one audience member is a very good idea especially in academic writing. It should be able to be understood by someone who may not know that much about the topic you are writing about.
one thing in this article struck me. This was that in an increasingly remote world, quality writing becomes more and more important. Having an English professor as a father, I hear a great deal about how, because of newly developed technology, the quality of writing of the newer generations has suffered. But I love the perspective that this essay offers. Because of the way technology has shaped the world, emails have to be impeccably worded and pitches have to be absolutely perfect, given that most of them will no longer be in person. The written word has never been as important as it is now. Communicating clear and concise ideas through text in a world where phone calls are becoming more and more obsolete is going to be a very valuable skill for the future.
This is a very solid article. Although I kind of knew most of the points outlined here, there were several I had not considered before. I will say that the thought has never really crossed my mind to "write to impress" as opposed to "write to express." I feel that I pretty much try to write as succinctly as possible without excessive pontification, but I suppose that does not necessarily guarantee success.
All that being said, I definitely have been guilty on many occasions of believing my first draft can pass for a near final copy. The article really sums it up well when it says that, "your first draft shouldn't be anything but an exploration." I guess the closest I have gotten to this is writing a paper and then manipulating my arguments into a different order or structurally reorganizing them. Furthermore, while I always write with an "audience" in mind, I have never thought about that as specifically as the article says is important. I certainly can see the merit of really taking time to think about what your audience wants to hear based on their background.
Regardless, this article definitely shows that I have a longer way to go.
Post a Comment