Elements of Style

[Rajah]

I've been trying... I really have... you should of seen how much less clear my writing has been before..

And I agree that quality writing in philosophy is primarily about clarity ... and being succinct is a factor too...Truth is most beautiful when stated in as few words as possible.

(I know I'm derailing the thread... sorry. I'd split the thread, but I can't. )

Especially if you're apt with language, it's hard to delete a particularly good turn of phrase. I look at it like cleaning house. Write it, and strip out anything unnecessary, down to the last comma. And don't fall in love with what you've written.

I know I can make my revision one or two paragraphs, but I'm also trying to do actual, paid work simultaneously.

[Ivy]

(I know I'm derailing the thread... sorry. I'd split the thread, but I can't. )

I can.

[Rajah]

I can.

Hmpf, Ms. Powerwielder.


Maybe the original revision, for context?


EDIT - Color me impressed! I knew you'd do it, anyway. You're awesome.

[Totenkindly]

I've been trying... I really have... you should of seen how much less clear my writing has been before..

Well, I'll agree with that. I noticed your efforts. And it's also a long process, to learn to think in a different way and then condense stuff to retain coherence/truth and decide what level of nuance might be unnecessary.

One thing to always consider is your audience.

And I agree that quality writing in philosophy is primarily about clarity ... and being succinct is a factor too...Truth is most beautiful when stated in as few words as possible.

See? he is an INTP, he is, he is! (Or he's just trying to trick us.)

[Ivy]

I moved out the off-topic posts from Eileen's Agnostic Devout thread and copied a few that were still on topic there, for context.

[Geoff]

(I know I'm derailing the thread... sorry. I'd split the thread, but I can't. )

Especially if you're apt with language, it's hard to delete a particularly good turn of phrase. I look at it like cleaning house. Write it, and strip out anything unnecessary, down to the last comma. And don't fall in love with what you've written.

I know I can make my revision one or two paragraphs, but I'm also trying to do actual, paid work simultaneously.

Working in a professional environment helps, don't you find? I write "clever" pieces that are crossed through by an editor (boss) and then I do the same to others.

At the end of the day, it is about getting the point across in a succint accurate way. Using a word that few understand should be a last resort, if a more widely understood one will not suffice.

Of course, it's also fun to write on multiple levels, to see if people pick a subtext, but get the basics right first.

-Geoff

[Rajah]

Working in a professional environment helps, don't you find?

Legal training definitely helped. It makes me wonder why lawyers are, on the whole, such terrible writers.

Actually, my first foray into editing was in eleventh grade. I took a Writing II class that focused only on editing -- how to strip things down to their essence.

It was the most useful class I've ever had.

[rivercrow]

I'll say the same about my technical editing class and (to a lesser degree) about the user documents classes.

Seems to have helped my creative writing, too.

[Geoff]

Legal training definitely helped. It makes me wonder why lawyers are, on the whole, such terrible writers.

Could it be because the legal profession attracts some quite pompous rule obsessed naysayers? Sorry, I don't include you in that.. but it does, right? Regardless of the training they just like to witter on in a pompous manner sometimes.

Also, many legal firms seem to charge by the page. Never a good idea when balancing that with succintness. That certainly used to be the case, but maybe is less common in today's email world?

-Geoff

[rivercrow]

I suspect it has to do with learning to temper iNtuiting with Sensing in your writing.