The Craft of Effective Writing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtIzMaLkCaM
Outstanding!
The writing you do in school is not real writing.
Why write? By far the most important reason to write is because it will be VALUABLE Not only have we not learned to do this. We have learned habits that work against to make your writing valuable.
Stop thinking about rules and start thinking about readers!
When thinking about advice on text, alwasy ask: For which readers and for what purpost? No advice about writting amkes any sense unless clarified whose reading it and the function of the text.
In the REAL WORLD The goal of text is to cause the readers to change what they think about the world. Value is in the readers perception
Most people write and think at the same time. Use writing process to help you think.
In school
you never write to change how readers: think, act, decide.
you write so the teacher changes their mind about YOU
value from the $ you pay them
Techers were paid to find out about you (this will never happen again)
Outside the Academy: Language is a different game.
When the text makes it hard to read: readers .. slow down / dont understand / get annoyed / stop reading !
Why not always write in short sentances ? Sentances emphasize points. Sentance length depend on the number of points you make.
Youve been trainied to show readers what they already know.
There are no rules in writing (Except spelling)
Language is not rule folloiwing
- Its controlling the reading process
- Its understanding how readers read
Dont just tell them what the paper is about in the introduction! Make room for the reader. What wil the reader get.
Most acedemic articles say "I know what you think, and its wrong" (In a polite way)
If you open with what the text is about, you run the risk of the reader saying "I dont care about that"
It doesnt matter how long the sentance is, it matters how long it takes the reader to process it.
Make the subjects of your sentances what you rreaders care about!! Tactics
Writing is not about conveying your ideas!!!! Its about changing the idea of your READERS.
Dont explain first. Explain only in service of Value or Persuasion.
Work should be VALUABLE, not new or original.
Keep a collection of the words that add value. Then make sure your work also includes these words! Tactics
Words to signal community: widely, accepted, reported
Your witting should help a particular set of readers better understand something they want to understand well.
Create tension and Instability: eg: anomoly, inconsistent, but, however, although
Open with the problem for specific set of readers, then move to solution. The readers need to see the problem and the solution.
Follow-ups
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