Rules and correct usage do matter very much, but more important is expressing coherent ideas, sound arguments, and logical structure with simplicity and clarity. For example, Pinker says it's OK to break a grammar rule from time to time, however, we must first know the rules.
Steven simple writer professional#
Pinker goes through several reasons why a lot of professional writing is muddy and unreadable and offers many tips for improving one's prose.
People read between lines and connect the dots themselves so that everything does not have to be said with absolute precision.įour ways your writing (and speaking) can be better (6) Counts on the cooperative nature of ordinary conversation. (5) Classic prose: "it’s better to be clear & possibly wrong than muddy and not even wrong." Minimizes compulsive hedging (i.e., cover-your-ass qualifiers) (3) Minimizes hedging (common for academics): somewhat, fairly, relatively, apparently, perhaps, etc. The reader wants to see what the writer will do about it. (2) Assumes reader understands that concepts are hard to define, problem is difficult, etc. (1) Focuses on the thing being shown (discussed) not the activity of studying it. Pinker lists some more aspects of the Classic style.
While Plain style is not the ideal, Pinker says (in many cases), it is nonetheless better than academese, and other forms of difficult-to-read prose.).
But the writing does not have to be absolutely plain - your character needs to come out. It has to be CLEAR and words are chosen for a good reason. You do not have to go to a bare bones, stripped down style. And yet, Classic style is not Plain style, Pinker says. Academics, he says, write in a Postmodern or Self-conscious style in which “the chief concern is to escape being convicted of philosophical naivete about his own enterprise." Classic style is not interested in talking about the tools and structure of the subject but rather the subject itself. (4) The goal is to help the reader see objective reality. (2) He positions the reader so she can see it with her own eyes. (1) The writer has seen something in the world. Pinker early on presents key aspects of Classic style. Along the way I’ll relate his advice about writing in the Classic style to the art of presentation. The video is well worth your time, but if you also do not have time to watch the video just yet, I have highlighted many (though not all) of his key points from his talk (and book) below. If you do not have time to read the book, Professor Pinker has several talks about the contents of his book available on YouTube, such as the video below. Presenting and writing are different skills, but they are alike in that when done well both reflect a clarity of thought in both preparation and delivery. Successful presentation consists of aligning language with truth, and the test of this alignment is clarity and simplicity." - Francis-Noël Thomas, Mark TurnerĪs I read Pinker's book I couldn't help but notice that much of his advice about writing also applies to presenting more effectively as well. It adopts the stance that its purpose is presentation its motive, disinterested truth. "Classic style is in its own view clear and simple as the truth. What is most fundamental to that attitude is the stand that the writer knows something before he sets out to write, and that his purpose is to articulate what he knows to a reader.” (Emphasis mine.) "The style is defined not by a set of techniques but rather by an attitude toward writing itself. "The feature of classic style that makes it a natural model for anyone is its great versatility,” Thomas and Turner say in their book. Pinker explores what is called the Classic style of prose, a style of non-fiction writing which Francis-Noël Thomas and Mark Turner dedicate an entire book to explaining in Clear and Simple as the Truth: Writing Classic Prose. Pinker’s book is a thoughtful, clear, and useful discussion on how we can make our writing simpler and clearer by avoiding muddy, confusing prose otherwise known as corporatese, legalese, academese, medicalese, bureaucratese, and officialese. One of the most interesting books I read last year was Steven Pinker’s The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century.
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