Writing Tools
I just read the excellent Writing Tools:. The book is a collection of really short tips for writing. It is full of great examples and practical tips for practice.
I’ll include some of my favorite quotes here. The one idea that is the most useful for most engineering documents I’ve seen is the “Ladder of Abstraction.”Here is a blog post by the author that expands on this concept in particular.
Avoid the middle of the “Ladder of Abstraction”
Good writers move up and down a ladder of language. At the bottom are bloody knives and rosary beads, wedding rings and baseball cards. At the top are words that reach for a higher meaning, words like freedom and literacy. Beware of the middle, the rungs of the ladder where bureaucracy and technocracy lurk. Halfway up, teachers are referred to as full-time equivalents, and school lessons are called instructional units. (Clark [2006] 2016, p 107)
Write stories that let the reader “see”I tried to follow this approach myself and ended up with a very colorful post on product partners!
Readers read for two reasons: information and experience. There’s the difference. Reports convey information. Stories create experience. Reports transfer knowledge. Stories transport the reader, crossing boundaries of time, space, and imagination. The report points us there. The story puts us there.] (Clark [2006] 2016, p 124)
One piece of advice the author suggests is to “Get the name of the dog” and deliberately look for “concrete and specific details that appeal to the senses”He originally picked “The Name of the dog” as the title of the book.
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The good writer uses telling details, not only to inform, but to persuade. (Clark [2006] 2016, p 74)
Pick the correct number of examples for effect
- Use one for power
- Use two for comparison, contrast
- Use three for completeness, wholeness, roundness.
- Use for or more to list, inventory, compile, and expand. (Clark [2006] 2016, p 101)
Begin sentences with subjects and verbs for clarity
Subject and verb are often separated in prose, usually because we want to tell the reader something about the subject before we get to the verb. This delay, even for good reasons, risks confusing the reader. (Clark [2006] 2016, p 12)
That said, you can break this rule deliberately for effect:
If the writer wants to create suspense, or build tension, or make the reader wait and wonder, or join a journey of discovery, or hold on for dear life, he can save subject and verb of the main clause until later. As I just did. (Clark [2006] 2016, p 13)
Use adverbs that change the meaning of the sentence
To understand the difference between a good adverb and a bad adverb, consider these two sentences: “She smiled happily” and “She smiled sadly.” Which one works best? The first seems weak because “smiled” contains the meaning of “happily.” On the other hand, “sadly” changes the meaning. (Clark [2006] 2016, p 29)
Use adjectives that help the reader see
Too often, writers turn abstractions into adjectives to define character. One writer tells us the shopkeeper was enthusiastic, or that the lawyer was passionate in his closing argument, or that the schoolgirls were popular. Some adjectives–ashen, blond, and winged–help us see. But adjectives such as enthusiastic are abstract nouns in disguise. (Clark [2006] 2016, p 134)
Advice on sentence length
Express your best thought in the shortest sentence. (Clark [2006] 2016, p 252)