Comments on: Three Simple Steps to Improve Your Writing

By: phat

phat — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:09:17 +0000

Decorating writing with useless ornaments also consumes the space and time that should be invested in offering context and subtext.

Many technical writers assume too much from their readers, ignoring an opportunity to offer the foundation or underlying question that triggered a commentary or article. Writers invite misunderstanding unless they establish context before content.

The casual “write like you speak” confusion is amplified by the “write like you think” failure. Techies must learn to think more clearly and, if not, at least write like you do.

By: Fynnbob

Fynnbob — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:37:41 +0000

Actually, your second to last paragraph is something that irks me: repeating the same point in slightly different ways to try and better drive home a point. Don’t worry, I already got the point. You could have excavated a big chunk of text by ending that paragraph with “Good editing is liberating.” I definitely agree with that.

Good article and I hope lots of people read it. I would also add that writers should challenge themselves to be as succinct as possible. Everyone would appreciate that.

By: Kyle Baley

Kyle Baley — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 02:02:39 +0000

Yeah, “definitely” is a personal pet peeve mostly because it’s so often misspelled. Not a fan of “just” either.

Another variation that is hard to read: “what it is” or “all it is”, because it usually leads to phrases like “what it is is” and “all it is is”.

Now that I really think about it, we could basically do away with adverbs altogether…essentially.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:29:15 +0000

What if X is basically Y? :)

“Definitely” is another one, also people using the “very” or “so” with “unique” drives me bonkers.

By: Casey

Casey — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:19:47 +0000

I’d also include “actually” in the list of words to replace with nothing.