About writing concisely, for The Conversation and editorials with examples of readability checkers

1. Writing for different purposes
Roger Watson

2. Different kinds of writing
• Academic
• Scientific
• Journalistic
• Editorial
• Literary
• Poetic

3. Good
writing
Poor
writing

6. Use clear, simple writing
Often the first word that comes to mind is the right one
Don’t seek to use polysyllabic words
Don’t use jargon

7. A guide to the style guides (from Sword, 2012)
Short or Mixed-length Sentences: Keep sentences short
and simple, or vary your rhythm by alternating longer
sentences with shorter ones.
Plain English: Avoid ornate, pompous, Latinate, or waffly
prose.

8. A guide to the style guides (from Sword, 2012)
Active verbs: Avoid passive verb construction or use them
sparingly; active verbs should predominate.
Telling a story: Create a compelling narrative.

9. George Orwell’s Five Rules for Effective Writing
1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech
which you are used to seeing in print.
This sounds incredibly easy but in practice is incredibly
difficult. Phrases such as toe the line, ride roughshod over,
stand shoulder to shoulder with, play into the hands of, an
axe to grind, Achilles’ heel, swan song and hotbed come to
mind quickly and feel comforting and melodic.

10. George Orwell’s Five Rules for Effective Writing
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
Longer words don’t make you sound intelligent unless used
skillfully. In the wrong situation they’ll have the opposite
effect, making you sound pretentious and arrogant.
They’re also less likely to be understood and more
awkward to read

11. George Orwell’s Five Rules for Effective Writing
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to
the utmost possible degree (Ezra Pound). Accordingly,
words that don’t contribute meaning to a passage dilute its
power. Less is always better. Always.

12. George Orwell’s Five Rules for Effective Writing
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
This one is frequently broken, probably because many
people don’t know the difference between active and
passive verbs. Example:
•The man was bitten by the dog (passive)
•The dog bit the man (active)

13. George Orwell’s Five Rules for Effective Writing
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon
word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/george-orwells-5-rules-for-effective-writing/

14. Losing words

15. Avoid ‘there’
If the nomocentric principle is correct, then there are as
many true backward counterfactual conditionals as there
are forward counterfactual conditionals and, therefore, the
thesis that an asymmetry of counterfactual dependence
characterizes our world would turn out to be false.
********************************************************
If the nomocentric principle is correct, then as many true
backward counterfactual conditionals as forward
counterfactual conditionals exist. Therefore, the thesis that
an asymmetry of counterfactual dependence characterizes
our world would turn out to be false.
(from Sword, 2012)

16. Avoid ‘that’
In a series of important papers, John Broome has argued
that the only sense of “should” at work here is the one that
we use in saying what there is most reason, or decisive
reason, to do and that the apparent contradiction in the
example is removed when we make appropriate
distinctions of scope.
***********************
In a series of important papers, John Broome has argued,
the only sense of “should” at work here is the one we use in
saying what there is most reason, or decisive reason, to do
and the apparent contradiction in the example is removed
when we make appropriate distinctions of scope.
(from Sword, 2012)

19. Editorials & The Conversation

20. Different kinds of writing
• The Conversation
• What types of stories are we looking for?
• The Conversation focuses on three priority areas:
• timely, evidence-based analysis of issues making the news, such as new
research;
• timeless, plain English ‘explainers’ of complex issues;
• in-depth series or specials or our regular hard evidence stories.
Pitch an article idea (https://theconversation.com/uk/pitches

21. Different kinds of writing
• Editorial
A good editorial should express an opinion without being opinionated. ... The
last, and probably most important, a good editorial should be brief.
What is a good editorial?
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3190447/)

22. r.watson@hull.ac.uk
0000-0001-8040-7625
@rwatson1955