I know many scholars who have nothing to hide and no need to impress. I have long been skeptical of the bamboozlement theory, because in my experience it does not ring true. What causes them? Is it because we seek to obfuscate, as is commonly thought? Sometimes yes - especially when the author is trying to sell the reader something, be it a product or an idea.īut Pinker’s not convinced that concealment is driving most of our frustration with professional writing: In the third chapter, Pinker addresses the familiar problem of academese, legalese, professionalese…all the eses that make one want to throw a book, paper, or article in the trash rather than finish it. Infused with humor and informed by his deep understanding of linguistics, Pinker’s book dives into why our writing can be lackluster and offers actionable advice to improve its clarity and impact. Pinker is known for his fascinating insights on language and the human mind and penned a modern-day Strunk & White with his book, The Sense of Style. Allow time between writing and editing, so you can approach your own work with fresh eyes.Have someone from the intended audience read your work and provide feedback.
Assume that readers know less about the topic than you do, but are still intelligent and sophisticated.Use concrete nouns and refer to tangible things instead of abstractions.To improve writing, Cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker suggests several strategies: Filled with examples of great and gruesome prose, Pinker shows us how the art of writing can be a form of pleasurable mastery and a fascinating intellectual topic in its own right.When we know a lot about a topic, it can be difficult to write about it in a way that makes sense to the layperson. He replaces dogma about usage with reason and evidence, allowing writers and editors to apply the guidelines judiciously, rather than robotically, being mindful of what they are designed to accomplish. In this short, cheerful, and eminently practical book, Pinker shows how writing depends on imagination, empathy, coherence, grammatical knowhow, and an ability to savor and reverse-engineer the good prose of others. Instead, he applies insights from the sciences of language and mind to the challenge of crafting clear, coherent, and stylish prose. Rethinking the usage guide for the 21st century, Pinker doesn't carp about the decline of language or recycle pet peeves from the rulebooks of a century ago. Summary: "A short and entertaining book on the modern art of writing well by New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker Why is so much writing so bad, and how can we make it better? Is the English language being corrupted by texting and social media? Do the kids today even care about good writing? Why should any of us care? In The Sense of Style, the bestselling linguist and cognitive scientist Steven Pinker answers these questions and more.
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