[Read] On Writing Well

Another book talked about writing. I personally think that this book is harder to read compared to my previous review - Made to Stick. One reason could be On Writing Well was issued in 1976. Although the book I borrowed is the fifth edition, I can still feel some disconnection when reading. Another reason is that there are many words that I never learned in its content. The new words hindered my reading flow. However, it doesn't mean that it is not a good book. I still learn plenty of writing skills from this book. BTW, fun fact about the book I borrowed from the library. It is even older than me!

Here are some notes I took while reading. The number represents each chapter.

1. The transaction: write everyday. Good writing needs good English.

This is quite straight forward. If you want to be a good writier, the only way is by practicing. Not just occationally practice, but practice everyday. I can't agree with this philosophy more. In my writing science class this quarter, we made a draft for our research each week, reviewed other's works the next week and revised our draft the following week. We did the processes for around 3 round in the whole quarter. I can see the improving draft and also realized that there will never be a perfect article. Good writing definately needs practicing everyday.

2. Simplicity: writing is hard and need practice. You need a clear head to write clear.

To make reader understand your words, the flow and the logic of the article are important. Only if you own a clear thought can you write down an understandable article. And, of course, it's so hard. Experienced writers also agree that it's hard.

3. Clutter: bracket words in the article that are redundant. Eg. Unnecessary preposition append to a verb (order up), adverb that carries that same meaning as the verb (smile happily), the adjective that states a known fact (tall skyscraper), weaken any sentence (a bit, sort of)

Yep, simply avoid these words. I found myself intend to add "kind of" when describing things. I always tried to stop myself after reading this chapter.

4. Style: it's proper to use "I" in the sentence.

Not specifically for acedemic writing. I agree that use active tone in a sentance is better.

5. The audience: don't think about the audience, but think about yourself when you write. Craft: mastering a precise skill to attract audience (that's related to make the audiences understand); attitude: how you use that skill to express your personality (that's about your style). Relax and say what you want to say.

This is a chapter about writing philsophy. Don't write because you want to please the audience.

6. Words: don't write jouralese word, which you can expect what's the next word. Dictionary (roget thesaurus) is a good tool to use. The rhythm of the sentence affects reader's reading flow. E.g. these are the times that try men's souls vs times like these try men's souls.

This resonates the "unexpected" component of Made to Stick. Things will be more interesting if readers come into an unexpected story.

Flow is so important. From my revised experience in the writing science class, we spent plenty of time correcting each others' sentence flow. It was so amazing that simply flip a senentce can alter the flow so much.

7. Usage: about word choice. Good or bad decided by authority.

The usage of a word could chagne time by time and it is governed by the authority.

8. Unity: first, pronoun: first, second or third person view point. Second, tense: present or past. Third, mood: casual or formal. Either one is good, but don't mix them. One article only convey one point not two or more.

To make your article understandable, it is important to make sure each of the point here is uniform.

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10.wtiting about people - interview: find a right place to insert he said, or he explained. Reflect truly the people said but not rewrite by journalist's own word.

11. Writing about a place: when travel, don't write down what happened. No one cares. Try to find some new things that others care about. E.g. human activity 

13. Bits and pieces: Use active verb. Most adverbs and adjectives are unnecessary. Little qualifiers: a bit, a little, sort of. Prune out these words. When mood change, alert reader asap. E.g. at the beginning of the sentence. Between That and Which: always use "that" unless it makes your meaning ambiguous. Prevent long nouns. The quickest fix: get rid of the sentence. Keep paragraphs short. Eloquence and the uses of the past: a little abstract to me but worth reading. This paragraph taught us how to write a eloquent article.

I think this chapter is a worth reading chapter. There are no certain topics but many small skills.

16. Business writing: writing in your job: for example, in the school announcement or business announcement, try to set the first person tone would make the message feel warm and humanity.

15. Rewriting and word processing: rewriting is the essence of writing well. 

Since it is an old book, author tried to convince people the advantage of using word to edit. So, it is fun to see how technology switch people's behavior in this chapter. The reviewing mode in word is a time saver for both writers and editors.

21. A writer's decisions: organizing a long article. 

It's a interesting chapter to read. The author provided a piece of his own work, which is about a travel article to Timbuktu. He provided the paragraphs of the original article through the entire chapter with his explanation of the arrangement in between. I really like the last sentence of this chapter: 

Decide what you want to do. Then decide to do it. Then do it.