Writing, Clear and Simple

I’ve never understood why some people just don’t get the purpose of quotation marks—after all, the name says it all, doesn’t it? They’re called quotation marks because you use them to indicate quotations.

 Apparently, it doesn’t say it clearly or loudly enough, judging from some of the examples of quotation mark misuse displayed on The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks.

For example, why did someone feel it necessary to enclose the article a in quotation marks?

I could become deeply depressed over the sorry state of things, when so many people fail to understand something as basic as quotation marks. But just think of the opportunities it creates for people who take even a little care in their writing.

Every month, internet users send 30 million e-mail messages. Approximately three of them are effective.

OK, maybe I overestimate the number of poorly written e-mails, but not by much. What can we do about it?

Last summer, I posted my downloadable article, “10 Tips for Effective E-mail.” Now, Matthew Stibbe gives us “Ten laws for better email*.”

Yes, some of Stibbe’s ideas overlap mine, but it’s a fresh take on an evergreen topic. I really like his number 1 law:

Email is about the reader, not the writer. Don’t think about what you have to say. Think about what the reader needs to hear. There’s nothing more tedious than an email that starts out with 200 words of self-justification when all it needs is a single sentence containing a question.

 Check both articles out, and put the advice to use TODAY!

*You say email, and I say e-mail. Some people hyphenate it (but I think more people are starting to use the un-hyphenated form) and some don’t. I don’t much care whether you put in the hyphen or not, just be consistent.

Scott Berkun usually blogs and writes books about project management and innovation (and he does it well, too). But he’s also passionate about good communication, and apparently about Zen.

George Orwell wrote about what happens when we misuse words. A core theme in the novel 1984 is how abuse of language enables other evils. Well the time has come: I’m stepping up to defend the word Zen.

Zen is in a sorry state of abuse in 2008. Much like innovation, the word Zen is now a placeholder for thought, used for its connotation of something positive rather than any specific meaning. People often use the word in complete ignorance. Here’s what the word means:

To practice Zen is to use meditation and other techniques to develop an understanding of oneself, and seek spiritual enlightenment

He goes on to list some things—blogs, websites, MP3 players—that use Zen in their names, but really don’t have anything to do with the philosophy and spiritual practice of Zen itself.

Words like Zen, correctly understood and properly used, are powerful things. But if we misuse them, misapply them, we sap them of their power.

Fascist and fascism are great examples of what happens to words when they are misapplied. Fascist has become an all-purpose epithet among certain groups, applied to anyone they don’t like. The substance of the views held by the person being attacked are irrelevant; I’ve seen instances of limited-government, free-market advocates being tarred by their opponents as fascists, indicating that the attackers either don’t know what the word really means, or they don’t care, and they’re engaging in ad-hominem attacks.

Words—like Zen, fascist, and my recent hobby-horse, crisis—mean things. Be sure you understand their meanings before you toss them around like candy from a homecoming parade float.

Why you should write things down. I especially like this one, which resonates with something I’ve said before—that better writing leads to better thinking:

Clearer thinking. You can’t hold that many thoughts in your head at once. If you want to solve a problem it can be helpful to write down you thoughts, facts and feelings about it. Then you don’t have to worry your mind about remembering, you can instead use it to think more clearly. Having it all written down gives you an overview and makes it easier to find new connections that can help you solve the problem.

10 Mental Blocks to Creative Thinking. Creativity is not thinking outside the box; it’s forgetting all about the box.
Wayne Schiess has been writing a series called Legal writing isn’t what it should be. There are several reasons for the situation Wayne describes; for example:

When you are in law school, you read lots and lots of judicial opinions. These judicial opinions were not chosen for their writing style; they were chosen for their content. Once you begin practicing law, you continue to read judicial opinions. After all, this is a common-a law nation, and the rule of precedent requires you to research and read judicial opinions to answer many legal questions.

But many judicial opinions are poorly written, and most are mediocre at best. One commentator has said that lawyers, in their reading, are exposed to “the largest body of poorly written literature ever created by the human race.”

He’s up to number 4, and they’re all good. I can’t pick just one to link to, so head on over and read them all.

 

Five steps to technical documentation. First and foremost: “Identify the central question/subject.”

The Impotence of Proofreading. Yes, it says impotence, and not importance.

 Here’s a helpful manifesto from Change This!: When You Absolutely, Positively Should NOT Use Email: A Civilized List by David Shipley and Will Schwalbe.