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Zusammenfassung von Do I Make Myself Clear?

Name: Do I Make Myself Clear?
Rating: 4 (61 reviews)
Author: Harold Evans

Harold Evans

Why Writing Well Matters

4 (61 Bewertungen)

19 Min.

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What’s in it for me? Get your message across with clear and concise communication.

Is there anything worse than dragging yourself through a contract, trying to understand the dense legal language regarding matters that may be of the utmost importance to you? Or desperately trying to stay awake while reading an academic paper on a potentially fascinating subject, but being unable to enjoy it because of the jargon and obscure vocabulary?

These days, in a digital era without word limits, we have to endure more inscrutable prose than ever. Gone are the days when a writer or editor had to make their message crystal clear in the space of a paragraph or a page.

In these blinks, you’ll learn the rules of clear communication. In the process, you’ll not only improve your prose; you’ll rediscover the beauty and importance of clarity.

You’ll also learn

why you should avoid using the passive voice;
how to remove any words that cloud your message; and
how to slay “zombies” and “flesh-eaters.”

There is an abundance of bad writing on the internet, but good, clear writing can be learned.

If you’re a long-time fan of good journalism, there was probably a time when you looked forward to reading the latest issue of the New Republic magazine. When it existed in print form, each issue was a guaranteed good read, filled with sharp and engaging writing.

But in 2012, the publication was purchased by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, who hired new writers and moved it strictly online. Many people worried that the quality would suffer, and these worries were pretty much confirmed when the new venture was described in a cryptic press release as a “cross-functional collaboration” to “align themselves from a metabolism perspective” as a “vertically integrated digital media company.”

Sadly, this kind of mumbo jumbo is found all over the internet.

Take another example. The Financial Times asserts that their online content is “improving the efficacy of measurable learning outcomes.” Say what now?

In the days when print newspapers were the leading source of information, there was a limited amount of space that a writer could use to get his message across to the reader. This meant that the writer had to be clear, and get straight to the point.

Online content, on the other hand, generally fills up space using a lot of words to say very little, especially now that it includes clickbait and fake news.

But it isn’t just websites and Facebook that are to blame; TV news reporting and academia are also home to some of the worst writing around.

However, It doesn’t have to be this way. Contrary to what some might say, writing isn’t some talent with which one is imbued at birth. Like any other skill, writing can be improved if you’re determined and put in the effort.

Even the Bard himself, William Shakespeare, worked hard to improve his writing.

From his unspectacular early work, to later works like King Lear and The Tempest, Shakespeare’s career is representative of how a dedicated writer can improve his craft.

And this is something you can do as well. In the blinks ahead we’ll look at a variety of tips and tools you can put to work today.

It’s helpful to be aware of traditional writing structures and readability indexes, but don’t be over-reliant on them.

There’s nothing wrong with the proper sentence structures you were taught in grade school, but keep in mind: If each sentence is structured the same way, the writing will be pretty dull.

It’s wise to remember that, first and foremost, the job of a sentence is to express a complete thought, and there’s more than one way to do this. Classic sentence structures are guidelines. They’re there to ensure your subject, verb and predicate are in the right place, and thus to make your complete thought easily understandable.

Avoid front-loading your sentences and overusing the passive voice.

Harold Evans has edited some major authors, among them Norman Mailer, E.L. Doctorow and Gore Vidal. And though each has his own unique style, they all follow the same principles of clear and effective writing.

Most writers agree that the passive voice should be avoided.

Interrogate your sentences and remove unnecessary words like adverbs and parasitical prepositions.

If you’ve worked in an academic, bureaucratic, political or technological setting, then there’s a good chance you’re familiar with writing that’s been puffed up with unnecessary words. Sometimes these superfluous words are used in an effort to sound intellectual or cutting edge; in other cases, they’ve been deliberately employed to confuse the reader.

Believe it or not, it’s common for voting proposals to be written in a deliberately confusing manner so that bewildered citizens will vote for a law that they would otherwise never vote for.

Clear writing avoids overusing not’s and engages the reader by resisting the trap of dry, mechanical language.

Every writer knows that a double negative is a big no-no. You don’t want to not keep that in mind when trying to be clear. Get the picture?

When appropriate, you can even go one step further in your avoidance of nots by looking for chances to turn your negative sentences into positive ones. After all, a writer should tell the reader what is happening rather than what isn’t.

Beware of zombie nouns, verbose flesh-eaters and stale expressions.

We’ve looked at parasitical prepositions, but the damage done by those pesky little words is nothing compared to the havoc wreaked by zombie nouns and flesh-eaters.

Zombie noun is a term coined by Professor Helen Sword, of the University of Auckland, and it refers to words that began life as a verb but have since been devoured and turned into deadly, sentence-ruining nouns.

As long as we care about meaning, good writing is a powerful antidote to a post-truth society.

In his classic book 1984, George Orwell invented “Newspeak,” a form of language that both diminishes the meaning of certain words and eliminates free thought.

In Orwell’s book, a totalitarian government has implemented a plan to have every citizen communicate solely in Newspeak by the year 2050. Well, recent events have shown that we might be running ahead of schedule since the true meaning of words are already being dangerously manipulated by politicians.

Politicians and banks use bad writing to make money and push forward harmful policies.

You might be thinking that correct usage of a few words can’t make much difference in the grand scheme of things, but as recent events show, bad writing can cost billions.

The recent recession that began in 2007 is a perfect example of how much damage bad writing can cause.

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Worum geht es in Do I Make Myself Clear??

Do I Make Myself Clear? (2017) offers a much-needed look at why clear and concise messages are, now more than ever, so important. There is an overwhelming abundance of content these days, and yet finding the truth has never been more difficult. Politicians and marketing executives use deliberately misleading words that obscure the truth and leave us confused and distrustful. Other times, bad writing simply leaves us scratching our heads. If we hope to better understand the facts, we need more people who can deliver clear and meaningful writing.

Bestes Zitat aus Do I Make Myself Clear?

You can enter your text online at readabilityformulas.com or readability-score.com to see how your text scores on variety of different formulas.

—Harold Evans

Wer Do I Make Myself Clear? lesen sollte

Aspiring writers
Students hoping to craft better papers
Readers tired of bad writing

Über den Autor

Harold Evans is one of the most respected editors working today. Over the course of his illustrious career, he spent 14 years working for the Sunday Times and seven years as president and publisher at Random House, US. In 2004, he was awarded a knighthood in recognition of his outstanding work as a newspaper editor.

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