Comments on: Readability?

By: walt

walt — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 15:52:57 +0000

Never read Asimov? Well, I could say “unless you’re a science fiction reader, you might not like him,” but in fact science fiction was a small part of Asimov’s polymath output (for example, he wrote a superb and well-respected two-volume guide to the Bible, even though he was an atheist)–he wrote popular science, dirty limericks, and all sorts of other stuff in 300+ books.

(He’s also my classic example of why, although copyright shouldn’t be “life plus 70 years,” it probably shouldn’t be 14 years either: His landmark Foundation trilogy really didn’t earn him any royalties until it had been out for quite a long time, because the first book publisher had a problem paying royalties…)

Thanks for the kind words. I try.

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 15:42:56 +0000

I think you’re doing quite well on precision and clarity (and good humor), although it’s possible that three years of teaching freshman comp at a Big 10 university has lowered my standards (but then again, I was also studying writing there, so perhaps that balances things out). Anyway, Orwell in general and “Politics and the English Langauge” are well worth reading. I must admit I’ve never read Asimov.

By: walt

walt — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 01:01:58 +0000

Laura: Thanks for that. If I ever did read the Orwell essay, it was a long time ago--in any case, it's worth printing out and reading at leisure. After I published this post, I realized how presumptuous it was for me to suggest any resemblance between my writing and Isaac Asimov's, but the intent is there. I'd like to think I do better on precision and clarity in my columns, books, and Cites & Insights than in these off-the-cuff musings, but I may be fooling myself. Short words in sometimes-complex sentences: That seems to be my hallmark. Despite frequent logorrhea, I do try to keep my sesquipedalian proclivities under control (and that's the highest syllable-to-word ratio you're likely to see at W.a.r. for some time, unless I'm going on about liblogs under another name).

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 00:00:23 +0000

I trust you've read what George Orwell has to say on the subject. (Google offers up many other renderings of the essay, if you don't happen to like that one--or, if you're like me, you have a few hard copies hanging around, in one form or another. I used to try to teach it, the more fool I.)