Scholarly writing has a reputation for obscurity and obfuscation, says Josh Jones, who shares novelist Cormac McCarthy’s editing advice. His straightforward counsel is an invitation for writers of all kinds to remind themselves of the fundamental principles of clear, compelling and communicative prose.
Scientific papers also rely heavily on jargon, overly long, incomprehensible sentences, and disciplinary formalities that can feel cold and alienating to the non-specialist.
Source: Open Culture, October 3, 2020. Link. Here is a sample from McCarthy’s tips:
- Use minimalism to achieve clarity…. Remove extra words or commas whenever you can.
- Keep sentences short, simply constructed and direct.
- Don’t over elaborate. Only use an adjective if it’s relevant…. Don’t say the same thing in three different ways in any single section.
INSIGHTS: For most of us, having a skilled editor to clean up our writing makes sense. Spend more than an hour reading LinkedIn posts and you’ll find plenty of examples of entries that need an editor’s input. Whether using email, text or posting having someone edit your writing is worth the extra time.
Kudos to Rick Purnell who has diligently edited Animal Health Digest posts and sponsored content over the past five years. THANK YOU, Rick!