Ask HN: How can I improve my writing skills? I want to get better at writing clear and short sentences without making grammatical mistakes. I'm a developer and I think this particular skill can help me communicate better with my team / users by writing better documentations or describing any problem. I keep iterating on the things I write and never seem to be satisfied, and see there is always a room of improvements. I don't feel the same way when I read others articles / blogs. |
People think if they state their ideas plainly, others will think these are obvious, simple ideas. So they try to cover it up, using big words and long sentences.
Substance comes before style, so first you make your point. Then you chop it down.
(Personally, once I'm done writing, I set out to cut it by 20%)
Kevin Kelly wrote this same advice differently, he said you can't write and edit at the same time.
1. Get a book called Elements of Style by Strunk and White.
2. Internalize the rules in that book and apply them whenever you write.
3. Write as much as you can, and read even more.
>Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.
By the fourth edition (1999) mother modernity knows best. A crock of editors resort to neutering his rules to skirt around them easier, sacrificing all rhythm and possessive clarity:
>This requires not that the writer make all sentences short or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.