User:Timothee Flutre/Notebook/Postdoc/2012/10/09

From OpenWetWare

< User:Timothee Flutre | Notebook | Postdoc | 2012 | 10(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
(Autocreate 2012/10/09 Entry for User:Timothee_Flutre/Notebook/Postdoc)
Current revision (16:32, 13 November 2012) (view source)
(→Expert writing (academic and professional): add intro)
 
(3 intermediate revisions not shown.)
Line 6: Line 6:
| colspan="2"|
| colspan="2"|
<!-- ##### DO NOT edit above this line unless you know what you are doing. ##### -->
<!-- ##### DO NOT edit above this line unless you know what you are doing. ##### -->
-
==Entry title==
+
==Expert writing (academic and professional)==
-
* Insert content here...
+
 +
''(Notes from The Little Red Schoolhouse at the University of Chicago.)''
 +
 +
* Interferences between what the writer wants and what the reader wants.
 +
** Readers tend to see the world in terms of actions, and thus they look for verbs. But writers store/remember the important concepts of their field as nouns, not verbs.
 +
** Readers tend to understand the world in terms of characters (someone/something capable of acting), and they expect to find them in subjects.
 +
 +
* Diagnostics when reading a text:
 +
** underline verbs and ask if they correspond to significant actions;
 +
** underline subjects and ask if they correspond to significant characters.
 +
 +
* Principles of clear writing:
 +
** express as verbs (rather than nominalizations) the actions one want the readers to focus on;
 +
** express as subjects the characters one wants the readers to focus on, and be consistent.
 +
 +
* Tips:
 +
** Subjects create focus, so choose them according to the readers, but also choose those that are valued by the readers.
 +
** Possible to use passive verbs when they allow a character to be the subject.
 +
** Possible to use nominalizations when they are also perceived by the readers as characters.
 +
 +
* Structuring long sentences:
 +
** easier to read when the subject+verb ("core") are together and at (close to) the beginning
 +
** write long sentences with ("connectors/orientors" + "core" + "other") repeated N times
 +
 +
* Information flow:
 +
** readers need some old, simple information in ''every'' sentence
 +
** the old information should come ''before'' the new, complex information which is at the end (stress position)
 +
 +
* Introduction:
 +
** must provide information (for readers who don't know) and motivation (for readers who don't care)
 +
** statis -> concession -> destabilizing condition (''but'') -> consequences: all this helps persuade the reader that we're going to address an important problem
 +
** filling a gap is good, but changing a previous belief is usually better
 +
** manifest problem (we have a problem to solve) versus critical problem (actually, we have a different problem) -> gives the impression that the writer is doing critical thinking (not only informing, but criticizing)
<!-- ##### DO NOT edit below this line unless you know what you are doing. ##### -->
<!-- ##### DO NOT edit below this line unless you know what you are doing. ##### -->

Current revision

Project name Main project page
Previous entry      Next entry

Expert writing (academic and professional)

(Notes from The Little Red Schoolhouse at the University of Chicago.)

  • Interferences between what the writer wants and what the reader wants.
    • Readers tend to see the world in terms of actions, and thus they look for verbs. But writers store/remember the important concepts of their field as nouns, not verbs.
    • Readers tend to understand the world in terms of characters (someone/something capable of acting), and they expect to find them in subjects.
  • Diagnostics when reading a text:
    • underline verbs and ask if they correspond to significant actions;
    • underline subjects and ask if they correspond to significant characters.
  • Principles of clear writing:
    • express as verbs (rather than nominalizations) the actions one want the readers to focus on;
    • express as subjects the characters one wants the readers to focus on, and be consistent.
  • Tips:
    • Subjects create focus, so choose them according to the readers, but also choose those that are valued by the readers.
    • Possible to use passive verbs when they allow a character to be the subject.
    • Possible to use nominalizations when they are also perceived by the readers as characters.
  • Structuring long sentences:
    • easier to read when the subject+verb ("core") are together and at (close to) the beginning
    • write long sentences with ("connectors/orientors" + "core" + "other") repeated N times
  • Information flow:
    • readers need some old, simple information in every sentence
    • the old information should come before the new, complex information which is at the end (stress position)
  • Introduction:
    • must provide information (for readers who don't know) and motivation (for readers who don't care)
    • statis -> concession -> destabilizing condition (but) -> consequences: all this helps persuade the reader that we're going to address an important problem
    • filling a gap is good, but changing a previous belief is usually better
    • manifest problem (we have a problem to solve) versus critical problem (actually, we have a different problem) -> gives the impression that the writer is doing critical thinking (not only informing, but criticizing)


Retrieved from "http://openwetware.org/wiki/User:Timothee_Flutre/Notebook/Postdoc/2012/10/09"
Personal tools