[Author Prev][Author Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
[Author Index (this month)][Thread Index (this month)][Top of Archive]

Re: Lingua Franca Today

Subject: Re: Lingua Franca Today
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 13:44:43 -0800

Beilby, Margaret wrote:

It's a real challenge to move from academic writing to technical writing
and, frankly, some people are simply unable to do so. No one will ever make
a movie based on one of my technical documents (can you imagine, "Contract
Tracking Wars" or "Return of the Storage Subsystem"), but at least they're
usable, clear, technically accurate (usually), and make good reading if you
need some sleep.

To be honest, I've always thought that good writing was good writing, regardless of the genre. I have encountered academic writing that communicated clearly, and I like to think that my published papers fall into that category, too.
But academia is, of course, much more forgiving of poor writing or (to put it more politely) of writing whose main goal is not communication. What's more, I think that the general lack of jobs, especially tenured ones, in academia encourage bad writing by making young scholars more eager to prove that they belong to the club.

As a matter of fact, there seems to be a close (but not exact) correlation between scholarship and good writing. In other words, the more original the academic work, the less likely it is to be written pretentiously. Good scholarship or good ideas don't need the gingerbread; mediocre rehashes and safe conclusions do.

--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com

"To bring the dead to life
Is no great magic.
Few are wholly dead:
Blow on a dead man's embers
And a live flame will start."
-Robert Graves, "To Bring the Dead to Life"





^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr

Have you looked at the new content on TECHWR-L lately?
See http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ and check it out.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.

Follow-Ups:

References:
RE: Lingua Franca Today: From: Beilby, Margaret

Previous by Author: Re: Question about precontract stage
Next by Author: Re: Opinion, Fact, and the Defense of Context (Was Re: Lingua Franca Today) fairly long, unfortunately!
Previous by Thread: RE: Lingua Franca Today
Next by Thread: Opinion, Fact, and the Defense of Context (Was Re: Lingua Franca Today) fairly long, unfortunately!

[Top of Archive] | [Author Index (this month)] | [Thread Index (this month)]

What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:

Sponsored Ads