Clear writing is one sign of clear thinking.
I came across these writing tips from CS Lewis and they seem to apply just as well to thinking clearly as writing clearly.
- 1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn’t mean anything else.
- 2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them.
- 3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.”
- 4. In writing. Don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, “Please will you do my job for me.”
- 5. Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say “infinitely” when you mean “very”; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.
Tip 1 – making clear what you mean implies you know what you mean. Take enough time so you are clear about what you mean which often means thinking about the effect your speech and words will have on your audience. Cut it down until, as far as is in your power, your sentence couldn’t mean anything else.
Tip 2 – Long, vague words are helpful when you want your audience to add their own interpretation to what you are saying. If this isn’t your aim then be short and direct. That’s not a code for rude. It means saving their time and your time by using plain words for things.
Tip 3 – Say what happened. Say what you want to happen.
Tip 4 – My pet hate at the moment is people who describe something as “having a wow factor”. If you want to wow us then describe it so we are. We don’t want you to keep telling us your bank is ethical and has values, we want you to behave ethically and then we’ll come to believe it. Don’t tell us your project is exciting, describe it so we get excited. It’s almost a rule of life that the more you tell us how to feel the more we suspect it might not be really so.
Tip 5 – It’s not the “trip of a lifetime” until your life is over. The odd curse word works because it’s used sparingly. Swear, exaggerate or over egg your descriptions all the time and they lose power.
And, as ever, these tips apply most to how you talk to yourself. Clear speech and writing grow from the soil of clear thinking.
