写作方法2020plainenglish.co.uk编辑精选
如何用平实的英语写作
How to Write in Plain English
导读
这是英国 Plain English Campaign 的简明英语写作指南，核心是：短句、主动语态、少用术语、直接称呼读者。对写作者的价值在于它给出了一套可操作的删繁就简规则，而评论区进一步补充了两点：句子的结构节奏与词序会悄悄改变读者对事实的解读，以及术语行话背后其实藏着身份与权力的信号。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
把长句拆开：一句话只承载一个要点，遇到复杂论点先分条再展开。
- 02
注意信息顺序：读者容易记住句尾，把你想强调的判断放在最后，事实相同也能传达不同立场。
- 03
能主动就别被动，能直接称呼读者（you/we）就别绕弯子，减少名词化表达（如“完成项目的推进”）。
- 04
专业术语只对懂行的读者用；面向大众时，术语多半是在划圈子而不是在传达信息。
HN 评论精选
句子要像俄罗斯方块一样高效拼接，但过度追求整齐也会让文字变得乏味；长句的“延迟满足”有时是必要的。
写清楚就像玩俄罗斯方块：句子由一个个从句落下、严丝合缝地拼好，一有机会就补上能消行的方块。但这样也可能写得相当乏味——作者自己那段讲“长句”的文字就是反例：先堆一串停顿和“气泡”，读者不知道要往哪走，屏幕快满了，最后才用两块长条把所有行一次消掉，句子的认知缓冲才被清空。
gorgoiler查看英文原文
Writing clearly is like playing Tetris. Sentences should be presented with clauses that drop down and slot together efficiently. At the earliest available opportunity you drop in a block that completes the line and points are won/made. This can also make for rather dull writing and I appreciate the irony in this paragraph: > However, at first you may still find yourself writing the odd long sentence, especially when trying to explain a complicated point. But most long sentences can be broken up in some way. Here we see the Tetris player drop a sequence of blocks leaving a 3x1 gap down the left edge. Where are they going with this? More blocks stack up on the middle and right, there are “bubbles” in the pile that are covered by squares and there’s still that annoying gap on the left holding them back from clearing. Time passes. The screen is now getting dangerously full. Then they drop in a pair of 4x1 blocks that completes rows 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6. The bubbles on rows 4 and 7 become exposed making a T shaped hole. The next block to fall is a T shape. The screen clears, the sentence’s cognitive buffer is flushed, and we move on to the next point.
同样的事实，只调整语序就能改变读者的道德判断，句尾是重点位置。
文章没提到词序会改变句意。同样的事实换顺序，读者解读完全不同：“虽然约翰是个好人，但他打狗”／“虽然约翰打狗，但他是个好人”／“约翰是个好人，但他打狗”／“约翰打狗，但他是个好人”。读者往往抓住句子最后的部分，所以把“好人”放最后像是在替约翰说话，把“打狗”放最后则是在贬他。
aazaa查看英文原文
The article doesn't mention the way that word placement changes the meaning of sentences. From a video I recently saw but can't recall, consider these sentences: - Although John is a nice guy, he beats his dog. - Although John beats his dog, he's a nice guy. - John is a nice guy, but he beats his dog. - John beats his dog, but he's a nice guy. These are all plain English sentences, but will be interpreted quite differently. For the moment, try to set aside the moral judgement on dog beating and consider what the author's opinion of John is in each case. For example, readers tend to latch onto the last part of a sentence. So putting the nice guy part last tends to support John. Whereas putting the dog beating last tends to undermine John. Same facts, almost the same words, but different messages.
可参考 GOV.UK 风格指南的“避免使用词汇”清单作为实操工具。
GOV.UK 的风格指南里有一份很实用的清单，列出了用简明英语时应当避免的词（a to z of GOV.UK style 中的 words to avoid）。
dreen查看英文原文
Heres a great list from GOV.UK of the kind of words to avoid when using Plain English: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/style-guide/a-to-z-of-gov-uk-style#words-to-avoid
行话是圈层身份与权力的快速识别信号，这是简明语言难以推广的深层原因。
几乎人人都希望别人写得简明，但人们不用简明语言有更深的原因：术语是文化的表达，也是权力、教育、经验（或缺乏这些）的表达，是快速判断对方“是不是自己人”、是否“够专业”的捷径——尽管这种判断常常是错的。比如商务英语里不说“再试一次”而说“迭代”，不说“再打个电话”而说“跳到一个电话上”，还整天名词化地说“把项目带到完成”。有人问我“你会说自己实践颠覆式创新方法论吗”，这个问题只是让我迅速明白：他读过 MBA，而我没有。复杂往往被等同于有教养。
aclimatt查看英文原文
I'd guess (almost) everyone wishes everyone else wrote in plain language. But there's potentially a more fundamental reason people don't. bambax in another comment pointed out the power of ambiguity, and that's one of the reasons especially in legal / government, but there's another. Language, specifically jargon, is an expression of culture. It's an expression of power, education, experience, or lack thereof. It's a quick way to gauge if someone is "like you" or not. If they have the same experience, and especially in professional settings, a quick (yet often incorrect) measure of competence. Take everyone's favorite, "Business English": You don't try again, you iterate. You don't take another call, you jump or hop to another call. You sync, and you align. Against the article's recommendation, you nominalize all day, by "bringing projects to completion" and "moving forward with the engagement". Jargon and style, while often utter bullshit, is a way of measuring people quickly. I once had someone ask me, "would you say you practice disruptive innovation methodology?" My answer to that question was a quick way to learn that unlike them, I did not have an MBA. Complexity is often synonymous with education. > Jargon is a type of language that is only understood by a particular group of people. You can use jargon when writing to people who will understand the terms and phrases. It can be a useful form of shorthand. But try to avoid using specialist jargon on the general public. Unless your goal is to identify if someone is part of said particular group. And therefore in the vast majority of business and technical cases, Plain English -- at least jargon and nominalization -- unfortunately may close more doors than it opens.
同类还值得读
被低估的工程技能：把文章写好
Undervalued Engineering Skills: Writing Well
这篇文章讨论为什么“写得好”是被低估的工程能力，以及它如何在团队协作、系统设计和职业发展中持续带来回报。
写作方法2019 · 1,109 分 · 371 评4 条写作要点编辑精选每行只写一句话：让写作和修改都更轻松的排版法
Writing one sentence per line
这是 Derek Sivers 的一篇短文，主张写作时每行只放一个句子，而不是按段落排版。
写作方法2022 · 849 分 · 297 评4 条写作要点编辑精选书面沟通是远程工作的超级能力
Written communication is remote work super power
这篇文章讨论远程工作中书面沟通的价值，评论区则补充了异步与同步沟通的适用场景，并提醒读者：备忘录、结论先行、结构化命令格式等书面沟通传统早已有之。
写作方法2020 · 831 分 · 190 评4 条写作要点编辑精选如何写出有用的文字
How to Write Usefully
保罗·格雷厄姆在这篇文章里给"有用的写作"下了一个可操作的公式：有用≈重要×新颖×正确×清楚，任一项为零，整篇文章就等于零；他还主张敢下确定判断、删掉让自己心虚的句子。
写作方法2020 · 821 分 · 285 评4 条写作要点编辑精选如何写得更清楚、想得更清楚，并学会复杂材料（PDF）
How to write more clearly, think more clearly, and learn complex material [pdf]
这份 PDF 讨论如何把文章写清楚、把思路理清楚，并用写作来学习复杂材料。
写作方法2022 · 779 分 · 153 评4 条写作要点编辑精选