写作方法2022chrisbehan.ca编辑精选
像写代码一样写作
Write Like You Code
导读
作者借用编程中的原则（简洁、可维护、少重复造轮子）来谈写作，主张用简单常见的词和高效的句子。这篇值得写作者读，是因为它把"技术写作"和"文学写作"的分野摆上了台面；评论区正好提供了平衡视角：简洁是默认值，不是铁律。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
默认用简单、常见的词和短句，但为了特定效果，允许使用生僻或多音节的"正确的词"。
- 02
技术文档中一个概念只用一个词，不要为了"避免重复"而在中途换成同义词，否则读者会停下来琢磨它们是不是同一个东西。
- 03
先做到"有用但无聊"的清晰沟通，再追求既传达信息又让人愉悦的好文笔。
- 04
把简洁当作默认策略而非定律：读者不想读或预期外的场合（如工作时）要克制修辞，写诗写散文时则不必。
- 05
校对时留意拼写，作者本人就把 sesquipedalian 拼错了，细节失误会削弱说服力。
HN 评论精选
简洁用词不是铁律，正确的词哪怕生僻也胜过平庸的同义词。
这套源自报纸体例手册的建议——只用简单常见的词、写高效的句子——正变得近乎普适，但"好文章"并不总是遵守这些规则。有时你需要一定的迂回和长词，才能传达简单直白做不到的效果。套用马克·吐温的话：有时你要的是那个正确的词，而不是它的表兄弟，哪怕它多音节且相对生僻。为什么文学虚构该独占这种乐趣？顺带一提，作者把 sesquipedalian 拼错了。
kranner查看英文原文
This writing advice -- recycled from newspaper house style guides -- to use only simple and common words in efficient sentences is becoming almost universal, and yet "good writing" doesn't always obey these rules. Sometimes you need a certain obliqueness and sesquipedalianism to convey a certain effect that simple directness can't achieve. To paraphrase Mark Twain, sometimes you need the right word and not its second cousin; even if the right word happens to be polysyllabic and relatively obscure. Why should literary fiction have all the fun? Oh, and the author misspelt "sesquipedalian". edit (added): The Urdu humourist Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi was often accused of using overly difficult words and obscure literary references from Pashto, Sanskritised Hindi, Persian and Arabic in his Urdu writing. He admitted to favouring "mushkil-pasandi" ('a preference for difficulty') and exhorted readers to raise their standards continuously. And IMO with this device he raised the quality of his own writing from what would have been only a series of somewhat funny observations and gag jokes to masterpieces of the genre.
技术写作中一个概念固定用一个术语，避免同义词造成歧义。
我最近参加了一个技术写作短训，有一条建议印象很深，因为它反直觉且少有人遵循，也可以算"像写代码一样写作"：写技术文档时，一个概念只用一个词。比如你用 throughput 表示服务在一段时间内每秒处理的请求数，就别在句子中间改叫 load，读者会浪费时间琢磨两者是否相同。这和学校里教的"避免重复、多用同义词"正好相反，需要一点自律。
praptak查看英文原文
I recently did a short training on technical writing. One piece of advice stuck with me because it is a) counter intuitive and b) not followed widely enough. It can also be said to follow "write like you code", so here it goes: When writing a technical document, stick to one word per concept. Say you are using "throughput" for how many requests per seconds a service handles in a given period of time. Don't rename it to "load" in the middle of a sentence. People will waste time wondering if it's the same concept or subtly different. This is the opposite of what we've been taught at school (avoid repetition! use synonyms!), so it takes a bit of discipline to follow it.
清晰实用是底线，有余力就该追求既传达又愉悦人的"伟大写作"。
好写作是实用的，甚至无聊，但它完成了沟通的目的。伟大的写作不止于此：它既沟通又娱乐。我最喜欢的两个例子是 aphyr 的《Hexing the Technical Interview》和 Mickens 的《The Night Watch》。我同意这条建议对大多数不太擅长写作的人有效，但如果你有写好文章的能力，就尽管去写！我喜欢伟大的写作，也喜欢那些向往它的人，哪怕他们失败。不是所有事都得被包装成最大化大众吸引力和简历加分的样子。
zaptheimpaler查看英文原文
Good writing is utilitarian. Boring but it serves the purpose of communication. Great writing is much more. It communicates and entertains. Here are 2 of my favorites relating to computerz: https://aphyr.com/posts/341-hexing-the-technical-interview http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mickens/files/thenightwatch.pdf Although I do agree the advice does make sense for most of us, who just aren't very good at writing. But if you do have the skill to write well, do it! I love great writing and love people who aspire to it, even if they fail! Everything you do does not have to be packaged up to maximize mass appeal and resume points.
简洁只适用于特定场景，别把它推广成禁止一切修辞的教条。
这条建议不该被当成经验法则。幸运的是，并非所有沟通的唯一目的都是高效传递信息，大多数沟通也不是电梯陈述，更不该都用"结论先行"。高效的写作或沟通风格，与"符号的经济"并不高度相关；只有面向忙人这类特定沟通才相关。如果把这篇文章推到荒谬的极端，它就成了"不要写诗，也不要写散文"。请务必去写诗写散文，我们需要它；只是在读者不想读或不期待的时候（比如工作时）避开它。
xcambar查看英文原文
The advice should not be a rule of thumb. Fortunately not every communication has for sole purpose to transmit information efficiently. Most communication indeed are not an elevator pitch nor should be BLUF. Efficient writing style or communication style in general does not correlate well with an economy of signs. A certain type of communication, targeted to busy people for example, does. Should I want to extend the article to absurd limits, it could read "do not write poetry nor prose". Please DO write poetry or prose, we need it. Simply avoid it when your readers do not want or expect it (eg. at work).
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