This year, I’ve been reading a lot about writing (in general), and academic writing (in particular), because more and more people come to my website for advice on how to write, and I’ve created a nice (small-but-growing) network of scholars on whose advice I rely on to make my own prose. I recently received a physical copy of Glen Wright (of Academia Obscura’s fame)’s book, which he kindly gifted me. Receiving this book prompted me to buy THE BOOK Glen recommended that helped improve his writing: Josh Bernoff’s Writing Without Bullshit: Boost Your Career by Saying What You Mean. I had read another endorsement of Bernoff’s book on my Twitter account when Reneé Stephen tweeted at me about this book being required reading for anyone who writes. Two people whose opinion I trust decided Bernoff’s book was worth it (and the price was quite accessible, $16 USD) so I decided to buy it.
As you can see from my photograph, I read Bernoff’s book while sitting in my pyjamas (or pajamas or PJs, I’m not going to fight over word choice). I speed-read, admittedly, but regardless, I found Bernoff’s Writing Without Bullshit quite easy to read, and I did so in 45 minutes (live-tweeting included) comfortably sitting on my couch and having a cup of coffee. Following Bernoff’s advice, I won’t post a lengthy set of reading notes and I’ll just copy-and-paste my tweets associated with the book (I also threaded them in case you want to read directly on Twitter).
The Iron Imperative: treat your readers time as valuable – maybe even more so than your own. pic.twitter.com/yhtdjAaAru
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) December 15, 2017
Bernoff highlights "bullshit" words, calculates a ratio of meaningful words to total words and simplifies with clearer language. I like it. pic.twitter.com/DreQpfuSUv
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) December 15, 2017
Bernoff's advice 1) write short (p. 53), 2) front-load writing, 3) purge passive voice, 4) replace jargon, 5) eliminate weasel words pic.twitter.com/Ky1VuPvdTj
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) December 15, 2017
6) be direct ("I analyze", "I show") 7) use numbers wisely (though I think Bernoff oversimplifies the presentation of causal arguments) pic.twitter.com/khqB8Nl4lg
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) December 15, 2017
I like Bernoff's ROAM model (Readers, Objective, Action, iMpression). I also like how he shows that writing is collaborative (always) pic.twitter.com/T2g87WGzmB
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) December 15, 2017
Bernoff's model of what a report looks like is excellent and can be used in multiple disciplinary settings pic.twitter.com/VQdP1aRTBg
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) December 15, 2017
Overall, I found Josh Bernoff’s “Writing Without Bullshit” as good as Renee and Glen suggested. It’s a quick read, particularly useful if you tend to be verbose and write clunky, “big-words” kind of prose, and will definitely make for a good book to refer back to.
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