Good Style - Writing for Computer Science - page 71

Chapter 6
Good Style
Everything written with vitality expresses that vitality; there are
no dull subjects, only dull minds.
Raymond Chandler
The Simple Art of Murder
It is a golden rule always to use, if possible, a short old Saxon
word. Such a sentence as “ so purely dependent is the incipient
plant on the specific morphological tendency ” does not sound to
my ears like good mother-English—it wants translating.
Charles Darwin
Letter to John Scott
There are many ways in which an idea can be expressed in English; writing can be
verbose or cryptic, flowery or direct, poetic or literal. The manner of expression is
the writing style. Style is not about correct use of grammar, but about how well you
communicate with likely readers.
Conventions and styles are valuable because some forms of presentation are dif-
ficult to understand or are simply boring. They are also valuable because conformity
to commonly used styles reduces the effort required from readers. Breaking an estab-
lished convention has the impact of this exclamation! It arrests attention and distracts
from the message.
Science writing must by its nature be plain and straightforward—the need for it to
be accurate and clear makes poetry inappropriate. But this does not mean that science
writing has to be dull. It can have style, and moreover the desire to communicate
clearly is not the only reason to make good use of English. Lively writing suggests
a lively mind with interesting ideas to discuss.
In contrast, poor usage is distracting, suggests disorganized thinking, and preju-
dices readers against whatever is being said. It may seem unjust, but good writing
and presentation can persuade readers that work is of value. Poorly presented mate-
rial carries a strong subconscious message; for example, readers tend to mistrust
statements if they contain numerous spelling errors. Layout issues such as font and
spacing are also important: a lazy or amateurish presentation suggests to the reader
that little care has been taken with the work.
This chapter, and Chaps. 7 and 8 , concern writing style, including issues that are
specific to science and general issues that many scientists ignore. Good style for
© Springer-Verlag London 2014