Writing to Be Understood
Since early June, a professor from Carleton University and I have been designing and building software to help people write more clearly. Professor John Medicine Horse Kelly is a journalism professor who won a teaching award for a system of instruction he developed during his twenty years of teaching.
He is an interesting man, humble and soft-spoken. He is a natural listener, and he will listen to almost anything you have to say with a gentle and sympathetic smile. But, if you can stop talking and start listening, he will fill any silence you create with lovely stories about his grandfather, Peter Kelly, or Bill Reid, or any of his Haida relatives and friends. His soft-spokeness masks deep passions. One is teaching.
He has developed a system for teaching students to write well by identifying patterns that students can edit to improve their writing. I have written code that uses the natural language toolkit to read student’s assignments and to identify these patterns. Even I have learned to apply Dr. Kelly’s principles to create writing that is clear, lively and easy to understand. Here are things to watch for:
- If you use Microsoft Word, use the grammar and style tools to check the Flesch Kincaid grade level.
- Use the grammar and style tools to find and eliminate passive sentences.
- Ensure that your writing is composed of words that have an average of about 4.5 characters.
- Write paragraphs that have an average of about 2.5 to 3.5 sentences.
- Write sentences that have an average of between 12 and 15 words per sentences.
- Avoid using too many prepositions. Prepositions cause writing to become complex and hard to read.
I was able to improve this article by using our tool. The first draft of this blog entry read at the grade 10.5 level, and it contained several complexifiers. I was able to eliminate these words, and my writing improved. The draft you are now reading reads at a grade 8.6 level. As I use Dr. Kelly’s system, I see that it works.
Plain writing is important. People can find it hard to understand medical consent forms, legal documents, and privacy policies. Is it ethical to write important documents that ordinary people cannot understand? Is it smart?
In the next few weeks, I am going write about our tool. We call it WISE – Writing Instruction Software for Educators. Recently, we realized that we may have to call it Writing Instruction Software for Everyone. Who knows, if the code is easy to use, and if the principles can be easily explained, we may share the code with anybody who wants to try it. We have to get some legal advice first, but we hope to make a file available for download some time between now and Christmas.
WordPress 3.0 Features
This falls into the category of information one has to keep track of. WordPress 3.0 has some news features, but you need to know how to activate and use them. You will find the following article useful: HOW TO : Enable WordPress 3.0 New Features After Upgrading
Here is some general information about the new WordPress 3.0 features, and what they mean: tutsplus.
Some people like to read, but you also have the option of viewing the following videos: WordPressVideos. These cover some interesting topics, from how to use the admin features to how to use the menu manager. You can also use the videos to give clients a very good idea of what WordPress can do.
Happy blogging.
Privacy is Not Important
Ok, my headline is deliberately provocative. Privacy is important. But, often it is not. I think we are being very silly over issues of privacy.
It is stupid to spend hours typing information on public websites and to then worry about keeping it private. Facebook was designed to share information. The Web was designed to make information widely available.
Deleting your Facebook account over issues of privacy is like boycotting the local grocery store because people gawk when you pull down your pants. Are you going to tell the grocery store owner that you refuse to return until he or she provides a means to control who sees your bum when your pants are down around your ankles? Or, are you going to refrain from pulling your pants down in public? Which makes more sense?
Facebook is a public place: govern yourself accordingly. Don’t be stupid! If you are having an affair, don’t talk about it on Facebook. If you lied to the boss, said that you were sick, and went golfing instead, don’t put the pictures on Facebook.
Of course, there are real privacy issues, but do not assume that nobody is watching you on the Internet. Break the word down: “Inter”, which means between, among or within; and “net”, which means to catch and ensnare. If your neighbors are laughing behind your back because they saw you naked in front of your window, it is silly to blame that on your landlord. The Internet is a public place. There are better places to be private.
Having said this, there is information that you share online, with a legal understanding that it will not be shared for any other purpose than the purpose you ascribe. That is a contract. Still, sometimes you need a contract, but other times, all you need is common sense.