Hot Text Ch 9: Reduce Cognitive Burdens!
Right On
What a great chapter! The advice given here serves any editor well. I’m in the middle of editing a kids’ (middle/high school) book on terrorism. It’s written by a PhD and sounds that way. I found myself Reducing the Number of Clauses per Sentence. I was Blowing up Nominalizations and Noun Trains. I watched out for Ambiguous Phrases. I made the Agents and Actions clear and orderly. I converted negatives to Positive Statements. Of course, this was a for-print project, so Scrolling and Printing or Saving the Entire Document at Once will have to wait for my website!
Good Strategies
When I saw a section title, I wondered how I was going to do what the authors suggested. But, their clear, bulleted lists eased my worry! Put clauses at beginning or end of sentences. Of course! Lead sentences with the actor, then name the action and object. Verbs shouldn’t have to act like nouns. It’s amazing how much ambiguity you find when you look for it. Get rid of it—nothing in web or print should be ambiguous! Place an adverb near the verb it modifies. Place an adjective near the noun it modifies. Pronouns need to clearly relate to their nouns! Use the same descriptions throughout. Use active voice! “To be” is okay. Get rid of negatives.
The Befores and Afters were perfect, too…I’m grateful for this chapter!
What a great chapter! The advice given here serves any editor well. I’m in the middle of editing a kids’ (middle/high school) book on terrorism. It’s written by a PhD and sounds that way. I found myself Reducing the Number of Clauses per Sentence. I was Blowing up Nominalizations and Noun Trains. I watched out for Ambiguous Phrases. I made the Agents and Actions clear and orderly. I converted negatives to Positive Statements. Of course, this was a for-print project, so Scrolling and Printing or Saving the Entire Document at Once will have to wait for my website!
Good Strategies
When I saw a section title, I wondered how I was going to do what the authors suggested. But, their clear, bulleted lists eased my worry! Put clauses at beginning or end of sentences. Of course! Lead sentences with the actor, then name the action and object. Verbs shouldn’t have to act like nouns. It’s amazing how much ambiguity you find when you look for it. Get rid of it—nothing in web or print should be ambiguous! Place an adverb near the verb it modifies. Place an adjective near the noun it modifies. Pronouns need to clearly relate to their nouns! Use the same descriptions throughout. Use active voice! “To be” is okay. Get rid of negatives.
The Befores and Afters were perfect, too…I’m grateful for this chapter!
posted by Carpe Diem at 8:48 PM
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