Deirdre McCloskey on Good Writing

Bad writing is a democratic problem in that it affects both the uneducated person and the over-educated one. The latter, In particular, over-educated fellows such as Ivory Tower members, who* have a hard time explaining their research in clear prose. Undoubtedly, failing to describe or defend ideas just because they are buried under poor writing is a disservice to humanity. Praise thy Web because She gives us Deirdre McCloskey, who has taken upon herself to teach some basic writing rules to theoretical minds and liberate humanity from illegible words. Her 15 rules of economic writing are a gift that every human being interested in clear prose should read. If you do not want to help yourself by spending 30 minutes on these rules, you can read a one-page summary. If you, however, want to go the whole nine yards you can read Professor McCloskey’s book, “Economical Writing.”

* See rule # 15.