Explaining Difficult Things, page 16

Stretch Your Brain, continued

9. The race is not to the swift

   In eight words or less, accurately summarize the meaning of the passage from the book of Ecclesiastes quoted in the “Style Matters” section of this chapter. If you are more comfortable with the George Orwell version than the King James version (this is pretty unlikely!), feel free to use Orwell’s passage for the summary. (I can summarize the meaning of the passage in two words. If you want to know what they are, please send me an email at learntowrite@bearhome.com.)

10. Explain something difficult

    What is the most difficult to explain thing that you know? Explain it in writing. Read your explanation. Does it make sense to you?

Now show your explanation to someone else (preferably someone who knows as little as possible about the thing that you are explaining). See if your reader understands what you have explained. If they claim to, verify their comprehension by asking pointed questions.

Refine and clarify your explanation until a “naïve” reader can completely understand what you’ve written.

The Short Form

Descriptions of what a person or thing looks like, how it behaves, how it works, and how it progresses over time form a foundation for much writing. It is very important to master descriptive writing.

You may also need to describe ideas and concepts.

You must be clear about what you are describing, and why you are describing it. You must understand it, how it works, and what it is, very well.

Descriptions require precision. Precision means that you every detail and every step.

Grammars and taxonomies are tools that can be used to position a subject in relation to other subjects and the world.

Continue on to Chapter 3, Communicating With Metaphors.

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