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October 5, 2006
I want it all
"negatives slow people down."
I know that the majority of readers do not use a wide range of vocabulary. Even in journalism we are told to not use very big words in general. It just seems to me that we are almost told to dumb down our writing for people. I know we should fit certain things for the audience such as directions on a web site. Still why should we take out clauses like which and who, and is is even ok?
Who knew negatives were so hard for people to understand? im sorry but when someone says no im pretty sure it means no. And do people really think they are going to get away with surfing the internet without scrolling a good bit?Maybe its me but is the internet making people lazier in more ways then one? I do not want my webpage to confuse people or make them lazy, i want people to like it btu to also be able to understand my writing. Is there a way I can get all this?
Posted by RachelPrichard at October 5, 2006 3:11 PM
Comments
I like your title...I often feel the same way. (It seems like readers do too.)
I'm having the same kind of trouble--figuring out how to combine all the advice we're getting. I guess it depends who you are writing for (I'm used to writing for professors), but I don't* know how to decide if certain words are too "big".
*uh-oh, I used a negative.
Posted by: Cherie at October 8, 2006 6:50 PM