The reader's brain : how neuroscience can make you a better writer

The reader's brain How neuroscience can make you a better writer

J. Yellowlees Douglas, 1962-

Book - 2015

Have you ever found yourself re-reading the same sentence four or five times and thought 'I should get more sleep'? Are you clueless as to why one paragraph just seems to 'flow' while you simply can't recall the contents of another? Guess what: you are not alone. Even the best writers fail to grasp why their writing works. This is the first science-based guide to writing, employing cutting-edge research on how our minds process written language, to ensure your writing can be read quickly, assimilated easily, and recalled precisely - exactly what we need to transform anyone into a highly effective writer. Using the 5Cs - clarity, continuity, coherence, concision, and cadence - this book combines irreverent humour wit...h easy-to-follow principles that will make readers perceive your sentences, paragraphs, and documents to be clear, concise, and effective.

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Subjects
Reading > Psychology.
Authorship > Psychological aspects.
Published
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press 2015.
Language
English
Main Author
J. Yellowlees Douglas, 1962- (author)
Physical Description
219 pages ; 20 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781107100398
9781107496507
  • 1. So much advice, so much lousy writing
  • 2. The new science of writing
  • 3. Choosing words and structuring sentence: the first C: clarity
  • 4. Putting sentences together: the second C: continuity
  • 5. Organizing paragraphs and documents: the third C: coherence
  • 6. Maximizing efficiency: the fourth C: concision
  • 7. Making music with words: the fifth C: cadence; Supplement: everything you ever wanted to know about grammar, punctuation, and usage - and never learned
Review by Library Journal Review

Douglas (management communication, Univ. of Florida) explains that most writing guides cover grammar and content but say little or nothing about structure. How we build our sentences is important, explains the author, because the best writing conforms to the patterns with which our brains interpret what we read. We can understand sentences in which the grammatical subject and the verb are at the beginning, for example, so it's recommended to pen sentences that way. Chapters address five Cs: clarity, continuity, coherence, concision, and cadence. The advice-which includes compelling discussions on the neuroscience of reading-can get quite involved, but readers who want only a little at a time can use the chapter divisions and index to find what they need, making the book great as a reference or a narrative read. Sprinkled throughout are boxed "expert tips," and each chapter ends with a short list of "takeaways." Closing the presentation is a handy grammar, punctuation, and usage supplement. VERDICT This writing guide with a difference can help even seasoned authors make their work easier on readers.-Henrietta Verma, Library Journal © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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