4 ms·
Not just in blogs, rambling, long winded style common at The Atlantic and New Yorker are excruciating too. Also referring to personal anecdotes of random perso
by billfruit 8y ago
Not just in blogs, rambling, long winded style common at The Atlantic and New Yorker are excruciating too.
Also referring to personal anecdotes of random persons to further a point.
I also find the use of statistics/citing numbers from studies to prove a point, a most boring way to argue a point in writing.
- EForEndeavour 8y ago> I also find the use of statistics/citing numbers from studies to prove a point, a most boring way to argue a point in writing. This definitely depends on the point being argued, and the rigour expected by the audience. For any vaguely technical subject, it's quite possible to cite statistics to great effect, though it may not always be necessary. Actually, your comment made me think about how I respond to statistics in non-technical writing, say, in a news article or forum post. My gut reaction seems to be: "how is the author going to spin this fact, and what other evidence did they conveniently ignore because it contradicts their argument?"
- asdff 8y agoIt's like there are two tiers of writing at The Atlantic/New Yorker: A nice well written piece on a major topic that leaves you with something to think about during the day, or 8+ paragraphs on something like the emotional impact of a specific spring time NYC odor, or the perils of hiring a dog walker in Brooklyn.