4 ms·

Nice article. >> Minimize ... transition words — such as ‘however’ or ‘thus’ — so that the reader can focus on the main message << However, I'm not sure about

Nice article. >> Minimize ... transition words — such as ‘however’ or ‘thus’ — so that the reader can focus on the main message << However, I'm not sure about this advice :) I remember reading a study that appropriate use of transition words is helpful in signposting how the coming sentence relates to the previous one, thereby reducing effort for the reader. What do other's think?

jessriedel 7y ago
This was also the point that stood out to me as most wrong. If you have two sentences, the meaning changes completely depending on whether the second starts with "However" vs. "Thus". It does not seem like good writing practice to me to elimate them and leave force the reader to infer. More generally, words like "however", "thus", "although", "therefore", "indeed", and "notwithstanding" are crucial for helping the reader follow the thread of the argument.
- dmurray 7y ago
  This stood out to me reading the notes from Knuth's Mathematical Writing seminar, linked elsewhere on this comment page. An example from page 21: > He recently spent four hours looking through the collected works of Lagrange trying to find the source of “Lagrange’s inequality,” but he was unsuccessful. Considering the benefit to future authors and readers, he’s not too unhappy with the new law. The second sentence contrasts with the first, and with the rest of the paragraph, which I have omitted here. I had to read it twice to grasp its meaning. A "however" or a "nonetheless" is a nice hint to the lazy reader.
  - jessriedel 7y ago
    Agreed, though I don't think it's a matter of laziness. Language is ambiguous (garden path sentences, etc). Redundancy is necessary to ensure clarity, assuming your goal is to be clear, rather than to entertain.
mannykannot 7y ago
I can say, from my experience, that if you try too hard to condense your writing, you are in danger of ending up with something that not even your future self could easily follow. Part of the problem is that you are so familiar with what you mean that you cannot easily see how your words appear to someone reading them for the first time. If you can, don't send your final draft off immediately - let it sit for a while and attend to something else before (hopefully) giving it a final read through from end to end, without stopping. With regard to transitions specifically, the meaning of the text can depend on them - for example, 'therefore', 'on the other hand' and 'in other words' cannot be substituted for one another, and it is not always obvious from the context which reading is intended.

jessriedel 7y ago

This was also the point that stood out to me as most wrong. If you have two sentences, the meaning changes completely depending on whether the second starts with "However" vs. "Thus". It does not seem like good writing practice to me to elimate them and leave force the reader to infer. More generally, words like "however", "thus", "although", "therefore", "indeed", and "notwithstanding" are crucial for helping the reader follow the thread of the argument.

dmurray 7y ago
This stood out to me reading the notes from Knuth's Mathematical Writing seminar, linked elsewhere on this comment page. An example from page 21: > He recently spent four hours looking through the collected works of Lagrange trying to find the source of “Lagrange’s inequality,” but he was unsuccessful. Considering the benefit to future authors and readers, he’s not too unhappy with the new law. The second sentence contrasts with the first, and with the rest of the paragraph, which I have omitted here. I had to read it twice to grasp its meaning. A "however" or a "nonetheless" is a nice hint to the lazy reader.
- jessriedel 7y ago
  Agreed, though I don't think it's a matter of laziness. Language is ambiguous (garden path sentences, etc). Redundancy is necessary to ensure clarity, assuming your goal is to be clear, rather than to entertain.

mannykannot 7y ago

I can say, from my experience, that if you try too hard to condense your writing, you are in danger of ending up with something that not even your future self could easily follow. Part of the problem is that you are so familiar with what you mean that you cannot easily see how your words appear to someone reading them for the first time. If you can, don't send your final draft off immediately - let it sit for a while and attend to something else before (hopefully) giving it a final read through from end to end, without stopping. With regard to transitions specifically, the meaning of the text can depend on them - for example, 'therefore', 'on the other hand' and 'in other words' cannot be substituted for one another, and it is not always obvious from the context which reading is intended.