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This clarification was much needed. I just spent some time editing our application and re-submitting it to make it less verbose based on the advice in this arti

This clarification was much needed. I just spent some time editing our application and re-submitting it to make it less verbose based on the advice in this article, which I think was incredibly sound, but I could not get my writing level anywhere near a 4th grade level. I was actually considering writing a post entitled "4th Grade Writing Level: Why I Should Have Had an Engineering Major Write My YC Application". I still think that would be a good joke.

psykotic 14y ago
> I was actually considering writing a post entitled "4th Grade Writing Level: Why I Should Have Had an Engineering Major Write My YC Application". I still think that would be a good joke. Yes, suggesting that engineers have the writing skill of 4th graders is sure to go over well on a site called Hacker News.
- tomasien 14y ago
  Just classic humanities vs. engineering ribbing. As a student of the former who has transitioned into the latter I enjoy both the bad writing engineer jokes and the "can't get a job" humanities jokes
  - makmanalp 14y ago
    Ah! I was thinking the less common pure vs applied sciences contention :)
napoleond 14y ago
Writing well at a 4th grade level != writing like a 4th grader, and I suspect it is equally difficult for science/eng majors and humanities majors. While it may not be necessary when writing for pg et al, remember that the average American reads at a 7th to 8th grade level[0] and that "for recreation, people read texts that are two grades below their actual reading level"[1]. In other words, you might be able to sell your startup idea to pg at a higher reading level, but you shouldn't count on selling it to consumers (and dare I say even investors/businesses?) that way. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Readability http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Readability
- tomasien 14y ago
  Agreed. I realize I should have thought about it MORE like how I write on a landing page and less about how I write just generally.

psykotic 14y ago

> I was actually considering writing a post entitled "4th Grade Writing Level: Why I Should Have Had an Engineering Major Write My YC Application". I still think that would be a good joke. Yes, suggesting that engineers have the writing skill of 4th graders is sure to go over well on a site called Hacker News.

tomasien 14y ago
Just classic humanities vs. engineering ribbing. As a student of the former who has transitioned into the latter I enjoy both the bad writing engineer jokes and the "can't get a job" humanities jokes
- makmanalp 14y ago
  Ah! I was thinking the less common pure vs applied sciences contention :)

napoleond 14y ago

Writing well at a 4th grade level != writing like a 4th grader, and I suspect it is equally difficult for science/eng majors and humanities majors. While it may not be necessary when writing for pg et al, remember that the average American reads at a 7th to 8th grade level[0] and that "for recreation, people read texts that are two grades below their actual reading level"[1]. In other words, you might be able to sell your startup idea to pg at a higher reading level, but you shouldn't count on selling it to consumers (and dare I say even investors/businesses?) that way. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Readability http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Readability

tomasien 14y ago
Agreed. I realize I should have thought about it MORE like how I write on a landing page and less about how I write just generally.