Simple & direct

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What Hacker News says

• yrui · Jun 27, 2022 · Recommends

  I'm from a hybrid humanities and technical background. Good writing is good writing: clear, simple, and easy to read. Books that influenced me: Style, by F.L. Lucas Simple and Direct, by Jacques Barzun For technical writing, I recommend four additional disciplines: 1.) Keep the documentation up to date. 2.) Allow and encourage your readers to give you feedback about what's unclear.…

  on “Ask HN: How to level up your technical writing?” ↗
• jraines · Feb 14, 2008 · Recommends

  I consider this essay, "The Elements of Style", and "Simple and Direct" by Jacques Barzun to be the Holy Trinity of guidance on clear, straightforward writing.

  on “Politics and the English Language” ↗
• buzzcut · Feb 12, 2014 · Critical

  …certain tone, distance, closeness, formality, or lack of. We have this weird cultural obsession with the clarity, brevity, and simpleness of writing. Jacques Barzun even wrote a writing manual called Simple and Direct, as if these are the only virtues to be found in writing. But I think you want as many tools as possible to achieve the effects you want. There is a huge rich tradition here, that we've largely lost,…

  on “Hemingway makes your writing bold and clear” ↗