I long have complained about the writing that appears in books, newspapers, and magazines. Authors’ inability to write simply and clearly is annoying and costly. Recently I decided to quit complaining and do something about the problem. This book is the result. It is my attempt to promote simple, clear text that is pleasing to read.
I first noticed the problem in 1976 when I joined the faculty of UCLA’s Graduate School of Management. Part of my job was to select textbooks for the courses I taught. I chose the best ones I could find, but they pleased neither the students nor me. They were written so poorly that I began preparing class notes to augment the book. The students loved my notes. On the end-of-course evaluation, an MBA student wrote, “Without your class notes, I would have learned nothing in this course.” Another one said, “The book does not convey knowledge; it presumes knowledge.” He was right. The book was comprehensible only if one already understood much of the material.
Writers approach their task with various mindsets. Some want to impress people with their vast knowledge. Others write formally and use big words. Still others try to dazzle the reader with mathematics. Rarely does an author begin with an inner voice saying, “Write so simply and clearly that grade-school children will understand you.” Even understandable text often is written inefficiently. The author uses 10 words when 6 will suffice. This inefficiency is costly to all involved. Sometimes a simple message is buried beneath so much clutter that the message is almost invisible.
This book aims squarely at this inefficiency. It is not a primer on grammar or punctuation. The book shows you how to write efficiently, and it emphasizes efficiency’s valuable by-products: clarity, conciseness, directness, the absence of pomposity, etc. The book’s theme is simplicity, and its model is Albert Einstein, who sought simplicity in everything he did. The quest for simplicity of expression produces clear, concise text—so clear that even grade-school children can understand it.
The book has many examples of inefficient text, and it shows how to remove and avoid the inefficiency. The examples come from many sources and cover topics ranging from physics and genetics to accounting and economics. The examples are instructive apart from the writing aspect. Represented are such notable writers as Francis Bacon, Ambrose Bierce, Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Milton Friedman, J. S. Mill, George Orwell, Bertrand Russell, the Scottish economist Adam Smith, B. Spinoza, and coauthors Will Strunk and E. B. White.