How to Be a Better Writer: 6 Tips From Harvard’s Steven Pinker

U want 2B a better writer? Good writing is often looked at as an art and, frankly, that can be intimidating. No need to worry. There are rules — even science — behind writing well. Our brain works a particular way; so what rules do we need to know to write the way the brain best understands? To find out the answer I gave Steven Pinker a call. Steven is a cognitive scientist and linguist at Harvard. Steven was recently ranked as one of the top 100 most eminent psychologists of the modern era. His latest book is The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century. Below you’ll learn: The two key elements that will improve your writing.The biggest mistake we all make — and how to fix it.The science behind what makes writing work.The most pleasant way to improve your knowledge of grammar. And a lot more. 1) Be Visual And Conversational One third of the human brain is dedicated to vision. Via The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century:

Hi ... hey ... hello ... Dear reader, how do you start an email? | Media “Hi.” No, forget that – too boring. “Hey!” Hmmm – too giddy. “Wasssup!” Yikes – too Budweiser. It’s one of life’s little conundrums many of us are forced to confront every day: what salutation should we use to start an email? When electronic mail first pinged on the scene – around the mid-90s – it felt rather contrived to use the informal US salutation “Hi”. “Dear” felt more reassuring. That didn’t last. As email became sufficiently ingrained in our lives to shed its cumbersome hyphen, we began to realise it was a much more fluid means of communication than its printed predecessor. At this stage I should probably divulge my bias: “Hi” remains my go-to salutation for almost all professional emails. “Hey” is the hip new kid on the block. Others disagree. For those who can’t stomach “Hey”, I present an alternative: “Hello”. Sifting through my inbox, it’s very rare to find someone eschewing the “Hi-Hey-Hello” triumvirate. I don’t mind this direct approach. So, what other alternatives are there?

I’m Latino. I’m Hispanic. And they’re different, so I drew a comic to explain. by Terry Blas on August 12, 2016