The Reader's Brain
The Reader's Brain
Have you ever found yourself re-reading the same sentence four or five times and thought 'I should get more sleep'? Are you clueless as to why one paragraph just seems to 'flow' while you simply can't recall the contents of another? Guess what: you are not alone. Even the best writers fail to grasp why their writing works. The Reader's Brain is the first science-based guide to writing, employing cutting-edge research on how our minds process written language, to ensure your writing can be read quickly, assimilated easily, and recalled precisely - exactly what we need to transform anyone into a highly effective writer. Using the 5Cs - clarity, continuity, coherence, concision, and cadence - this book combines irreverent humour with easy-to-follow principles that will make readers perceive your sentences, paragraphs, and documents to be clear, concise, and effective.
- Uses a science-based approach to writing, demonstrating why some words, sentences and paragraphs are easier to read and recall than others
- Makes key points readily accessible with lists, sidebars, features and before/after examples, enabling the reader to skim and scan material to use key principles for any writing task
- Conveys science and principles in a playful, irreverent prose, and will appeal to a wide audience, from professionals and academics to students and lay readers
Reviews & endorsements
"There is a lot to like in this book, not least the pragmatic examples, acerbic humor, and insights into why some writing is impenetrable."
Vint Cerf, internet pioneer and Vice President, Google
"Be warned: if you read this book, you’ll see how flawed your writing is. But take heart too, because if you follow Douglas’ advice, those flaws will start to disappear. Her bracing, mordant and lucid words show that good writing is a skill you can learn - and that the best way to do it is not to defer to grammarians and style gurus but to understand what goes on in the mind of the reader. In other words, you should write to be read. This book offers some of the best advice on writing that I have seen, whether you are writing a legal document or an email to your mother."
Philip Ball, science writer and author of The Music Instinct
"This book is desperately needed across great swaths of corporate America and should be taught at every level from K-12 to graduate schools."
Andrew Hargadon, Soderquist Chair in Entrepreneurship, Graduate School of Management, University of California, Davis
Product details
May 2015Adobe eBook Reader
9781316355435
0 pages
0kg
1 b/w illus.
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Table of Contents
- 1. So much advice, so much lousy writing
- 2. The new science of writing
- 3. Choosing words and structuring sentences: the first C: clarity
- 4. Putting sentences together: the second C: continuity
- 5. Organizing paragraphs and documents: the third C: coherence
- 6. Maximizing efficiency: the fourth C: concision
- 7. Making music with words: the fifth C: cadence
- Supplement: everything you ever wanted to know about grammar, punctuation, and usage – and never learned.
