The Hardest Thing to Learn

I don't know how it is in other subject areas. This is about writing about the economy.

Everybody has experience with the economy, and everybody knows quite a lot about it. But not everybody studies it and does graphs and like that all the time, like I do. So I guess I tend to look at things different than most people.

I never hesitate to compare what I think to what anyone else thinks -- Paul Krugman or Adam Smith or anybody. How else am I gonna learn more about these ideas?

But most people don't do that, apparently. Most people decide whose ideas they like best, and they adopt not so much the ideas as the the person whose ideas they are.

I see this most often when I am critical of Krugman. No matter how small the difference between my ideas and his, when I point out the difference people immediately rise to the defense of Paul Krugman.

It always catches me by surprise, because I'm not talking about Paul Krugman. I'm talking about the economy. But it happens again and again, and not only to me. I've seen the same thing on other blogs.

Here's a little irony for ya. If I write a lot about Krugman's ideas, it is because I like them a lot. I am sure -- I am positive -- that the people who jump to defend Krugman against my attacks are totally unaware of this, unaware that I am doing nothing more than finessing his ideas.

Anyway, they're not attacks. They're comparisons.

Nevertheless, that's how people are. I would do better not to attempt to make my writing interesting by "challenging" Krugman.

Hard to learn: People don't identify with ideas. People identify with people.

Pruning

Apparently when I write, I say the same thing in different ways.

When I'm reviewing my work and it seems confusing, very often I can solve the problem by saving the best version of a duplicated thought, and pruning away the other.

On Argument

Arguing that something "makes more sense" is pointless. Either it makes more sense to the other person or it does not.

Make your argument, but do not argue that it makes more sense.

Make conclusions explicit

Always say in words what you expect the reader to see in a graph. Otherwise, the words are unfinished.

Writing Tips for Ph. D. Students, by John H. Cochrane

From the PDF at Cochrane's blog:

Organize the paper in “triangular” or “newspaper” style, not in “joke” or “novel” style. Notice how newspapers start with the most important part, then fill in background later for the readers who kept going and want more details. A good joke or a mystery novel has a long windup to the final punchline. Don’t write papers like that — put the punchline right up front and then slowly explain the joke. Readers don’t stick around to find the punchline in Table 12.

Making them up as I go (1)

These rules were originally in text above the posts. I'm moving them into a post, and starting a new set of rules. This set got too long. Thanks.

1. Tell the truth.
2. Don't just make notes. Write paragraphs.
3. If Gibbs can have rules, so can I.
4. Take out the tangents.
5. Let's not use Let's...
6. I'm not quite surprised. I'm surprised.
7. Use few words.
8. Very true: I don't need very.
9. Avoid And. And you often don't need it. And it interferes with meaning and flow. And so on.
10. The word "whether" means "whether or not." Drop the "or not."
11. Don't explain. Just tell a story.
12. Don't argue. Just say things that make sense.
14. Approach the writing as if people will be bored by it. Make it as brief and clear as possible.
15. To emphasize, summarize.
16. Add what seems right, then remove what seems wrong.
17. If if doesn't come easy, get rid of it.
18. Is it interesting?
19. If it ain't short, it don't work.
20. My thoughts focus. They don't "really focus."
21. Introduce the idea first, then make the case.
22. Entice, or fail.
23. Generalizations are always wrong.
24. I don't "would say" something. I say it.
25. Distinguish your conclusions by following them with a separator graphic or a new heading.
26. Skip that part.

Not always, but...

If you are reviewing your own stuff and your mind wanders, maybe that paragraph should come out.

It's still not easy for me to do that.

I do it, I use run-on sentences.

The intent is to convey. Sometimes you want to take half an idea and get it going, and then fire off its rockets and send it into the sky.

The run-on sentence is a tool to be used, like any other. But you have to use it with care, so that the reader knows you know the difference, and knows that you're not just plain illiterate.

You might even want to point it out explicitly.

Showing "that"

Before: I picked up on that theme and tried to show that our reliance on credit increased...

After: I picked up on that theme and tried to show our reliance on credit increasing...

"That" is a word I type while waiting for my mind to come up with the words I want. Often I go back and get rid of it, later.

In this case, I want to show "the reliance on credit". I don't want to show "that".

Get rid of the comma

Times change. Language changes. It's a hard thing to watch. Personally, I think it's related to the decline of civilization. But I guess people always say that as they get older.

One comma so far.

I like to stick commas in things. I like to stick parenthetical expressions in things -- it adds depth and texture to the text. Since I started blogging I do a lot more with dashes and parentheses in addition to offsetting phrases with commas. I think the three styles offer three levels of emphasis: dashes are more emphatic than commas, and parentheses less emphatic. Texture in the text.

Two commas so far.

But times change and people have largely eliminated commas from their thinking. I don't know how that works or where it came from. But you have to cooperate with people if you want them to read your stuff. See, I want to put a comma after "But times change" and another one after "how that works" and another one right here, but I won't do it.

Oops.

Still, it might have been more effective if those last five words were a separate sentence. But I won't do it.

Always make notes

Gee, I thought I had something to say, but I didn't write it down.