Focus

There is a lot of related but irrelevant stuff in things people say. That's what the word focus means -- to prune away the irrelevant.

Petty Little Things

Working on a post for the economics blog. My technique is to read and revise from start to finish. At the moment, I'm stuck in the title. My working title for the post was

The Myth in 'The Myth of the Great Moderation'
But the first word in that title tells the reader there are no other myths in the thing, just the one I'm writing about. I don't want to say that. So I changed the title to

A Myth in 'The Myth of the Great Moderation'
But now it tells the reader that the writer is a wuss. In this form the title is weak. So hey, take the word out:

Myth in 'The Myth of the Great Moderation'
That's not bad.

It'll be great when I finally get past the title so I can start actually revising the post!

Word Order

The words of each sentence must be in order such that the meaning of the sentence is never in doubt. "The next word" must never be allowed to create confusion. Every word must build on what has come before.

In such a world

Example 1:
"Let's break down Transfers into component parts:"

Example 2:
"Here's a breakdown of Transfers into component parts:"

For a post on my econ blog, I revised the first example to eliminate the "let's" because I think "let's" is creepy. But in the process, the words "break down" changed to one word.

In the first example we're doing something. We're breaking down something. So I think "break down" is a verb.

In the second example we're looking at something. We're looking at a thing, a breakdown. Since the breakdown is a thing, I'm thinking "breakdown" is a noun.

As a noun, it's one word. As a verb, it's two words.

//

At work, when we do a "big picture" drawing we call it a "layout". A layout is a particular kind of drawing. A drawing is a thing. So "layout" is a thing, a noun. One word.

When the guys in the shop start to build something, their first step is to grab some boards and lay them out in the workspace. They "lay out" the boards. It's a verb, and it's two words.

Why? I don't know why. But I know it is correct to say "Lay out the boards from the left end" (or, from wherever). And I know it's illiterate to say "Layout the boards from the left end".

//

When the economy goes bad, illiterate people are more often in charge. Oh, it's not because illiterate people are in charge that the economy goes bad. No. But when the economy goes bad, people have to focus more on money to do well. In such a world, literate people, apparently, have the wrong focus.

That's why they call it a "dark" age.

"Both this and also that"

"Both this and that".

"This and that".

Take the dog out

One of the best things I do when I'm writing is to stop writing when the dog needs attention. Pay attention to the puppy. Grab an end of the pull-toy. Check the water bowl. Break out the treats. All of the above.

It's not foolproof, but often when I come back to the computer, the next sentence is in my fingertips, ready to come out.

Plus, I had fun with the dog.

Be explicit!!!

Draw conclusions from the graphs!
Be explicit!!!
Tell people what I expect them to see in the graphs.

(From my daily notes)