We see illogical structures more often than we think.

And the worst part?

We tend to blame ourselves when we struggle to parse a sentence, instead of noticing how the writer may have inadvertently made our job harder.

Question​

I recently had a question from a subscriber of the free email course. When they first read about given to new, they asked:

I remember distinctly that The Economist often tells you the new number first. So they say: The Fed has increased interest to 4% from 3.5%. I always struggle a bit parsing that and am inclined to say: The Fed increased interest from 3.5% to 4%.

Would you put that under the given to new rule? And what might be their reason for switching it up?

Answer​

When you notice that you struggle a bit parsing that, that's a red flag. If the sentence was logically written, you would not be struggling.

What makes this structure illogical?

Let's break it down and look at what the reader expects at every moment:

1. Subject and verb: The Fed has increased
   Expectation: I will see a what and then I will see an increase.

2. Object: interest
   Expectation: Good. I expected to see a what. Now I will see an increase.

3. Numbers: to 4% from 3.5%
   Expectation: WHAT? I was expecting an increase. When I read from left to right, the numbers are going down, not up! I am so confused.

Why are you confused? Because it's an illogical structure.

A good writer will consciously set your expectations and then follow through on them.​

They will not suddenly pull the rug out from under your feet!

Here's another example:

A recent Pew Research Center analysis reported that from 1965 to 2011, fathers reduced the number of hours they devoted to paid work to about 37 from 42 each week on average and increased the number of hours they devoted to childcare each week to about seven from 2.5.

The numbers gave you the opposite of what you expected. They set you up to expect a decrease and the numbers went up. Then they set you up to expect an increase and the numbers went down!

Photo by Elisa Ventur

How frustrating. Did you also notice that the numerals are not used consistently either ('seven' vs. 2.5)? There's no reason for that, either.

Will you start noticing when the writer makes you work harder to read?​

And will you realize that it's not your fault when you struggle to parse an illogical sentence?

Speakers of Romance languages like French, Italian, or Spanish can face some specific difficulties when writing advanced English.

If you are in this situation, check out the following 3 tips to help you with the most common difficulties:

Writing is hard for everyone, that’s a given.

But writing is hard in a different way for native speakers and non-native speakers of English.

Most teachers don't have time to explicitly teach writing as well as their content matter, but they still want students to write decently.

Because of course, who will be reading those papers?

If this sounds familiar to you, then why not use ReallyWrite in your classes? It's minimal effort, zero risk, and high reward.

To get you started:

5 ways you can use ReallyWrite to make your teaching life easier​

Those articles haven't always been so heavy​

Do you ever put down an article and wonder if it really had to be so hard to read? If it couldn't have been easier, lighter, more interesting? If it couldn´t have been written in a way that made it a pleasure, not a burden, to read?

Research articles don't have to be so heavy. They haven't always been this way.

Learning feels uncomfortable​

It's human nature to seek pleasure and avoid pain. But when it comes to learning, the proverb is true: no pain, no gain.

Learning is supposed to be hard. It is supposed to make us feel vulnerable and uncertain.

But when we're in the middle of that discomfort and we feel like everything is wrong, we may start to think that we haven't learned anything. Or we may get discouraged and think that we will never learn it. Maybe we want to lash out or give up.

My academic writing classes start with skeptics and usually end with converts. The path between can be uncomfortable.

Some participants hate writing. Some have had bad past experiences, which they describe as "frustrating" and even "traumatic".

My students sometimes feel that applying the principles[^1] of clear writing conflicts with them developing their own personal writing style.

We can resolve this conflict if we think about our stages of learning. I particularly like using the ancient Japanese concept of Shuhari.

Academic writing can be hard--hard to read and harder to write. But does it have to be?

Does academic writing have to be so hard?​

What rule states that academic writing should be heavy and exhausting to read?

Can your structure be simple, even if your subject matter is complex?

Will readers understand your complicated topic better if they first have to untangle a complicated structure?

Can academic writing be easy to read? Even, dare I say it, enjoyable?

How often do you stop to reflect on the purpose of your research and the purpose of the article or book you are writing?

Photo by Ian Schneider

Why are you doing that research? What is your ultimate reason for writing that article?

• To get your PhD?
• To make yourself look smart?
• To be respected?

Or maybe

• to convey your research results and implications as clearly as possible?

How do we learn to "write academically"?​