atw: Re: SEC: UNCLASS Frameworks
- From: "Howard Silcock" <howard.silcock@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Austechwriter" <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 19:46:15 +1000
Bede
As usual, your email goes to the heart of the matter: what should we do
about bad usage when we see it?
In some cases, you can easily replace the offending word or phrase ? and
stand by to justify your change in case the author queries it. But, as you
say, the 'framework' example is more difficult, and could possibly only be
dealt with by radical rewriting. Sometimes - and the example I quoted is
probably one such time - when you try to rewrite it in simpler language you
see that the author's convoluted language just masks the lack of anything
worth saying or puffs up something inconsequential.
In these cases, whether you can do anything, as an editor, depends on a
number of things. It may depend on your relationship with the author and
whether you're willing to accuse him or her openly of a 'snow job'. Or in
some cases you can get away with quietly rewriting so it's clear that it
really says nothing (or repeats something already said - that's another
trick) and then just waiting to see what happens.
I've raised this example and others as part of my own project - trying to
pinpoint for myself why certain words and phrases raise my hackles and to
see if I can discover any general lessons from the specific cases. (I nearly
said 'identify' general lessons!) That way I can educate myself, at least,
to recognise bad writing and perhaps improve my own writing. Luckily I don't
just edit others' work, so improving my own may be a small contribution.
Mentioning examples here is valuable, as I get others' reactions and often
they've been useful. Sometimes - and again the present example could be an
instance - I start to question whether my reaction is justifiable.
I certainly agree with you about 'weak' words and I'd like to be able to
describe more clearly how they occur and the effect they have.
Howard
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