Comments on: Computer Science students, learn to write! http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2011/08/04/computer-science-students-learn-to-write/ Stay curious! Thu, 02 May 2013 12:36:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Jeremy http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2011/08/04/computer-science-students-learn-to-write/#comment-19710 Jeremy Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:48:23 +0000 http://www.xaprb.com/blog/?p=2410#comment-19710 I’d like to take your thought one step further, Barron. Written communication lacks facial expression and the rest of body language in its delivery; I think there’s more chance for misinterpretation in the written word as compared to the spoken word.

]]> By: Xaprb http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2011/08/04/computer-science-students-learn-to-write/#comment-19582 Xaprb Sat, 20 Aug 2011 21:26:55 +0000 http://www.xaprb.com/blog/?p=2410#comment-19582 Icky. Yes.

]]> By: Tim McCormack http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2011/08/04/computer-science-students-learn-to-write/#comment-19580 Tim McCormack Sat, 20 Aug 2011 16:28:46 +0000 http://www.xaprb.com/blog/?p=2410#comment-19580 @PJ: I feel that when you accept advertising on your site, it limits your freedom of speech and can cause a perception of bias when touchy subjects come up. I suspect Baron has similar reasoning.

Also, it just feels icky. :-P

]]> By: PJ Brunet http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2011/08/04/computer-science-students-learn-to-write/#comment-19566 PJ Brunet Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:20:54 +0000 http://www.xaprb.com/blog/?p=2410#comment-19566 “I don’t make money from this blog, so don’t expect it to take a HN link gracefully.”

Throw up a banner in the right spot, get a VPS and maybe your blog income surpasses your other income. No doubt you have authority in the search engines for $20/click keyword phrases.

]]> By: Roland Bouman http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2011/08/04/computer-science-students-learn-to-write/#comment-19565 Roland Bouman Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:00:10 +0000 http://www.xaprb.com/blog/?p=2410#comment-19565 Hi!

Really nice and refreshing post, thanks! There’s one particular thing I’d like to comment on:

“It is about the structure and process of the thought that created the writing”

I agree, but it’s part of the hard work – certainly a pre-requisite, but not the final goal. Where this represents the substance of the message, successful communication also requires its delivery. You could call it “style”: matters of flow, mood, and pace. I don’t pretend I have a recipe for it, but the obvious factors that influence it are the audience and the context wherein you place your message.

In my attempts to write a piece toward a specific audience, I found there is a bunch of competing properties. Coincidentally I always end up with a list of C-words: clarity, completeness, concreteness, coherence, consistency. (I could add comprehensive and concise, but I think those are actually a consequence of mixing these 5).

Assuming one agrees these 5 things are always desirable, there’s a lot to be said about how these things work against each other – a bit more than I can reasonably leave here in a comment. Perhaps I should write that down in blog of my own sometime … :-)

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