In my career as an academic librarian, I was often asked to teach students to think about the credibility of the information they incorporate into their academic, professional, personal, and civic lives. In my teaching and writing, I have struggled to make sense of the complex and nuanced factors that make some information more credible and other information less so. I donât have all the answers for dealing with problematic information, but I try hard to convince people to think carefully about the information they encounter before accepting any of it as credible or dismissing any of it as non-credible.
Because this book was first published in 1962, you might be surprised to learn that it has a lot to tell us about communication in the Digital Age.
McLuhanâs thesis is that, just as moving from a world dominated by oral communication to a world dominated by print changed human cognition, the movement to electronic communicationâwhich, in 1962, primarily meant televisionâwas actively rewiring human cognition.
Reading The Guttenberg Galaxy causes me to marvel at how thoroughly McLuhan understood that a technology that was then only in its infancy was going to change the way people think in profound, sometimes unsettling ways.
Iâve been working with words for over 25 years, as a writer and editor in publishing houses, design studios, and now as a freelance. I help everyone from big brands and small businesses through to academics and consultants get their ideas out of their heads and on to the page. I was an original co-founder of ProCopywriters, the UK alliance for commercial writers. Iâve written and self-published four books, the most recent of which is How to Write Clearly. The books Iâve chosen all helped me to write as clearly as I canânot least when writing about writing itself. I hope they help you too!
Some writing guides can be a little bit âcitation needed.â The author certainly sounds like they mean itâbut whereâs the proof?
Thereâs no such problem with Anne Janzerâs superb Writing to be Understood. Setting out to get to the heart of what makes a piece of text clear and memorable, she offers a masterclass in clear and expressive writing.
Along the way, she interviews experts in every area from non-fiction writing to psychology, risk management, behavioral design, and even comedy, bringing their authoritative guidance directly into her book. Read, learn, and see your writing improve.
Have you ever wondered what makes your favorite nonfiction books so compelling, understandable, or enjoyable to read? Those works connect with you, as a reader. When you recognize what's happening, you can apply those same methods to your own writing.
Writing To Be Understood is the thinking writer's guide to effective nonfiction writing techniques, such as:
- Using analogies to illustrate unseen concepts - Appealing to the reader's innate curiosity - Balancing humility with credibility
For each topic, the book combines insights from cognitive science with advice from writers and expert practitioners in fields of psychology, technology, economics, medicine, policy,âŚ
