© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved Thoughts on Writing in Psychology Not Just an APA Manual Primer (in fact, not that at all!) Thanks to Dick Fulkerson, George Orwell, and Jim Reynolds.

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved The Rhetorical Universe Rhetoric is the art of (persuasive, clear) communication (to some end, to be realized in the reader or listener). The rhetorical universe is the stuff we can communicate about. The shared rhetorical universe is the stuff two or more specific people can communicate about. Writer Reader Message Boundary of the Shared Rhetorical Universe

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved The Rhetorical Universe The message can be clear and direct. Writer Reader Message Boundary of the Shared Rhetorical Universe

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved The Rhetorical Universe Or the message can fail to reach the reader by escaping the shared rhetorical universe. Writer Reader Message Boundary of the Shared Rhetorical Universe

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved The Rhetorical Universe Or the message can be so obscure or convoluted that the reader does not get it. Writer Reader Message Boundary of the Shared Rhetorical Universe

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved The Rhetorical Universe Or the message may be designed not to communicate with the reader at all, but rather with the writer (“auto-communication”). Writer Reader ? Message Boundary of the Shared Rhetorical Universe

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved From Orwell “The great enemy of clear writing is insincerity.”

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved The Rhetorical Universe And sometimes the real message is obscured – deliberately. Writer Reader Message Boundary of the Shared Rhetorical Universe The Lie

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved Orwell Again “…the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.”

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved And… “But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved Orwell’s “Rules” (i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. (ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do. (iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. (iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active. (v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. (vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved Jargon and Our Discipline Jargon is the language developed to communicate efficiently within a discipline.  Einstein noted that, while he could have articulated the general theory of relativity in ordinary language, he did not have the time.  Ordinary language is both incomplete – and too complete.  Hence, we need jargon, but…

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved Jargon and Our Discipline Jargon has at least two functional characteristics  Lexical jargon is a kind of disciplinary shorthand used to point to sets of observations and ideas (summing up the observations). It is necessary to know in order to be a functioning member of the discipline.  Cosmetic jargon is language used to prop up weak ideas with pretentious diction and other gimmicks. Cosmetic jargon may entail the same words and phrases as lexical jargon – what matters is what it points to and its intention, how the speaker/writer is using it.

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved In General, Good Contemporary Writing Is… Purposeful  Craft no phrase, sentence, paragraph, or paper without a clear statement of your rhetorical intent hanging near you.  Review (in your writing) no piece of a piece of literature that doesn’t serve your purpose. Coherent  Make clear how component pieces flow and connect to serve your purpose.  Do outlines, once you discover your purpose. Economic  “Omit excess words.”  Avoid pretentious diction, cosmetic jargon.

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved Avoid Pretentious Diction “Eschew obfuscation!” [Avoid being unclear or confusing!] Some stuff to watch out for:  Using big words because they sound good; the case of Amy’s use of “utilize.”  Avoid passive voice constructions wherever possible – they hide the subject of the action.  Using words from psychology cosmetically.  Using more words than you need.

© Steven E. Ball, All Rights Reserved Some Guy Tracy Knows Has Said “There are no good writers, but a few good re-writers.” ‘Nuff said.