Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [clarity]

Making things clear and easy to understand.

Questions about making one's writing easy to read. How to keep things from being too complex. How to make complicated subjects simple.

49 questions
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How should I introduce new and complex technologies or tools?

I'm writing a Science Fiction book. While this book doesn't push reality very far, there are some new technologies and tools that I have added. One tool is used more frequently than all the others, and it has a very complex system (although there…
JMcAfreak
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How to distinguish if a novel is science fiction or fantasy?

Through the process of writing my novel, I've found that I really don't know where it fits in the written realm. I believe I should have a clear understanding to identify what genre my book belongs in. Fantasy is about things that cannot occur and…
FearlessWriter
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Two magical realities, ours isn't one of them. How do I stop my readers from getting confused?

I'm writing a story with a world that has different physics, alchemy rather than chemistry, and biology that relies somewhat on magic. The protagonist is not of this world, however he is not of our world either. His powers do not work like the…
Piomicron
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How can I balance clarity and voice when rewriting complex sentences?

I often struggle when revising complex sentences in my writing. On one hand, I want my prose to be clear and accessible to readers; on the other, I want to maintain my unique voice and style. For example, I might write a sentence that’s rich in…
F. A. Mala
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2 answers

Is a parenthetical reference to a later part of the text redundant in non-fiction writing?

The response will either be an evasion (we will come to that later), or it will be . . . Is the above (or similar) parenthetical redundant? (I couldn't find a suitable tag for this question, something like…
blackened
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How can one provide more clarity and still be concise?

I am working on revising a petition because one of my friends said that it needs a lot of revision. For one, they said that it needed clarity, and for another, it needed to be concise. My question is, isn't there a way to balance out both at the…
The Harmonic Rainbow
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How can I express this fragment more clearly and concisely?

For the 'who is this application for' section of an application user guide, I have the following alternatives, I'm not happy with either one. How can I convey both elements more clearly and consisely? What I want to convey: The business…
marfarma
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Which manual of style suggests using parentheses within parentheses?

When it comes to nested parentheses, there are two options. (The first is to use square brackets for the inner text [like this]. The second is to use parentheses again (like this).) I believe that nested parentheses should be avoided where possible.…
hb20007
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How to clarify between imagined sensations and "real" fantasy events?

I feel like the title is worded really bad, but I seem to be unable to find a better way. I am not a native speaker. Scenario A: A character is in an exceptional state of mind (i.e. drug use etc.) and envisions vivid imagery, sounds, smell…
user13402
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1 answer

How to write a puzzle without being too descriptive or vague?

I have recently joined the Puzzling.SE site and I am excited to ask few puzzles there. However, I am stuck, rather confused as to how a puzzle qualifies as good and precise. I want to ensure its clarity but at the same time I don't want to end up…
Karan Desai
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Is there a widely accepted standard for representing simultaneous ongoing events in a screenplay?

Let's say I'm writing a scene where Arnold and Jo are arguing over whether to go out tonight or not. While they do this, though, Rupert is also in the process of constructing a house of cards, and Gertrude is quite noisily searching in the cupboard…
TheTermiteSociety
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Feedback on technical blog post

I've recently composed a blog post about World of Warcraft Authenticators and would love for some feedback as per the quality of writing. Obviously no matter how many times I read it there's no substitute for others to cast their eye over it, so I…
m.edmondson
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What makes bad repetitions?

I want to make some long, sophisticated sentences in my writing, but evidently, I tend to use redundancies that damage elegance. The kind that has been pointed out to me is the use of multiple synonymous verbs as simple predicates within full…
user70995
4
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5 answers

How can this technical message be made clearer?

How could this technical sentenced be improved for better clarity? Cannot translate the ‘name1’ concept1 to the ‘name2’ concept2 because the higher precedence ‘name3’ concept3 also exists, which overrides it. This is a technical message to a user…
WilliamKF
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Is sacrificing "clarity" for sounding smarter on a college continued interest letter a good idea?

I put "clarity" in quotes because I know it is not the right word but I cannot think of what the correct word should be. I am writing a continued interest letter for my top college. I have an engineering/computer science-based internship and I am…
Dylan Levine
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