S**********9
发帖数: 217 | 1 Improving writing skill has become a vital objective for my 2011 performance
. My boss will evaluate it in six months.
I admit my writing skill is not good. Squeezing out a sentence is a painful
job to me.
Can anyone share your experience with me regarding how to improve writing
skill? Is there any particular method that may be very helpful?
Thank you! |
r****z
发帖数: 393 | |
s***e
发帖数: 7166 | 3 should be write write write
【在 r****z 的大作中提到】
: read, read, read
|
n***p
发帖数: 7668 | 4 这个， 自己盲目的乱写是不会有提高的。 就像练毛笔字，还是要多读字贴，多临摹。
【在 s***e 的大作中提到】
: should be write write write
|
l******r
发帖数: 18699 | 5 copy copy copy
performance
painful
【在 S**********9 的大作中提到】
: Improving writing skill has become a vital objective for my 2011 performance
: . My boss will evaluate it in six months.
: I admit my writing skill is not good. Squeezing out a sentence is a painful
: job to me.
: Can anyone share your experience with me regarding how to improve writing
: skill? Is there any particular method that may be very helpful?
: Thank you!
|
o****l
发帖数: 1910 | 6 paste paste paste
【在 l******r 的大作中提到】
: copy copy copy
:
: performance
: painful
|
w***n
发帖数: 1084 | 7 推荐一本书：
BUGS in Writing - A guide to Debugging Your Prose, written by Lyn Dupre.
都是用实例的，很容易学。 |
U**D
发帖数: 102 | 8 呵呵
【在 o****l 的大作中提到】
: paste paste paste
|
M*****n
发帖数: 16729 | 9 1, read,
2, write,
3, go to 1 |
c*********7
发帖数: 7607 | 10
19 Reviews
5 star:
(7)
4 star:
(6)
3 star:
(3)
2 star:
(2)
1 star:
(1)
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
92 of 108 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Buy a better book, January 10, 2003
By Barbara Nostrand "Barbara Nostrand" (Syracuse, NY USA) - See all my
reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: BUGS in Writing, Revised Edition: A Guide to Debugging
Your Prose (2nd Edition) (Paperback)
This is an annoying book. The author of this book claims that she wrote it
for "computer people" whom she goes on to define as just about anyone who
has visited the computer aisle in a bookstore. I was briefly employed as a
technical writer while in graduate school and have found writing a constant
part of technical employment in industry. I am currently a computer science
professor who firmly believes that students need to learn how to write.
Consequently, I incorporate writing into many of my courses. However, I can
not recommend BUGS in Writing by Lyn Dupre.
Although the author cites the Manual of Style published by the University of
Chicago Press, she failed to take to heart a number of its recommendations.
In particular, her use of footnotes is excessive and often distracting. The
overall design of the book appears very self-indulgent with its copious use
of personal photographs unrelated to the text. The author is committed to
"gender free" text to the point of altering the accepted names for famous
computer science problems such as the Traveling Salesman Problem to suit her
personal agenda and insists that others do likewise. She allows other petty
issues to spoil her work. For example, she writes: "A dissertation is a
document that you write as part of the fulfillment of requirements for a
degree¡Ä A thesis is an assertion that you have presumably
validated or
proved ¡Ä" This is contrary to accepted practice at many and
probably most
academic institutions. While Martin Luther may have nailed his 95 thesis to
a church door, some schools call even the paper presented for a doctorate a
"thesis" while others reserve the term for a work presented for a master&#
161;Çs
degree. Current practice is to begin scholarly works with an "abstract" and
not a "thesis".
Another of Dupres personal crusades is expressed in a foray against "split
infinitives". She writes as if split infinitives are a recent abberation. In
The Elements of Style, Strunk and White note that: "There is precedent from
the fourteenth century down for interposing an adverb between to and the
infinitive it governs." They also note that the "split infinitive" has a
role when the author wishes to stress the adverb as in "To boldly go where
no man has gone before." Strunk and White go on to note: "Some infinitives
seem to improve on being split." Dupres¡Ç partisanship in the slit
infinitive "wars" is much less disturbing than her one-sided account of the
split infinitive.
Her diatribe against use of "data" as a singular in computer science is also
excessive. Data is the plural of datum in Latin. The problem with treating
data as a plural taking "are" in computer science is the distinction in
English between enumerable and non-enumerable nouns. While there are uses of
the word data where it is clearly plural, this is not the case in much of
computer science literature where it is used in a non-enumerable sense. In
English, the tradition is to treat non-enumerable nouns as singular. An odd
recent development is pluralization of "email" as "emails" while "mail"
continues to be treated as non- enumerable. Finally, data is often used as
an adjective in computer science. English traditionally uses singular nouns
for this purpose such as "horse barn" or "cow pasture" in preference to
"horses barn" or "cattle pasture". Similarly, a famous English university is
commonly called Oxford and not Oxenford. Insisting upon treating data as a
plural would have much more serious consequences than portrayed by Dupres
and other opponents of data as a non-enumerable. Under her system, we would
properly write of "datum structures" rather than "data structures". In
short, English majors should not meddle with semantics of individual words
until they learn the field of discourse employing those words.
Although the author claims to have written a book for "computer people" she
seems to be unaware of typesetting using LaTeX or the electronic style
sheets provided by technical publishers. She also appears ignorant of
coupling typesetting equations with output produced by either Maple or
Mathematica. Although her book does contain a brief section on theorems and
similar material, this section is too short and lacks sufficient detail to
aid the reader. Despite her attention to typography, she does not make a
clear recommendation on how to emphasize technical words in a work with lots
of italicized text.
Some of the author's advice is well taken. She justly condemns use of
passive voice in scientific writing. Her insistence on maintaining noun
constancy is also well worth reading. Problems with noun consistency is
exacerbated if you anticipate translation into Japanese where variation in
nouns is less tolerated than it is in English. Unfortunately, even some of
her good advice betrays a lack of understanding of computer science. While
Dupre correctly argues for using monospace fonts for typesetting code, she
appears ignorant of the reasons for preferring this convention. In one piece
of advice she uses writing about stacks and queues as an example, but in her
example labeled "good" she delivers confused prose which betrays ignorance
of the subject. This spoils an otherwise good section.
In a world with many excellent books about writing, I can not recommend
buying Dupre's book. If you are specifically interested in writing for
computer science, then you should buy and read a copy of Writing for
Computer Science by Justin Zobel. If you wish to write mathematics, you
should buy and read a copy of How to Write Mathematics by Steenrod. The Art
of Readable Writing by Rudolf Flesch continues to deliver excellent advice
on writing in a much more compact package than Bugs in Writing. I also
recommend Manual of Style by the University of Chicago Press, The Elements
of Style by Strunk and White, and A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms by Lanham.
As for BUGS in Writing, I can only speculate that Ms. Dupre made the error
of editing her own book.
【在 w***n 的大作中提到】
: 推荐一本书：
: BUGS in Writing - A guide to Debugging Your Prose, written by Lyn Dupre.
: 都是用实例的，很容易学。
|
|
|
w***n
发帖数: 1084 | 11 那些amazon review不靠谱，自己去看看那本书就知道了。特别适合中国人，尤其是搞
CS的。而且例子都特具体。这儿都是人手一本。
【在 c*********7 的大作中提到】
:
: 19 Reviews
: 5 star:
: (7)
: 4 star:
: (6)
: 3 star:
: (3)
: 2 star:
: (2)
|
S**********9
发帖数: 217 | 12 谢谢推荐。
有这本书电子版的链接下载吗？还是只有去买了。
【在 w***n 的大作中提到】
: 那些amazon review不靠谱，自己去看看那本书就知道了。特别适合中国人，尤其是搞
: CS的。而且例子都特具体。这儿都是人手一本。
|
w***n
发帖数: 1084 | 13 好像才20多，也不是很贵吧。而且这书特适合没事随便翻着看，不需要连续从头看到尾
。 |
q**********0
发帖数: 335 | |
b*****n
发帖数: 684 | 15 Besides reading more and writing more, another personal experience: ask
someone you trust in terms of writing skills to revise your writing, and
LEARN from his revision. |
p****x
发帖数: 980 | 16 You may play with facebook and blogger.
If you write extensively on a daily basis,
you may improve the fluency of your writing substancially
and be able to think in English.
As for academic writing, you might need some professional tutors' help.
They can read your essays and offer you feedback.
Good luck!
performance
painful
【在 S**********9 的大作中提到】
: Improving writing skill has become a vital objective for my 2011 performance
: . My boss will evaluate it in six months.
: I admit my writing skill is not good. Squeezing out a sentence is a painful
: job to me.
: Can anyone share your experience with me regarding how to improve writing
: skill? Is there any particular method that may be very helpful?
: Thank you!
|
m**n
发帖数: 750 | 17 co-ask. any good writing book in biomedical field?
【在 q**********0 的大作中提到】
: 这本书适合搞生物研究的吗？谢谢！
|
L**Y
发帖数: 134 | 18 这个主意听起来不错,但实在不靠谱. 你把同样的一篇文章给两个人看, 意见有可能完
全相反的.
【在 b*****n 的大作中提到】
: Besides reading more and writing more, another personal experience: ask
: someone you trust in terms of writing skills to revise your writing, and
: LEARN from his revision.
|
t******y
发帖数: 58 | 19 和老板一起改文章。改来改去，觉得自己写出来的句子结构就像有老板的口音一样，挥
之不去。
另外，多读science nature。如果烦，就看看time，上面的英语很有水平。
performance
painful
【在 S**********9 的大作中提到】
: Improving writing skill has become a vital objective for my 2011 performance
: . My boss will evaluate it in six months.
: I admit my writing skill is not good. Squeezing out a sentence is a painful
: job to me.
: Can anyone share your experience with me regarding how to improve writing
: skill? Is there any particular method that may be very helpful?
: Thank you!
|
b*****n
发帖数: 684 | 20 what i was saying is to ask others about English writing only, not about
technical. when i first started, my writings had lots of grammatic errors.
any good domestic writers can pick them out easily. it is my personal
experience. if you think it 不靠谱, don't worry about it. just trying to
help lz.
【在 L**Y 的大作中提到】
: 这个主意听起来不错,但实在不靠谱. 你把同样的一篇文章给两个人看, 意见有可能完
: 全相反的.
|
