“What does it mean to ‘write like you talk’?” by Arjun Panickssery
09:40 Share

People often say to “write like you talk.” Paul Graham has a post titled “Write Like You Talk” where he says explicitly that written language is worse than spoken language because

• “Written language is more complex, which makes it more work to read”
• “It's also more formal and distant, which gives the reader's attention permission to drift”
• “The complex sentences and fancy words give you, the writer, the false impression that you’re saying more than you actually are”

He gives concrete advice: “Before I publish a new essay, I read it out loud and fix everything that doesn't sound like conversation. … [If you have] writing so far removed from spoken language that it couldn't be fixed sentence by sentence … try explaining to a friend what you just wrote. Then replace the draft with what you said to your friend.”

In “Politics and the English Language,” Orwell [...]

First published: May 15th, 2025

Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/TECaEvFeRdjaYK7sM/what-does-it-mean-to-write-like-you-talk)

    ---
    

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO).

Images from the article: ))) Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts), or another podcast app.