Seven Deadly Sins in Writing

On the topic of writing in biblical studies, Loren Rosson over at The Busybody has a thoughtful post on the “Seven Deadly Sins in Writing.” The deadly sins are taken from Constance Hale’s book, Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose (Broadway, 2001; Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com). Based on the comments on Amazon, this book looks both entertaining and provocative.

Improving Your Academic Writing

Angela Roskop Erisman of Imaginary Grace blogspot (a fairly new one which I was not aware of, but now have added it to my blogroll) has a great post on “Writing in Biblical Studies.” Here is her lead-in to an annotated bibliography:

… ultimately, writing is about communicating ideas we think are important to other people so they might change the way they think or how they live their lives. In other words, writing matters. That is, assuming we want our work to make an impact on people. Good grammar is important. So is clarity. But so are things like grace, elegance, beauty, wit, humor, suspense. Yes, even in academic writing. These elements, which we may associate more with fictional genres, are what engage our readers’ interest and make our ideas pack a lasting punch. Here I review a few works on writing that I find immensely helpful and that have changed the way I think about the task. They’ve helped me get better at making reading and learning an easier, more enjoyable experience. But, more importantly, they have and continue to help me learn to communicate ideas more effectively both to those within and outside of the discipline of biblical studies.

The post as a whole is well worth a careful read. Of the books she notes, I have read a few, though some of them have piqued my interest.  Any reader of this blog knows I can improve my writing style!

(HT Hypotyposeis)