Classic style: A cure for stale academic writing

Good writing is about structure and function, rather than being merely ornamental or decorative. The focus in writing should be on the underlying framework, logic, and organisation, rather than superficial stylistic flourishes. Classic style is a style of writing where the author writes from the perspective of someone who has seen something and is now trying to show the reader what is clearly to be seen.

In classic style, the motive is truth, the purpose is presentation, the reader and writer are intellectual equals, and the occasion is informal. It’s a form that combines clarity and authority. The idiom of classic style is the voice of conversation. The writer adopts the pose of a speaker of near-perfect efficiency whose sentences are the product of the voice rather than some instrument of writing.

Thomas & Turner (2011). Clear and Simple as the Truth.

Poor academic writing

There are probably several reasons for why a lot of academic writing stinks (Pinker’s words, not mine), but the one that I feel has affected me the most is the belief that my writing is meant to be ‘objective’, ‘formal’, or ‘impersonal’. This misguided belief has led to a proliferation of stale, convoluted academic prose that obscures rather than illuminates.

Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.

Ernest Hemingway.

In short, I often fall into the trap of ‘decorating’ the text with useless words rather than stripping them away.

Read: Embrace minimalism in data presentation.

Classic style

A possible solution is to think of writing as architecture, and the best way I know of to do this is to write in classic style. In classic style, you:

• Prioritise substance over style. Your goal should be to convey ideas, arguments, and evidence clearly and logically.
• Emphasise structure and organisation. Craft a logical flow of ideas, with an introduction, body, and conclusion that guides the reader through the argument.
• Avoid unnecessary complexity. Aim for concision and clarity, rather than complexity for its own sake, by avoiding convoluted language or complicated sentence structures.
• Focus on functionality. Aim to communicate research, analysis, and ideas effectively.

Too often, academics fall into the trap of “decorating” the text with jargon and convoluted phrasing, when simple, direct language would serve the reader (and the writer’s own ideas) much better. By focusing on classic style in your writing, you can produce work that is not only more readable and impactful, but also more rewarding.

Focus on function over form, structure over style, and you’ll find your words taking on a newfound power and elegance.