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Stefi Atanaskovic Professor McKeever 11 September 2013 English 1010 Word Count: 611 How to Say Nothing in 500 Words In How to Say Nothing in 500 Words (1956), Professor Paul Roberts (1917-1967) argues that the writers job is to find the argument, the approach, the angle, the wording to take the reader with him. He thinks that readers have a right to expect writers to make even a dull subject interesting. Roberts suggests that writers can make their essays come alive taking the less usual side, by avoiding pat expressions, clichs, and euphemisms, by slipping out of abstraction, calling a fool a fool, and choosing the apt word. The first thing Roberts wants writers to avoid is writing obvious arguments. Conventional points will not capture or surprise the reader. Roberts also wants the reader to think about things in a way that others wouldnt right away. When writing down the first thing that comes to mind, odds are everyone else with the assignment did too. It is better to be strong and opinionated than to write the same paper as everyone else. Another thing is to stay away from abstraction. The writer must clearly write what he wants to write, and paint the picture clearly for the reader. Dont be dull, but dont be too nonconcrete either. Furthermore, Roberts also argues that lean and tough sentences are the way to go. Filling sentences with words that are only intended to fill space brings down the quality of your essay. Timidity can also be a problem when writing.

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Roberts says, Decide what you want to say and say it as vigorously as possible, without apology and in plain words. He wants the writer to clearly state what they want, not to hold back or be apologetic. Strong opinions will add crispness the work and hold attention. Pat expressions are also a danger that we are notified about by the author. Pat expressions are, as stated by the author, sentences that are no creation of yours but pieces of common thought floating in the community soup. These add nothing to our papers except extra words. Once Roberts is done warning us about the sentence structure felonies we may commit, he goes on to talk about words. The first topic he discusses is colorful words. They can be very helpful in aiding to produce a certain image or emotion when read. Words such as blistering, steamy or wilting instead of words like hot. He goes on to speak on the topic of colored words- words loaded with associations. These associations can be good or bad, and we relate it to situations in which we have heard the word before. The last topic he discusses is colorless words. In other words, words like nice. The idea is conveyed, but theres no depth. Replacing these words with colorful words as mentioned above will make the paper much stronger and interesting. Roberts dissects our writing to show us the things we might do that make our papers tedious and repetitive, and gives the reader a way to realize and fix the mistakes. He reads writing and compares it to other essays of the same topic, not just as the individual. He makes us look at our writing the way the reader would. Instead of being biased because we wrote it, we really look at it for what it says. Not our thoughts, but the words printed on the paper. This essay was to show us that we can break free from the seemingly easier and stereotypical writing techniques that weve become numb to and write a paper that the professor hasnt read 20 times and can enjoy.