Wednesday, February 22, 2012

How to improve writing (no. 36)

When the context is serious, and a pun would do no more than call attention to its maker’s cleverness, block that pun. From a New York Times article on suspected forgeries of modern American painters:

A few details, however, have dripped out in court documents and through interviews with other players in the case, enough to sketch out what happened.
Notice that the metaphor is mixed: it would be awkward at best to sketch with what’s been dripping. Better:
A few details, however, have come out in court documents and in interviews with other players in the case, enough to suggest what happened.
[This post is no. 36 in a series, “How to improve writing,” dedicated to improving stray bits of public prose.]

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