Louder Than Words, by Benjamin Bergen, tells us to "use concrete words, active verbs, and positive statements" (according to reviewer KP Hagen)

KP Hagen is an able source of summaries of important (often overlooked) texts.  


Here is her summary so far of Louder than Words by Benjamin Bergen

Louder than Words is about the Embodiment Theory of language. fMRIs are confirming what good writers have been telling us for ages--use concrete words, use active verbs, use positive statements--and now we know why. http://www.amazon.com/Louder-Than-Words-Science-ebook/dp/B00918JOBI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370281884&sr=8-1&keywords=louder+than+words 

My take away from it, based on being about halfway through is ideas on how to make our communication easier to understand. Sure, these are ideas all writing teachers have, but now we know why they work.

1. Use concrete nouns

2. Use action verbs

3. State ideas in the positive (because it you state in the negative, people have to imagine the idea and then make it the opposite). So, better than The dog was not clean, say or write, The dog was dirty.

4. Make sure your metaphoric or descriptive language works from a body standpoint--doesn't have to be your body, but something that could have been seen, heard, felt, smelled, tasted.

-- KPHagen 

I hope these summaries are helpful to readers of this blog.  I find them essential to my continued growth as a writer and interpretor of research.   READ MORE