Jay JG wrote
Do we really want "brilliant prose"?
Used to.
Is that even possible in an
Encyclopedia? What would "brillaint prose" look like in the context of an
Encyclopedia; do we have any articles which contain examples? I would
have
thought that "clear and concise" would have
been more of the kind of
things
we are aiming for as regards prose, though I'm not
stating that as an
adamant point.
I don't want brilliant prose in an article on heart disease. Decent writing
always helps popular science (cf. New Scientist). In current affairs it is
far from useless (cf. The Economist); we can't use the Economist's style
book unrevised, but there is a lot in having it crisp and articulate.
''Clear and concise" is more the idealised civil servant's style -
pretty
good if the point is to get succinct versions of arguments written without
distortion.
I think most of the style books make points about keeping vitality in the
prose, not just conforming to 'rules'.
Charles