Dr. George Gopen
@georgegopen.bsky.social
Follow me for a proven approach to writing clearly about even complex subjects like science and law. I have trained tens of thousands of professionals who have won billions in funding. Explore training at https://readerexpectation.com
Useless advice: "Omit needless words." On some level, you thought you needed all those words.
#badwriting #useless
#badwriting #useless
December 26, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Useless advice: "Omit needless words." On some level, you thought you needed all those words.
#badwriting #useless
#badwriting #useless
Terrible advice for writers: "Avoid the passive." You cannot write sophisticated prose on a complex matter without the aid of the passive.
#sciencewriting #PolicyWriting #grantwriting #legalwriting #badwriting #terribleadvice #ProfessionalDevelopment #englishlearning #englishlanguage
#sciencewriting #PolicyWriting #grantwriting #legalwriting #badwriting #terribleadvice #ProfessionalDevelopment #englishlearning #englishlanguage
December 26, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Terrible advice for writers: "Avoid the passive." You cannot write sophisticated prose on a complex matter without the aid of the passive.
#sciencewriting #PolicyWriting #grantwriting #legalwriting #badwriting #terribleadvice #ProfessionalDevelopment #englishlearning #englishlanguage
#sciencewriting #PolicyWriting #grantwriting #legalwriting #badwriting #terribleadvice #ProfessionalDevelopment #englishlearning #englishlanguage
#badwriting advice: "To see if your document is good, read it aloud." You already know how to read it. Will your reader?
#readerexpectation #ProfesionalDevelopemnt #writerslife #sciencewriting #legalwriting #grantwriting
#readerexpectation #ProfesionalDevelopemnt #writerslife #sciencewriting #legalwriting #grantwriting
December 25, 2025 at 7:40 PM
#badwriting advice: "To see if your document is good, read it aloud." You already know how to read it. Will your reader?
#readerexpectation #ProfesionalDevelopemnt #writerslife #sciencewriting #legalwriting #grantwriting
#readerexpectation #ProfesionalDevelopemnt #writerslife #sciencewriting #legalwriting #grantwriting
Here's a holiday present! A quick introduction to the Reader Expectation Approach!
youtu.be/4Zd_dDD1Mls?...
youtu.be/4Zd_dDD1Mls?...
How a writer can reach their reader's mind using Gopen's Reader Expectation Approach
YouTube video by Gopen's Reader Expectation Approach
youtu.be
December 25, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Here's a holiday present! A quick introduction to the Reader Expectation Approach!
youtu.be/4Zd_dDD1Mls?...
youtu.be/4Zd_dDD1Mls?...
Let's spend the next several posts debunking common #badwriting advice: "Write the way you speak." When you speak, you use body and voice to convey meaning. These disappear on paper.
#readerexpectation #writerslife #writerscommunity #ProfessionalDevelopment
#readerexpectation #writerslife #writerscommunity #ProfessionalDevelopment
December 25, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Let's spend the next several posts debunking common #badwriting advice: "Write the way you speak." When you speak, you use body and voice to convey meaning. These disappear on paper.
#readerexpectation #writerslife #writerscommunity #ProfessionalDevelopment
#readerexpectation #writerslife #writerscommunity #ProfessionalDevelopment
Wishing you all a creative holiday season!
December 25, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Wishing you all a creative holiday season!
When you are reading a word, you are reading it simultaneously as part of multiple units — phrase, sentence, document.
#readerexpectation #writingtips #writerslife #professionaldevelopment
#readerexpectation #writingtips #writerslife #professionaldevelopment
December 21, 2025 at 7:53 PM
When you are reading a word, you are reading it simultaneously as part of multiple units — phrase, sentence, document.
#readerexpectation #writingtips #writerslife #professionaldevelopment
#readerexpectation #writingtips #writerslife #professionaldevelopment
You cannot write a sentence that will mean exactly the same to all readers. Complete control by the writer is impossible.
#REA #readerexpectation #writing #writerslife #professionalwriting #writingtips #professionaldevelopment #confusion #Englishlanguage #communicationtips
#REA #readerexpectation #writing #writerslife #professionalwriting #writingtips #professionaldevelopment #confusion #Englishlanguage #communicationtips
December 17, 2025 at 8:59 PM
You cannot write a sentence that will mean exactly the same to all readers. Complete control by the writer is impossible.
#REA #readerexpectation #writing #writerslife #professionalwriting #writingtips #professionaldevelopment #confusion #Englishlanguage #communicationtips
#REA #readerexpectation #writing #writerslife #professionalwriting #writingtips #professionaldevelopment #confusion #Englishlanguage #communicationtips
Readers of English read from left to right and through time. Writers should understand that and use it to their advantage.
#readerexpecation #rea #writerslife #sciencewriting #legalwriting #communicationstips #writingtips #professionalwriting #professionaldevelopment
#readerexpecation #rea #writerslife #sciencewriting #legalwriting #communicationstips #writingtips #professionalwriting #professionaldevelopment
December 17, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Readers of English read from left to right and through time. Writers should understand that and use it to their advantage.
#readerexpecation #rea #writerslife #sciencewriting #legalwriting #communicationstips #writingtips #professionalwriting #professionaldevelopment
#readerexpecation #rea #writerslife #sciencewriting #legalwriting #communicationstips #writingtips #professionalwriting #professionaldevelopment
If you can control the beginnings and the ends of sentences, providing readers with what they need there, then you're a good writer.
December 15, 2025 at 2:16 PM
If you can control the beginnings and the ends of sentences, providing readers with what they need there, then you're a good writer.
Readers value the end of a sentence the most, the beginning a lot, and the middle so little it pales by comparison.
December 15, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Readers value the end of a sentence the most, the beginning a lot, and the middle so little it pales by comparison.
Meaning is conveyed only partly (15%) by word choice and word meaning and 85% by the structural location of words.
December 15, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Meaning is conveyed only partly (15%) by word choice and word meaning and 85% by the structural location of words.
The English language functions on the basis of whether a reader's expectations are fulfilled and/or violated at any given moment.
December 15, 2025 at 2:12 PM
The English language functions on the basis of whether a reader's expectations are fulfilled and/or violated at any given moment.
Expectation is a primary component — perhaps the primary component — of meaning in English. It may be so for all languages.
#rea #readerexpectation #georgegopen #writers #englishlanguage #writing
#rea #readerexpectation #georgegopen #writers #englishlanguage #writing
December 9, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Expectation is a primary component — perhaps the primary component — of meaning in English. It may be so for all languages.
#rea #readerexpectation #georgegopen #writers #englishlanguage #writing
#rea #readerexpectation #georgegopen #writers #englishlanguage #writing
Nothing is more crucial in the effort to control writing than knowing what readers expect to find where in a sentence. #rea #readers #writers #readerexpectations #successtips
December 9, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Nothing is more crucial in the effort to control writing than knowing what readers expect to find where in a sentence. #rea #readers #writers #readerexpectations #successtips
Where a word appears in a sentence will control most of the use to which that word will be put.
#rea #writing #writer #englishlanguage
#rea #writing #writer #englishlanguage
December 9, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Where a word appears in a sentence will control most of the use to which that word will be put.
#rea #writing #writer #englishlanguage
#rea #writing #writer #englishlanguage
December 9, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Good prose should always be at least as well written as good poetry.
November 24, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Good prose should always be at least as well written as good poetry.
Your personal writing style is the sum total of all the choices you habitually make when forming sentences and paragraphs.
November 24, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Your personal writing style is the sum total of all the choices you habitually make when forming sentences and paragraphs.
Where writing is concerned, style is choice. Where anything is concerned, style is choice.
November 24, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Where writing is concerned, style is choice. Where anything is concerned, style is choice.
Once your reader moves backward within or from sentences, for any reason, you've lost control of your reader.
November 24, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Once your reader moves backward within or from sentences, for any reason, you've lost control of your reader.
Good prose is always moving forward—from capital letter to period, and from one sentence to the next.
November 12, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Good prose is always moving forward—from capital letter to period, and from one sentence to the next.
Quality of writing depends not on how much it impresses, but only on whether it succeeded in delivering the message to the reader.
November 12, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Quality of writing depends not on how much it impresses, but only on whether it succeeded in delivering the message to the reader.
In the real world—unlike in school—no one cars how hard the writer tried nor if the writer has improved since the last time.
November 12, 2025 at 6:16 PM
In the real world—unlike in school—no one cars how hard the writer tried nor if the writer has improved since the last time.