Writing well across registers does not come naturally to me. Whether or not I get it right is quite a hit and miss affair (like the old-school homily). Often my style is pretty poor.
There's the wrong blend of familiar and formal.
Sometimes it's too crabby.
Sometimes it's too crabbed (usually as a result of trying to compress long, rambling thoughts...)
There are too many long sentences.
Generally I am caught up in over-qualifying. No one else’s mind would ping all over the place like mine, so there’s no need to disappear up my own sub-clauses with all this hedging and nodding, but still I do.
A couple of old friends from Cambridge (and millions of other people) have blogs with fewer posts but a much better style. More appropriate, easier on the reader, but lacking nothing in depth. They've also worked out how to do pictures and general aesthetics rather better! Prof Bras (who, alas, appears to have abandoned his blog!) and Shaz.
