George Orwell's 6 rules for writing (2018; originally published in 1946)

Re:George Orwell's 6 rules for writing (2018; originally pub... by rawgabbit on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @12:09PM (#34711110)

I would argue it depends on what the paragraph is about. If the paragraph is about the regression models, I would argue every sentence's subject should be "regression models" using passive voice. If the paragraph discusses how the research was conducted, then every sentence's subject should be "we" with active voice.

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Re:George Orwell's 6 rules for writing (2018; originally pub... by borroka on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @12:31PM (#34711505)

The sentence is about fitting regression models, not what regression models are, which implies a choice was made. Therefore, the active voice should be preferred, even if the sentence is unambiguous in either case.

I prefer the active voice to the passive voice, although, especially in solo papers, repeatedly writing "I did," "I carried out," "I tested," sounds a bit vain after a while.

As author and teacher of good writing Giuseppe Pontiggia said, to be a good writer you need to develop a good ear for words and sentences.

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Re:George Orwell's 6 rules for writing (2018; originally pub... by rawgabbit on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @12:36PM (#34711598)

Sure. If the paragraph is discussing how the research and models were performed/fitted, then use "we" as the subject with active voice.

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