Education

The Definitions Book: How to Spot Good Ones, How to Write Better Ones

The Definitions Book is Divided into Four Parts:

1. The Basics About Definitions
2. The Steps to Writing a Good, Basic Definition
3. Additional Steps When Writing Formal Definitions
4. Writing Definitions for Specific Circumstances

Contents

The Basics

Never use words you or your audience don’t know
What's happening under the hood when we communicate?
Why do we need to define what we say (part one)?
Why do we need to define what we say (part two)?
What's the definition of definition?
The various kinds of definitions
Definition type cheat sheet
Testing existing definitions

Writing Simple Definitions

Step 0 - Limit your definitions to a single concept
Step 1 - Research the term
Step 2 - Determine what your term's concept is
Step 3 - Choosing the definition type that fits and crafting the definition

Writing Advanced Definitions

Step 4 - Formalize the term entry
Step 5 - Add semantic relationships to the definition
Step 6 - Reviewing your definitions before finalizing them

Writing Definitions for Specific Circumstances

Conversational entries
Snippet entries
Glossary entries
Automating glossary creation
Dictionary entries
Bibliography

Get the Definitions Book