[Math] How to write math well

big-listmathematical-writingsoft-question

Let's learn about writing good mathematical texts.

For some people it could be especially interesting to answer about writing texts on Math Overflow, though I personally feel like I've already mastered a certain level in writing online answers while being hopelessly behind the curve in writing papers. So,

What is your advice in writing good mathematical texts, online or offline?

Best Answer

One trick that my advisor, Ronnie Lee, advocated was to use a descriptive term before using the symbolic name for the object. Thus write, "the function $f$, the element $x$, the group $G$, or the subgroup $H$. Most importantly, don't expect that your reader has internalized the notation that you are using. If you introduced a symbol $\Theta_{i,j,k}(x,y,z)$ on page 2 and you don't use it again until page 5, then remind them that the subscripts of the cocycle $\Theta$ indicate one thing while the arguments $x,y,z$ indicate another.

Another trick that is suggested by literature --- and can be deadly in technical writing --- is to try and find synonyms for the objects in question. A group might be a group for a while, or later it may be giving an action. In the latter case, the set of symmetries $G$ that act on the space $X$ is given by $\ldots$. Context is important.

Vary cadence. Long sentences that contain many ideas should have shorter declarative sentences interspersed. Read your papers out loud. Do they sound repetitive?

My last piece of advice is one I have been wanting to say for a long time. Don't write your results up. Write your results down. You figure out what I mean by that.