Question about passage: For instance, he'd like to outlaw all leads involving...

Sympathy · January 5, 2008, 9:32am

Hi, I have one question about this review.

Whether you write an occasional professional letter or a daily newspaper column, William Zinsser’s On Writing Well should be required reading. Simplicity is Zinsser’s mantra: he preaches a stripped-down writing style, strong and clear. He has no patience for excess (most use of adjectives and adverbs, he writes, just adds clutter) or tired phraseology (for instance, he’d like to outlaw all leads involving those “future archaeologists” most often found “stumbl[ing] upon the remains of our civilization”). He recommends that all writers of nonfiction read their work aloud (don’t commit something to paper that you wouldn’t actually say) and write under the assumption that “the reader knows nothing” (not to be confused with assuming the reader’s an idiot). In addition to the chapters on the expected–usage, audience, interviews, leads–Zinsser also focuses on such trouble spots as science and technical writing, business writing, sports, and humor.

Can you explain the bold portion for me ? I don’t understand it.
What do “outlaw,” “leads,” “archaeologists,” “remains of our civilization” imply ?

Thanos · January 5, 2008, 3:43pm

The way I perceive the meaning of the sentence, tired phraseology is simply writing cliche phrases and the quoted sentence “stumbling upon the remains of our civilization” is just an example of one.

But I could be totally wrong ^^

Sympathy · January 5, 2008, 4:08pm

Can you make it clearer ? I still don’t get the meaning of the sentence. And what does “leads” here mean ?
I thought it means “example.” Is that right ?

Thanos · January 5, 2008, 4:38pm

According to Bartleby a lead can be :

So that can be a sound explanation as it relates with writing for newspapers.
Still, I am only guessing, maybe someone else can enlighten you a bit further.