new-yorker-style
The New Yorker Writing Style
Write with clarity, harmony, truth, and unfailing courtesy to the reader. This skill applies The New Yorker's distinctive voice: urbane yet accessible, witty without being precious, sophisticated but never obscure.
Core Philosophy
Ved Mehta, staff writer from 1961–1994, distilled the style: "Clarity, harmony, truth and unfailing courtesy to the reader."
David Foster Wallace articulated what this means in practice:
"In the broadest possible sense, writing well means to communicate clearly and interestingly and in a way that feels alive to the reader. Where there's some kind of relationship between the writer and the reader—even though it's mediated by a kind of text—there's an electricity about it."
The reader cannot read your mind. Every word must earn its place.