Every week, I send an email – Wednesday Writing Wisdom. It gives some tips about how to write in plain language (or plain English). These ideas come from my writing courses and other places. Here’s what I’ve sent over the past few months, just in case you missed one. Free to subscribe – just enter your email in the column to the right.
Let’s drop ‘utilise’. It’s my pet hate: people who say ‘utilise’ when they could just as easily say ‘use’. Why use ‘utilise’ when you could more simply utilise ‘use’? Often it is to impress (by using a big word) rather than to communicate. And others: ‘post’ rather than ‘after’, ‘prior to’ rather than ‘before’. More …
Parallel structures can help. “Mary likes hiking, swimming and to ride a bicycle” is not wrong, but “Mary likes hiking, swimming and cycling.” is better. Repeating the …ing structure provides a more comfortable flow. When read aloud, good writing pleases the ear. More …
Use consistent names and terms. When you talk about a thing in a document, give it the same name or description every time you refer to it. Calling something a system, then a process, then a component; or calling it XFire2, then X2, then FireSmart, can confuse your readers. More …
First drafts nearly always need improvement. Developing documentation, especially user-centred documentation, is not a one shot process. It is a continual process of successive refinement. (William Horton) More …
Keep your line length short. Really long lines of text are hard to read – the eye wanders. Around 50 to 70 characters per line works OK on paper, about 2/3 of that on screen. So, never have a line of text all the way across a page in landscape orientation. Consider indenting or using columns to keep your line length manageable. More …
Write to a person, not a crowd. Imagine one or two people who have the characteristics of your audience. Give them names; Bob or Sue. When you write, write directly to Bob or Sue. Speak as though they are in front of you. You’ll write more personally and directly. More …
Craft desirable documents. Documents should be desirable – so users are drawn into the content. Effective documents are a pleasure to use, maybe even fun. Strive for easy reading, attractive layout, informative graphics. 3 dimensions to evaluate documents: useful, usable, desirable. More …
Make sure documents are usable. Users should be able to find what they need quickly easily. And when they find it, users should easily understand what they read. Good navigation and simple language are both important. 3 dimensions to evaluate documents: useful, usable, desirable. More …
Create useful documents. Documents should be useful. That is, contain information that users need and knowledge they can act on. Readers should be glad they read your document.
3 dimensions to evaluate documents: useful, usable, desirable. More …
No need to include everything you’ve thought about. Your preparation notes shape your thinking. Your document shapes your readers’ thinking. Never feel obliged to include all your thinking notes in your final document. Include only enough to meet your readers’ needs and achieve your purpose. More …
Write to achieve your organisation’s intent. Your writing needs to be aimed at achieving an outcome for your organisation – people buying product, workers acting in a specific way, staff well aligned to your goals. But it must also meet your users’ needs. Keep both sets of needs in mind as you write. More …
Meet your users’ needs. People are more likely to read your text if it answers a need they have – gives them knowledge to make a decision or information they can act on or insight that intrigues. But it must meet your organisation’s needs too. More …
Reports must answer a question. When someone asks you to write a report, they are seeking information about something they don’t know. Having a clearly defined question at the beginning helps focus your work and will make your report more useful. But make sure you have the correct question – one that probes the heart of the matter. More …
Predict the response. If you spend some time thinking about your readers, you will be able to make a reasonable guess about how they will respond to your message. Use this knowledge to organise your content in a way that will make sense to them. You can also pre-empt objections they may have. More …
Organise your thinking. Organise your content in a way that makes sense to your readers. In general: from concrete to abstract, from the known to the unknown, from simple to complex. More …
Know your audience. Before you write anything (even a simple email), spend some time thinking about your reader. What’s important to them, what excites or scares them, what do they already know, and what do they need to know. How do they like to receive information? Will they read a long document? Can they handle complex language? What do they need to do with the information you provide? Match your writing to your readers’ needs and wants. More …
Write short sentences. Short sentences are usually easier to understand. And short sentences are more lively. Joining words like ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘then’ are good places to consider breaking a long sentence. More …
Personalise your writing. “Your writing will be read by people, so it’s OK to use words like you, me, I, us. Using personal pronouns helps make contact with your readers and helps them better understand how they should respond. Write ‘you must …’ rather than the vague ‘the ratepayer must ….'” More …
Use verbs not nouns. Write ‘evaluate‘ rather than ‘make an evaluation‘; write ‘decide‘ rather than ‘make a decision‘. Verbs (action words) make your writing more lively and can reduce word count. Look to replace words ending in …ion, …ent. And avoid ‘undertake‘- only used to accompany a noun. More …
Impress with your thinking, not your language. Some writers deliberately make text difficult to create an air of mystique and to appear ‘educated’. They emphasise the supposed distance between their intelligence and that of the reader by using big words and complex sentences.
This pretence gets in the way of communication. And sometimes difficult writing simply covers up a lack of clear thinking. More …
Review & edit to improve. There’s no such thing as good writing, only good re-writing.
Leave your text a day or two, then review and edit. Soak time helps. More …
Define purpose before writing. “Ask “”What do I want my reader to do as a result of reading this?”” Answer in a sentence like “”As a result of reading this, I want Mr Smith to …””
Once you have a clear purpose you are in good shape to start writing.” More …
Why are so many writers attracted to the passive voice? Stephen King (in On Writing) says timid writers prefer the passive voice. ‘The passive voice is safe….I think unsure writers also feel the passive voice somehow lends their work authority, perhaps even a quality of majesty’. More …
Prefer concrete words over abstract ones. “Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose””. (CS Lewis)
Concrete words communicate meaning immediately; readers have to search their minds to find the meaning of abstract words. More …
Use familiar, simple words. Write ‘use’ rather than ‘utilise’; ‘try’ rather than ‘endeavour’.
Simple, short words are easier to read. Familiar words are understood by more people. More…
Write ‘point first’. Busy readers may not read a whole document, so put your most important information first where it is most likely to be read. If they don’t read the rest, it may not matter too much. More …
Hold your readers’ attention. Johann Hari, in Stolen Focus, claims average office workers focus for a maximum of 3 minutes at a time. Our ability to concentrate and read for an extended time is diminishing. So, writing succinctly and chunking content into bite size chunks is more important than ever. And above all, engage – there are so many distractions to take your readers’ minds from your message. More …
Write to communicate. When writing instructions or requirements, or when sharing ideas, strive for clarity and contact. Clarity: your reader picks up your meaning without modification. Contact: your reader understands your text is important and makes the effort to read, understand, and respond. More …
Write to think better. “I do not sit down at my desk to put into verse something that is already clear in my mind. If it were clear in my mind, I should have no incentive or need to write about it. We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand.” (C.S. Lewis) More …
One of the really bad things you can do to your writing. One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you’re maybe a little bit ashamed of the short ones. This is like dressing up a household pet in evening clothes. The pet is embarrassed and the person who committed this act of premeditated cuteness should be even more embarrassed. (Stephen King, On Writing) More …
Wild words. Words ought to be a little wild, for they are the assault of thought on the unthinking. (J.M. Keynes). Sometimes we need to write in a way that unsettles existing thought patterns – to spark, provoke, jolt. More …
The danger of copy and paste. Copying and pasting from one document to another allows you to generate text quickly without thinking very hard. It builds bulk but not always meaning. Using existing text is an effective way to get started, but always make sure to revise so that the meaning is clear and relevant to the new document. Lazy writing reflects lazy thinking. More …
Is a document always the best choice? Sometimes meeting face to face is more effective than writing. Or perhaps a telephone conversation. One of the disadvantages of a letter, email or other document is the time gap between writing and reading. You can exchange ideas faster by talking. Follow up later with a written record of the conversation and agreement if necessary. More …
Writing – getting started. Just writing anything that comes into your head can be a useful way to start writing. Free writing helps get the ideas flowing. You can refine them later. (Remember, there’s no such thing as good writing, only good re-writing.) More …
No need to start at the beginning when writing. When writing any document, you don’t need to start at the beginning. Just start writing content that you know you want to include and then build around it. Starting where you are most comfortable is also a useful way to approach corporate templates. More …
How long is a paragraph? A paragraph can be a single word, or maybe 8 sentences or more. A paragraph should contain a single idea: new idea, new paragraph. Write the main point in the first sentence and use the following sentences to expand or explain that point. Readers are most comfortable when paragraphs average about 4-6 lines. More …
Email: A single chunk of information. Usually it is best to cover only one topic in an email. Emails are deliberately brief and to the point; don’t clutter them with multiple ideas. A single topic also allows for easier search of an email trail. More …
Email: Use your subject line well. The main point of your email should be in the subject. It guides your reader and helps them decide whether or not they will read on. It prepares them for what follows. More …
How to write sentences. Never begin a sentence until you are sure of what you want to say in it and how it will end. If that means you only write short sentences for a while, that’s ok. Usually write just one thought per sentence. If you choose to include more than one point, place the most important thought first. More ...
The price of good writing is constant vigilance. All successful communication requires unwavering alertness. Never let your keyboard get ahead of your brain. More …
Some parts of conversation should not enter your writing: One of the techniques of writing in plain language is to use a conversational style. But there are aspects of spoken conversations that should not enter your writing. ‘ums’ and arhs’ are clearly out. Sometimes spoken words include clutter phrases and excess words to slow down information delivery so the hearer can process the ideas. This is usually not necessary in the written word. Readers control the rate they encounter new ideas in a way that hearers can not. More …
Your writing should be like a clean shop window: In the same way a shop window clearly displays goods for sale, good writing displays thoughts and ideas. A clean window isn’t noticed; your writing style should not be noticed. Write simply so readers engage with your ideas, don’t hide them behind fancy or convoluted writing. More …
In the advent ….: I came across this phrase in a report a while ago – the writer was trying to use a fancy expression for ‘if’. But they ended up looking foolish; they meant to write ‘in the event’, but they ended up talking about Christmas. Fancy writing, intended to show off how clever you are, nearly always gets in the way of clear and useful communication. And it can reflect poorly on you. Write simply. More …
Enjoy writing: Take delight in the words you use and the ideas you are communicating. If you don’t enjoy your writing, there is no way your reader will. More …
Writing in plain language is not ‘dumbing down’: I get really annoyed when I hear people use the expression ‘dumbing down’. It’s as though they think their readers are idiots. Most of the time we are not writing to idiots, but to people of reasonable intelligence who may not have had all the experiences we have. Write simply and clearly to help them understand. And write with respect. More …
Social justice when writing: Clear, well written documents from business and government help people understand their rights and duties. Clear information helps people participate. Complex writing excludes people – only the academically able are included. More …
Don’t assume others know all the words you do: If you have completed some studies beyond high school you will likely have a broader vocabulary than many other people. And if you have studied specialised knowledge you will know words that others don’t. Make your writing accessible to as many people as possible by limiting your word choice to common words, perhaps only to those found in a newspaper. More …
Business and government documents must be written well because…: Business and government documents often provide information that imposes obligations on people. If the document is misunderstood, or only partially understood, people may be confused about their obligations. Poorly written documents can cause disadvantage or oppress people. More …
Plain language is also about honesty. Writing plainly means using words and structures your readers can understand. But it also means providing truthful and complete information. There is no place for half truths, obscurity, vagueness or deliberate ambiguity in plain language documents. More …