The importance of clear, simple writing
While speeding through the morning e-mail, who has not been forced into slow motion by a sentence like this?
“It is however also worth noting the crucial importance of effective and timely sequencing of activities as well as the potentially negative impact that the two diverse processes can have on each other if separate and unique initiatives are not coordinated amongst all the various actors involved.”
The drag on your brain feels almost physical as you stop to deconstruct the meaning word by word. You would already be onto the next e-mail if the author had simply written:
“Also important are logical sequencing of the actions and coordination among all the participants.”
In a ‘knowledge organization’ like IFAD, where employees are valued for the output of their minds, the ability to write clearly is probably listed near the top of almost every job description. No matter how creative your ideas, they will not go anywhere if you cannot communicate them.
Clear, simple and direct writing saves time and money, prevents errors and helps others do their work. Applying the tips in this section – on using plain language, avoiding jargon, and editing and
proofreading your work – will make your writing more accessible. And it will still be every bit as substantive.
“It is however also worth noting the crucial importance of effective and timely sequencing of activities as well as the potentially negative impact that the two diverse processes can have on each other if separate and unique initiatives are not coordinated amongst all the various actors involved.”
The drag on your brain feels almost physical as you stop to deconstruct the meaning word by word. You would already be onto the next e-mail if the author had simply written:
“Also important are logical sequencing of the actions and coordination among all the participants.”
In a ‘knowledge organization’ like IFAD, where employees are valued for the output of their minds, the ability to write clearly is probably listed near the top of almost every job description. No matter how creative your ideas, they will not go anywhere if you cannot communicate them.
Clear, simple and direct writing saves time and money, prevents errors and helps others do their work. Applying the tips in this section – on using plain language, avoiding jargon, and editing and
proofreading your work – will make your writing more accessible. And it will still be every bit as substantive.
Plain language
Plain language makes a text clearer and more readable. It does not reduce the complexity or the substance of the topic.
- Use plain words. Replace abstract language with concrete words
- Avoid stringing together or overusing words such as amenities, aspects, concepts, devices, elements, facilities, factors, functions, inputs, operations, outputs, processes, resources, sectors, structures, systems, variables
- Use simpler synonyms. Say facts, details instead of particulars. Say use instead of utilize
- Avoid jargon in texts intended for general audiences
- Use technical terminology appropriately in technical materials, and define specialized terms or include a glossary
- Avoid unnecessarily formal language and ‘officialese’ or ‘bureaucratese’
- Be consistent in use of terms
- Use gender-neutral language
- Minimize use of acronyms and abbreviations
- Minimize use of Latin words and phrases.
- Use the active voice and action verbs
- Use assertions rather than negations
- Use the active voice rather than the passive, and name the agent(s) carrying out the action(s):
The Executive Board [the agent] approved [active voice] the grant proposal in December 2004 instead of The grant proposal was approved in December 2004. - Put parallel ideas in parallel grammatical form:
The main objectives of the regional strategy are:
– empowering poor rural people
– enabling poor rural women and men to take advantage of market opportunities
– promoting policy dialogue
– developing partnerships and coalitions - Use verbs in place of nouns formed from verbs
– Evaluate instead of carry out an evaluation of
– Consider instead of give consideration to
– Solve instead of provide a solution to - Revise overly long or confusing sentences. Aim for an average sentence length of 20 to 25 words. Focus on one idea in each sentence. Eliminate superfluous words and phrases, such as moreover and thus, and remove unnecessary preambles.
- Clarify ambiguous wording and constructions Use only one dependent clause in a sentence (a dependent clause does not express a complete thought [it sounds incomplete] and it cannot stand alone as a sentence).