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Plain English
A Chillibreeze Publication
Our thanks go out to Rasna Baruah for her valuable contribution in helping to put this guide together. Editorial team Suneethi Rao, Vice President, Quality Assurance, Chillibreeze Vidhu Panicker, Sr. Manager, Project Management Unit, Chillibreeze
2011 Chillibreeze owns the copyright to A Quick Guide to Plain English. You are welcome to download the guide from our site or save it electronically for your own use. You may not pass on copies in any form to others or publish parts of the guide without our permission. Doing so will lead to legal action.
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Contents
A Note from Chillibreeze..........................................................................1 What is Plain English? ..............................................................................2 An Overview ............................................................................................2 Objective of Plain English Writing ............................................................2 How Do I Write Plain English?..................................................................2 Why Plain English? ..................................................................................3 Why Write in Plain English? .....................................................................3 How to Write Plain English ......................................................................5 Say No to Clichs and Stock Phrases ........................................................5 Avoid Nominalization ...............................................................................7 Shorten your Sentences ...........................................................................9 Be Precise with Vocabulary....................................................................10 Use Grammar Well.................................................................................12 Punctuate Properly ...............................................................................13 Design and Formatting in Plain English Writing ....................................15 Appendix ..............................................................................................17 History of the Plain English Movement .................................................17
Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of style. Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)
See Appendix for a history of the Plain English Movement
It builds trust in your word Unfamiliar words, stock phrases and jargon can alienate your readers. Notice how official documents habitually use the passive voice and are full of doublespeak? This is often a ploy to reduce accountability. The result? An unhappy reader who may not understand or believe what you say. Plain language adopts a direct approach and encourages you to write in the active voice. This improves your chances of connecting with a potential client and making the right impression. Its plain English to the rescue again!
Michael Shanks makes a valid observation: (Plain English) is not just a question of getting some belly laughs at the expense of the bureaucracyit goes deeper than that. Gobbledygook may indicate a failure to think clearly, a contempt for ones clients, or more probably a mixture of both.
Catch our next section for some techniques on how to write plain English.
Quoting John Lister on clichs, the Plain English Campaign website has this to say: When readers or listeners come across these tired expressions, they start tuning out and completely miss the message assuming there is one.
Plain English avoids clichs whenever possible, using words that carry information instead. Some stock phrases and how you can avoid them: Reinventing the wheel Why not say you dont want to do something thats been done already? Team up with Why not just join an organization or initiative, or perhaps work with someone? Take ownership of Commonly used in business writing, this jaded phrase can be replaced by take responsibility for.
UK freelance writer Nick Daws says on his blog: Nominalization is common in scientific, academic and bureaucratic writing, perhaps because it makes the text sound more official and objective. It is not ungrammatical, but high levels of nominalization can make any book or article sound flat and dull.
Government documents are rife with nominalizations and passive forms. Phrases such as plans are under implementation, applications are under consideration, and matters are under discussion are common occurrences. Nominalizations are often seen in peoples writing. We use them almost unconsciously to sound formal but the result is often lifeless or complicated writing. Plain English is about avoiding nominalization and using the verb forms of the words wherever possible. Learn to spot nominalizations. Begin by deleting them or converting the more obvious ones into verbs. Your writing will soon become more dynamic and less abstract.
Dont you hate reading long sentences that never seem to end? Well, plain English writing addresses the issue, advocating short sentences. When you read a sentence thats long and complicated, you can lose sight of the authors intended meaning. When you write a long-winded sentence, you are certain to lose your audiences attention! Dont pack all your information into one sentence break it up into smaller parts instead. An average sentence should not have more than 15 to 20 words. No, you dont have to start counting words only ensure you make each one count! Ask yourself if you can replace a comma with a full stop. If shortening a sentence is impossible, you could try to arrange the information in a bulleted list. Breaking content up into smaller chunks makes it easy to read as well as understand. Sentences become long when you pack too much information into them. Try to break up the sentence. Short sentences make information easier to process. use more words than necessary. For example, writing on account of the fact that instead of because. use stock phrases that are dull and distracting. Try to replace the phrase or eliminate it altogether. use the word also to tag on another thought. Just write another sentence. Writing short sentences does not imply using only six or seven words every time. A series of such sentences will make your writing abrupt and choppy. The best way is to vary the pace without swinging from one extreme to the other. Ernest Hemingway was famous for his minimalist style of writing. One of the best-known examples of his writing skill was his response to a challenge to write a story in six words. He wrote: For sale: baby shoes, never used. Thats English, plain, simple and compelling!
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By now you know plain English means clear and effective English. Plain English seeks to eliminate confusing writing styles and introduce clarity to all forms of communication. One way to do this is to follow George Orwells 5 Rules for Effective Writing. His rules appear simple but are not always easy to implement. Of the five rules, we will look at just two here. 1. Never use a long word where a short one will do unless used skillfully, long words can sound pretentious and artificial. In fact, some of your readers may not understand them at all. 2. If its possible to cut a word out, always do so if a word does not add meaning to a sentence, it only dilutes its effect. Cut it out! Here are some common examples of long phrases with their shorter substitutes. Long phrases in the majority of instances came to an end for the purpose of due to the fact that made an attempt at undertook to consider Shorter substitutes mostly ended for due to tried considered
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Writing in plain English means avoiding difficult words when something simple would work just as well. Dont ponder instead of thinking or prevaricate instead of stalling! Overloading your sentences with pompous words is not going to impress your readers. No client is going to do business with you if they dont understand what youre saying. If your audience asks, But what does your product actually do? youve surely missed a branding opportunity!
Anatole France says, The finest words in the world are only vain sounds if you cant understand them.
So its best to follow the primary rule of plain English pay attention to your choice of words and always keep your audience in mind.
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Here we look at two aspects of grammar that make a difference to plain English writing. Personal Pronouns Public documentation rarely includes words such as you and I. Papers must be submitted on Friday is more common than You must submit your papers on Friday. Plain English supports the use of you and other personal pronouns since they add clarity and make the instructions sound more human and direct. The use of you in the sentence also spells out who is responsible for the task, so there is no room for doubt. Personal pronouns help your readers relate better to your communication and appreciate the relevance of the information more easily. With personal pronouns you tend to use everyday language and avoid using abstract expressions. You also express your ideas in shorter sentences. Thats a plain English goal achieved! Active and Passive Voice Frequent use of the passive voice makes writing impersonal and uninteresting. Government writing is a prime example. Besides, with the passive voice it is never clear who is responsible for what! Plain English advocates the active voice since it is easier to understand. The active voice follows our thought process and we tend to understand it faster than we do the passive voice.
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Plain English does not forbid contractions altogether since you are expected to write as you would speak but with correct grammar of course! A colon is used in bulleted lists. Plain English writing encourages the use of bulleted lists to share large chunks of information. Bulleted lists present such information neatly and in an easy-toread way.
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These are just a few pointers to better punctuation while writing in plain English. Dont miss our complete course for more details and practice lessons!
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No matter how insightful and fascinating the content, few readers will be interested in what you have to say if your presentation is poor. Text clumped together without proper breaks and spacing is sure to put off your reader. The goal of plain English is to present information in a way that is easy to read, understand and absorb. Visually appealing presentation is an important guideline in plain English writing. When presented in an attractive way, your content is sure to draw and retain your readers attention. Here is a list of key features that you should keep in mind while formatting and designing your document: 1. Spacing Sufficient use of white space, between lines and between paragraphs, is very important for comfortable reading. 2. Type style and size Use a typeface and font size that is clear and easy on the eyes. Dont use more than three different fonts in a single document. 3. Bold type and capital letters Use bold print and capital letters when necessary, but dont overdo it. 4. Headings Be consistent when you use styles for headings and subheadings. Leave sufficient space before and after headings. 5. Table of Contents Add a table of contents if your document is long. A short introduction will do for shorter documents. 6. Bullets and tables Use bullets and tables to display complex information clearly. 7. Design Use design elements to attract your readers and to help them find their way around the content. 8. Colors Use colors smartly. Too many colors will distract readers and their focus will shift away from the content. Ensure that the font color shows up clearly against the background.
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Watch the Chillibreeze website for our plain English offerings and more techniques and examples to help you become a plain English writer or editor. Till then, keep it plain!
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Appendix
History of the Plain English Movement
The Plain English Movement is not just a passing trend. Down the ages, many established writers have campaigned for plain and simple writing. They tried to rein in the elaborate classical style of writing and excessive use of French and Latin words and phrases. In the 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in the language spoken by the common man instead of the language of the law or church. Two centuries later, William Shakespeares writing was different from the ornate prose taught at school. In Richard III he wrote, An honest tale speeds best being plainly told. Jonathan Swift, Charles Dickens and George Orwell are among the writers who encouraged a simple, direct writing style. The Plain English Movement as we know it picked up pace in the 20th century with support from people like Martin Cutts and Chrissie Maher. They tore up obscure official documents in Parliament Square, London, and established the Golden Bull award to poke fun at absurdly complicated or confusing English. William D. Lutz, John Walton, Bryan Garner, Cheryl Stephens and Warren Buffet are champions of the movement, encouraging its use in law, business and public policy. People in public life have been loyal supporters of the Plain English Movement as well. In 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill wrote a memo called Brevity, which required civil servants to write short, clear jargon-free reports. Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and David Cameron have all been supporters of the Plain English Campaign in the UK. In the US, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and, most recently, Barack Obama introduced laws to support the use of plain English in government documents. The plain language movement has made its mark in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa as well. Government departments of all four nations are actively involved in converting all documentation written in complex bureaucratic language to plain English.