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Before you begin drafting your document, you need to decide exactly what it aims to do. Who will the readers be? Do they have little or no knowledge of the subject, or a good understanding? What do they want to know? What is the best way to present the information?
Once you know who your readers are, try to put things from their point of view, rather than your organisation's perspective. Write directly to the reader, as though you were explaining the facts in person. Use "we" and "you". It is more friendly than "the department/bank/council" and "the client/customer/ratepayer".
About 50 per cent of adult Australians can't cope with a level of writing more complex than found in a popular newspaper. So if your documents are aimed at the general public, you will need to pitch your writing at this level.
Don't use technical or specialised terms unless you know that your readers will understand them. If it's important that readers understand a specific term, explain it.
Avoid archaic words like "heretofore", "herein" and "aforementioned".
Your writing will be easier to understand -- and much more reader-friendly -- if it's in plain, everyday language.
Of course, plain English isn't merely a matter of replacing pompous words with plain ones. But it's a good start to write in the same kind of language you would use if you were talking directly to the reader.
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Here are some examples of expressions commonly used in business letters and other written communications with some clearer alternatives:
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Write in fairly short sentences. Have only one or two ideas in each sentence. If you need to explain a term or qualify a point, use a separate sentence.
But don't sacrifice clarity for brevity. Just because a sentence is short doesn't necessarily mean it is clear. You may need to use more, rather than fewer, words to get your message across. Don't slavishly follow any rule which says a sentence should only contain a certain number of words. A better guideline is to use only as many words as necessary.
Organise your thoughts into brief paragraphs, with one central topic in each. This makes your writing much easier to read and understand.
Office staff often write in the passive voice. For example:
Applications will be processed within two weeks.
In this sentence, it is not clear who will be carrying out the action. The reader may also be uncertain about what "processed" means. But writing the same sentence in the active voice is far more direct:
We will reply to your application within two weeks.
The reader now knows who will be carrying out the action and what to expect -- a reply within two weeks.
The unnecessary use of capitals is old-fashioned, and can also be intimidating to the reader.
The tendency to overcapitalise persists in some forms of business writing. For example, many public servants would write:
When the Department issued its Annual Report, the Minister tabled it in the Federal Parliament.
Yet reputable publications such as The Bulletin and the Commonwealth Hansard follow a more modern -- and readable -- style:
When the department issued its annual report, the minister tabled it in the federal parliament.
Make sure that your writing doesn't have an unintended second meaning. Signs in the London Underground railway used to state:
Dogs must be carried at all times.
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Your document should provide as much information as your reader needs to know. But many people may still have questions. So you should always tell them where they can get more information or advice.
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