Posts Tagged ‘writing’
Talking and Writing, Plain and Clear
“Plain language” is a movement away from legalese, and toward clear language that people can understand. It turns out that contracts and laws don’t have to be written in gobbledygook afterall.
My friend Cheryl Stephens has been a pioneer in the plain language movement. She’s on a blog tour this week, promoting her book, Plain Language Legal Writing.
I had the opportunity to ask her a question, so I gave it some thought. I’m a big fan of plain language — I think of myself as a plain language editor — but there’s one question I’ve been asked that’s been really hard to answer. So I picked that one to ask her. And apparently it was a good choice!
Q. “You tell me to write naturally, the way I would speak, but the truth is that I even talk this way — what you call “stuffy.” I have to struggle to avoid using complex sentences and big words, even when speaking. Does plain language apply to speech, and if so, can you suggest a manner in which I could revise my speaking to be more in keeping with plain language ideas?”
Guest answer, from Cheryl Stephens:
Plain language in oral discourse encompasses many of the plain language principles used in written communication, with added emphasis on the importance of considering your audience. Additional concerns are how people listen and process information and techniques you can use to be sure the message you intend to communicate is the one being communicated.
- Short sentences.
- Start with a human subject.I will, You do, He went, The doctor will…
- Use transition words and signal words, creating a word map.
“There are 2 things to remember. First, … Second, …so that’s 2 things to do, then.”- 3/7/15 rules.
* Don’t use more than 3 examples or 3 items in a list. Break a longer list down to groups of 3 items.
* Wait through 7 seconds of silence for a response so the listener can process your information and develop a reply.
* While you won’t count your words as you speak, in oral presentations, a short sentence is less than 15 words.- Watch your pronouns.
Avoid using too many 3rd person pronouns (“He was her worst enemy.”). Listeners get lost trying to keep track of who you mean. Restate the original noun. Use personal pronouns to speak directly to the listener. “You are ……”- Be positive.Beware of negative prefixes that get lost in the process of speech or hearing: illegitimate, impossible, unlikely and so on. This is a particularly important consideration if your listeners have English as a second language.
I discuss these and other tips on my website at CherylStephens.com.
Thanks for that, Cheryl! I think paying attention to plain language in speech is an important part of learning to write in plain language. And learning to write in plain language is vital to learning to write well.
I’m going to start doing a Q. and A. as a regular feature here, though I’ll usually answer the questions myself. Send me your questions, and I’ll answer as many as I can.
Subscribe to the comments for this postAvoid cliché in your writing
Writers who defend their clichés on the grounds that "they wouldn’t have become clichés if they weren’t good" may have a terrific point. And they should enjoy that, because what they won’t have is successful writing.
Writing Non-Fiction: Write an Outline
Clean, Effective Articles and Exposition
At the coffee shop where I like to work in the mornings, you can get whatever you want for breakfast, as long as it’s either a scramble, or an omelet. I tease them, “Can I choose which one?” See, in my house, you ask for an omelet, and you might get an omelet, or, if things aren’t going as well, you might get a scramble. Same eggs and cream, same veggies and cheese, but in the end, an entirely different shape.
What Counts as Correct English?
The Conspiracy
Editors get a bad rap. When I meet someone new and mention that I’m an editor, I’m likely to get a suspicious look, as though I’m part of a conspiracy to make English too difficult to leave to amateurs. Read more »
Remember to always split infinitives.
Remember to always split infinitives.
Well, ok, not always. But often. Whenever it works.
We have this handed-down wisdom that says an infinitive, a verb of the “to form” — to walk, to amble, to mosey — must always be preserved intact. Rules like this cripple writing. Even the esteemed editors of the Chicago Manual of Style agree with me.
In this day and age, it seems, an injunction against splitting infinitives is one of those shibboleths whose only reason for survival is to give increased meaning to the lives of those who can both identify by name a discrete grammatical, syntactic, or orthographic entity and notice when that entity has been somehow besmirched. — Chicago Manual Q&A
Concern yourself first with clarity and a pleasing sound. We do need grammar rules, but only when they help us achieve those things. When they get in the way, they should be ignored.
Avoid Passive Voice
Why was the road crossed by the chicken?
When a sentence starts with the thing being acted upon rather than the thing doing the acting, that sentence is in “passive voice.” For example, if you ask me where the hat is that you lent me, and I reply, “It got lost,” I have used the passive voice. A more honest and direct answer, using the active voice, would have been “I lost it.” Read more »
Show, Don’t Tell
An exasperated author I know once wrote back to me saying, “Yeah, everybody says that: ’show, don’t tell.’ But I can’t figure out what they mean! How do I know which is which?” Read more »
Give Your Story A Great Beginning
When you sit down to write, anything you can get on the screen (or paper) is a victory. That’s not the time to worry about making sure you have a powerful beginning. Too much of that kind of thinking can keep you from getting anywhere at all. Read more »
The First Five Pages, by Noah Lukeman
When I’m looking over a manuscript that’s been submitted to me for publication, the first thing I do is read the first five pages. At that point, I might toss it, or I might decide to read more. Apparently I’m not the only editor to take this approach.
Noah Lukeman is a successful literary agent, with plenty of experience rejecting manuscripts. In The First Five Pages he shares that experience with the reader, giving good advice about how a manuscript can be improved in the revision process to make it more likely to be accepted. If you’re thinking of doing your own editing, read this first.
Woe Is I, by Patricia O’Connor
"There are two kinds of editors. One sticks in that wherever it will fit. The other kind takes it out. They’re both wrong." — P. T. O’Connor
Woe is I is subtitled “The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English,” and I can’t describe it better than that. O’Connor solves many of the stranger mysteries of English (“He resents me going” or “He resents my going”?) without resorting to the vocabulary of a high-school English teacher. Read more »