CLEAR WRITING

Mehwish Fatima
BBA-IV-II
22nd January 2008
 Pointers for Clear Writing

The Ten Commandments

Construction of Clear Sentences
Construction of Clear Paragraphs
 The Ten Commandments

Keep sentences short

Prefer the simple to the complex
Use familiar words
Avoid unnecessary words
Put action in your verbs
Write like you talk
Use terms your reader can picture
Tie in with your reader's experience
Make full use of variety
Write to express, not impress
 I. Keep sentences short

 Average length of a sentence:15-20 words

 Fuzzy words block clarity
 Remember to vary sentence length
 Short sentences pep up and clarify your text
 Express only one idea in each sentence
 I. Keep sentences short
 Wordy: This manual of instructions was prepared
to aid our dealers in being helpful to their
customers. (16)
Concise: We prepared this instruction manual to
help our dealers serve their customers. (12)

 Wordy: It is the responsibility of our Production

Department to see that it meets the requirements
of our Sales Division. (19)
Concise: Our Production Department must meet
our Sales Division's requirements. (9)
 I. Prefer the simple to the complex
 Writing shorter sentences usually means you use
shorter words
 Modification Change
 Crisis Situation Crisis
 Utilization Use

 Huge multi-page reports just don't get read -

especially by top management.
 I. Use familiar words
“Big minds use little words; little
minds use big words.”
 Use words that are almost in everyone’s
vocabulary
 25 percent of all that is written and spoken
in English is comprised of 10 short familiar
words: The, of, and, to, a, in, that, it, is, I.
 I. Avoid unnecessary words

 Slash words mercilessly

 Seek shorter ways of saying things
 One minute spent organizing a mass of
details will save several minutes in its
writing
 I. Avoid unnecessary words

Original: "There were three or four people in

the committee who said that the company
needed to give a demonstration of how its
new equipment functions."

Improved: "Several committee members said

the company should demonstrate its new
equipment."
I. Put action in your verbs

 Lively writing contains action verbs, not passive

ones

Passive
Present design methods are predicated on the
assumption that one-piece windshields are
preferred by the public.

Active
At present, designers assume the public prefers one-
piece windshields.
I. Put action in your verbs
Examples:
 The UNIX operating system is being used more
and more in the business world.
 All the resumes were filed in the wrong cabinet
by the secretary.
 First, the product line was examined to
determine if it met customers' needs.
 After just-in-time inventory procedures were
introduced, our inventories were cut in half.
I. Write like you talk
 Use clear, conversational language.
 Tone is important.
 You don't write the same way to top
management, your peers or the public.
I. Use terms your reader can picture
 Choose concrete over abstract terms.

An engineer might say an alloy is "not fabricable.”

When asked for a more specific meaning, the engineer
might say "the alloy cracks when it is cold-rolled.”
I. Use terms your reader can picture

Vague: contact
Specific: call, write, visit

Vague: soon
Specific: by March 15

Vague: This television set is of high quality.

Specific: All components in this television set meet or
exceed government specifications for use in
manned satellites.
I. Tie in with your reader's experience

 Tailor the language to the audience.

 Much communication fails because writers
ignore readers' beliefs. Words vary in meaning
 It isn't enough to write so you will be
understood. You must write so you can't be
misunderstood.
I. Make full use of variety
 Variety is a main ingredient in the art of
writing.
 Only practice can lead to the facility that
produces variety.
 Introduce enough variety of sentence length,
structure, and vocabulary.
I. Make full use of variety
Examples:
 We have hired staff, and they will complete
their training next week.
 When the stores open, we will have balloons
and specials in every department.
 We will survey customers later in the year to
see whether demand warrants a third store on
campus.
 I. Write to express, not impress
"I can't understand what he is saying; he must be
highly intelligent.”
Consider this press release:

"The state air control board is initiating a Strategic

Enforcement Priorities Plan '94, a plan which
will create a more effective enforcement
program characterized by placing a heavier
emphasis on strategic priorities and targeting
use of resources.“
Such pretentious, abstract language hides simple ideas:

"The state air control board will follow a wider

enforcement plan in 1994 that will focus on
strategic goals and resource use."
 Construction of Clear Sentences

 Determining emphasis in Sentence Design

 Give every item its due emphasis

 Short sentences emphasize contents

 Longer sentences deemphasize contents

 Construction of Clear Sentences

Examples:
 The company lost money last year. The loss occurred in spite of
record sales.
 Although the company enjoyed record sales last year, it lost
money.
 The company enjoyed record sales last year, although it lost
money.
 Construction of Clear Sentences

 Giving the Sentences Unity

All parts of a sentence must combine to form one clear thought.
 Unrelated Ideas
 Excessive Detail
 Illogical Constructions
Construction of Clear Sentences

 Unrelated Ideas
Mr. Ahmad is our sales manager and he has degree in
biology.
 Excessive Detail
The 9th grade students did well on most of the 3-part test with
at least 85 percent of the students at more than two-thirds of
the schools passing seven of 28 test objectives.
 Illogical Constructions
Because our salespeople are inexperienced caused us
to miss our deadline.
 Construction of Clear Paragraphs

 Paragraph Design
 Paragraphing shows and emphasize organization
 It involves logical thinking
 Construction of Clear Paragraphs

 Giving the Paragraph Unity

 The contents of a paragraph should concern one topic or
idea
 “Everything in this paragraph belongs together
because every part concerns every other part.”
 Construction of Clear Paragraphs

 Making Use of Topic Sentences

 Readability Statistics

 Tools Options Spelling & Grammar

 Number of words
 Number of characters
 Number of sentences
 Averages of characters per word
 Averages of words per sentence
 Averages of sentences per paragraph
 Conclusion

Think before you write. Clear writing

comes from clear thinking. If you don't
fully understand the process or the
problem, you can't explain it to others.
Which means you must first establish
your message.
 Questions
?

Thank You