Help:Contents
Travel Scotland English Style Guide:
How to get started on the guide
Introduction to Writing Style Guide
Many, if not most, people write:
- too much - using too many words where a few would suffice,
- bureaucratically - to impress or overawe their reader and
- obscurely - using words that are both long, difficult and imprecise..
Writing in plain English will:
- save you time in writing;
- make writing far easier;
- improve understanding on the part of your readers;
- make the reading of your writing more enjoyable.
Writing in Plain English does not mean that you are patronising your readers or deliberately using over-simple language on the assumption that they can understand no more. It is not about hair-splitting grammar. It does not mean you lose any of the exactness or subtlety of your message, even in legal or highly technical documents. It is merely the most efficient method of written communication.
The Common Mistakes
The common mistakes that writers make are similar to those made by novice cooks:
- too many ingredients
- not enough preparation
- not enough control of structure.
It is wrong to think that more is better. More adjectives spoil the meaning. Longer sentences are difficult to read and understand, unusual words pulled from a thesauraus render something unintelligible.
Do not make the mistake of trying to show how clever or important you are through your writing. Good writing reveals you anyway.
Talking to your reader...
Whenever you need to write something, think carefully about the reader. Ask yourself the following questions.
- How much does the reader already know about this subject?
- Is he or she an expert with a grasp of the technical language. If so they would expect easy use of their "jargon".
- What information do I actually need to impart to the reader?
- What information do I need to get before I can start writing?
- What tone should I use?
- Am I giving instructions or advice?
The best advice on writing plain English is to imagine you are actually speaking to your reader face to face as if in conversation.
You may find this difficult with longer reports, but it is vital in helping you to say exactly what you mean, without waffle and without drifting into a bureaucratic style. It is rare for us to speak in "bureacratese" and yet as soon as we put pen to paper we start to talk like a council official. Nobody is impressed by public sector speak.
If possible, call your reader you.
Write using shorter sentences
Informative writing should have an average sentence length of 15 to 20 words. This is short enough to be clear and long enough to make the text flow well. (The average sentence length of the main body of this guide is 15 words.)
Be punchy. Mix short sentences (like the last one) with longer ones (like this), aiming for one main point, plus perhaps one other related point, in each sentence.
We tend not to use short sentences enough. We need to vary the length in order to make our writing livelier.
For example, you have the short sentence 'This is an important document and you should read it carefully' in the middle of longer sentences. This is fine. But how much sharper it would be as two sentences:
'This is an important document. You should read it carefully'.
Remember: if you have two different things to say that are fairly short, don't be frightened to use two sentences.
Cut out useless words
One of the common failings of much writing is either using words that are unnecessary or using wordy phrases when a much shorter phrase would do. We must be concise. Only use as many words as you need. Consider every word and decide whether it adds to the message or tone.
Here are a few examples with the unnecessary words in bold.
....During the course of investigations
also, it should be mentioned that many people...
Allow a few days to elapse before speaking with....
You should contact.....
......Which is done for each and every incident
anything over and above this
For a period of 14 days
Up to a maximum of four people
Cut out useless phrases:
Similarly, there are few writers who do not use some phrases that could be replaced by a single word. Here is a list of some typical phrases:
Don't Use / Use
along the lines of should be like
as to should be about
at an early date - soon
be in a position to - can
during such time that - while
first of all - first
Words to avoid
There are also many words we use that have simpler, clearer or less formal equivalents. Don't write 'obtain' when you mean 'get'. Don't write 'residence' when you mean 'house'. The simpler, familiar words put you and your reader on the same plane; longer, abstract words make it more difficult to achieve a meeting of minds with your reader.
Many words seem to get used for their dignified appearance, not for their sense. Writers often don't understand them themselves. The result is pomposity, which is certainly not dignified. The Rule of thumb is: dont write it if you wouldnt say it!
The author Mark Twain once worked as a journalist and was paid seven cents a word for his articles. He clearly expressed his rules for successful writing when he said "I never write metropolis for seven cents, because I can get the same price for city".
Use the simplest words to get your meaning across. And don't be put off by people who accuse you of being childish or simplistic. Perhaps the idea that they should understand what you write is new to them! Here are some words with their alternatives. Remember that some alternatives only work in a particular context.
Replace additional with extra, more
Replace advise with tell
Replace assistance with help
Replace at this moment in time with now
Replace commence with start
Replace consequently with so
Replace forward with send
Replace in respect of with for
Replace obtain with get
Replace residence with house
The Use of Adjectives
Mark Twain wrote much wise advice for writers. None wiser and more valuable that his recommended course of action with adjectives: "I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice."
Adjectives clumped together do not crispen the prose or clarify with further precision the meaning of your sentences. Rather they tend to devalue the verbs and blur your nouns as though your reader was reading words through an out of focus camera lens.
If a noun needs an adjective, include one.
Use active verbs
The correct of use of verbs is where writing can really let us down. Most people know that a verb is a 'doing' word (such as 'make', 'work', 'write', 'ask' and so on), but they cannot always distinguish between active and passive verbs.
In speech we use plenty of personal words - "you", "we", "I" which we combine with actions expressed through ACTIVE verbs. We do this quite unconsciously and by habit and because our spoken conversation is concerned with people and their activities. This personal touch increases the human interest of our talk. These active verbs make the sentences more direct and easier to understand for our listeners.
Formal English tends to avoid personal words and often personal situations. PASSIVE verbs are a common way of avoiding them. The result is less human interest and often some highly involved sentences.
Passive verbs have nothing to do with verbs in the past tense. They are just a way of turning sentences around and saying something a little different - in the future, present or past.
Spotting passive verbs is easy. They always have two things:
- one of the following - been, being, be, were, was, am, are, is;
- combined with a 'past participle'
So a complete passive verb could be 'is done', 'has been given', or 'will be signed'.
Here are some examples of passive and active verbs from typical official documents.
Your complaint has been investigated (passive) rather than We have investigated your complaint (active)
Enquiries have been made by us (passive) rather than We have made enquiries (active)
It will be signed by the manager (passive) rather than The manager will sign it (active)
By themselves, passives don't look too bad. But when you have a lot of them together, they make writing very dull, bureaucratic, impersonal and occasionally ambiguous.
Sometimes you will want to use a passive. But to keep your writing lively, aim to make 80 - 90% of your verbs active.
Punctuation
Punctuation does have importance in the layout of documents because it helps the reader to make sense of the writing. In speech, a listener is helped by pauses, the rise and fall of the voice and changes in emphasis. In writing, punctuation performs some of these functions.
Full stop (.)
These are, of course, used to split sentences. But make sure your sentence is a sentence. It should have at least one verb, it should make sense and it should be making one or more statements.
Comma (,)
It is not easy to lay down rules about commas because their position is often just a matter of personal taste. But a good principle is to use as few as you need and only use them when they make the sentence clearer. For example, use them:
To show where you would have a short, natural pause if you were speaking:
'You may not think this is good idea, but it has worked well in every other area'.
To show where something extra has been put in, when you would use a pair of commas:
'This booklet must, if possible, be given back to the owner'
To divide strings of adjectives:
'The reference book was informative, interesting and visually attractive'.
Semicolon (;)
Semicolons can be used instead of full stops where you have two closely related sentences and a full stop might be too blunt:
'We have studied this problem for several days; more work is necessary'.
Or it can be divided in a list:
'The difficulties are: failure to produce the goods on time; reluctance to keep the costs down; poor standards of work'.
Layout punctuation:
Sometimes punctuation is an important part of the layout. If a number of facts or statements are emphasised by separating them into a list the punctuation is as follows:
a) the items in the list will start with lower case;
b) the end of each item will have a semicolon;
c) the last item will finish with a full stop.
The reason for this is that 'follows' is followed by a colon, not a full stop. Therefore the three separate items are not discrete sentences, but phrases within a sentence which is finished at the end of the last item. This would apply if items in the list were indicated by letters as above, by roman numerals or simply by dashes or 'bullet points'.
Quotation marks:
There are two different quotation marks, double and single and they have different meanings. They are used correctly below.
Mary remarked to her colleague, Susan, "The last time I saw Mr Farrell he was hoping to exchange contracts within the week. Have you any news of what stage he is at?". Susan answered, glancing at the daily printout that she used as her 'calendar', "He exchanged contracts last Wednesday and we are billing him today".
In other words, double quotation marks denote speech or direct quotes from documents such as:
Jane Austen's most famous saying is "it is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife".
Single quotation marks are used to show that a word is being used out of context as in 'calendar' or for indirect quotes from documents such as:
Thomas Hardy's belief in 'the drama and tragedy of rural life', is the cornerstone of his biographer's assessment of his work.
They can also be used for quotes within quotes, e.g.:
Fred said to Tom, "Mary telephoned yesterday and said 'how are you getting to the party?' which meant that she needed a lift".
Spelling:
Spelling mistakes give a bad impression and can make the reader lose concentration. Keep a dictionary handy and use it. Often the simplest words are spelt incorrectly; so don't be embarrassed to look up anything that you are not absolutely sure of.
Sexism:
There is a problem in English that, for example, 'Everyone must do his work' is grammatically correct but obviously sexist. And of course it is easy to slip into a 'he' style when writing.
There are three answers. Let's take the sentence 'Every officer must do his best'.
Use 'their'. 'Every officer must do their best'. This is grammatically incorrect but doesn't sound too bad.
Use 'his' or 'her'. This is safe but can't be used all the time as it is clumsy.
Make the person you are writing about plural. 'All officers must do their best'. This is the best solution but again can't be used in every case. You need to change the whole passage from what 'the officer' can do to what 'officers' can do.
It is probably best to mix these three techniques.
THE GOLDEN RULES:
Ernest Hemingway offers 4 excellent rules for writing:
- Write Short Sentences
- Use Short first paragraphs
- Use Vigorous English - make things happen
- Be Positive, not negative
- Throw away the shit!
Stop and think before you write.
Imagine that you are talking to your reader. Write sincerely and personally, in a style that is appropriate.
Use short words. Long words will not help your writing or impress your reader.
Use everyday English whenever possible. Avoid jargon and legalistic words and explain any technical terms you have to use.
Keep your sentence length down to an average of 15- 20 words. Try to stick to one main idea in a sentence.
Use active verbs as much as possible. Say 'we will do it' rather than 'it will be done by us'.
Be concise.
And always check that:
- your meaning is clear, and
- the tone is of one ordinary human being communicating with another ordinary human being!
THE FOG TEST:
This test was invented by an American, Robert Gunning, as a yardstick to measure how readable a piece of writing might be.
Measuring the amount of mental fog in a piece of writing is not an exact science, so you can't expect a score produced by this test to be anything more than a rough indication of how difficult the writing will be to read. But the score will at least be an objective thing, and with practice you will be able to apply the test very quickly.
If the document is a short one, test the whole of it. If it is a long one, a test of short passages selected at random will be enough.
To get the score!
1. Find the average sentence length. In the margin, jot down the number of words in each sentence in the passage. Assume that a colon or semicolon makes a fresh sentence. At the bottom of the page, add the total number of words. Divide this total by the number of sentences to get the average number of words to the sentence.
2. Find the percentage of long words.
Go through the same piece of writing, ticking off each word that has three syllables or more when spoken. But do NOT tick any long words that:
(a) Begin with a capital letter such as the name of a person, place, body etc, e.g., 'Robinson', 'Manchester', 'Maintenance Department', 'September'.
(b) Are made up of short words run together, e.g., 'however', 'understanding', 'waterproof'.
(c) End with '_ed' as a third syllable, e.g., 'reported', 'protected', 'supported'.
Count the total number of long words you have ticked, Then work out the percentage they represent of the total number of words in the passage (which you know from step 1).
Number of long words x 100 = percentage of long words Total number of words 1
3. Add the figure you get from step 1 to the one you get from step 2. The result is the "FOG Index" of the writing.
To evaluate the score:
Check the fog index figure against this scale:
Above 40:
Almost unreadable for most readers. They may think they have understood it, but a comprehension test would probably show that they have taken very little in.
35 - 40
Very heavy reading. Just about acceptable if it's technical stuff for a technician - but there are probably a lot of unnecessary abstractions and complex sentences.
30 - 35
Moderately heavy reading. Acceptable for many Research and Development reports and for an occasional report to senior management on a highly complex subject. But this is too high for normal paperwork. (This is the norm for 'Times' and 'Guardian' leaders.)
25 - 30
Fairly easy reading. About right for most paperwork passing between managers and staff. But still too high a score for sales writing or messages on the notice board. (This is the norm for 'Express' and 'Mail' leaders.)
20 - 25
Easy reading. This is the range for personal writing such as business letters, for hard-hitting selling copy or for notices to be read by all levels in the company. (This is the norm for 'Mirror' and 'Sun' leaders.)
Below 20
Very easy reading. If you can get your ideas over as simply as this, you are in some good company. A lot of great literature scores less than 20 (for instance Antony's "Friends, Romans, countrymen" speech scores 17, the opening of the story of the creation in Genesis scores 15.)