Writing resources Q4 2013

The Proof Angel is the trading name of Sarah Perkins, freelance editor and proofreader.www.theproofangel.co.uk or http://ow.ly/sNlFs © Sarah Perkins 2014

Writing resources: December 2013

How to write better lists

Lists are an important part of your formatting strategy. They are easierto read than blocks of text, and help the reader to take in yourinformation in a logical way.

But only if you structure them properly. Learn how to improve yourlists here:

http://ow.ly/sNpM3

Reminders about plain English

It shouldn't be hard to remember how to write plain English, but mostof us struggle at some point.

So from time to time I think we all need to be reminded about thebasics of how to write in Plain English.

Here are ten top tips from the Daily Writing Tips blog:

http://ow.ly/sNq0A

Effective email headings

These days we are all bombarded by emails. If the subject line isn'tappealing there is a good chance that the message will be deletedunread.

So what are the best words to grab attention?Some of the findings of this research are quitesurprising.

http://ow.ly/sNqLg

How to avoid getting bogged down when writing

You have thought about your audience, you know what needs to besaid, and you have planned your structure. Yet for some reason youcan't get the piece done. The main causes for slow progress whenwriting are:

• Indecision over detail.

• Getting side tracked.

• Banging your head against a brick wall when the words justdon't flow.

The basic problem is that you are trying to get it right first time. Thatis only a practical goal when you are writing something easy & short.Longer pieces tend to take more than one go.

The solution is easy: don’t get it right, get it written.

When you have a reasonable first draft, it is much easier to find theright words for these stumbling blocks:

• Sometimes you get too close to the subject. Leaving it for awhile & returning to it later gives you more distance, making iteasier to see the way through.

• Sometimes you aren't in the mood to write a particularpassage, but when you come back later that mood has passed.

• It is a well known fact that we get our best ideas out of theblue: in the shower, doing housework, or while running.

Classic causes of dithering

There are 3 parts of the piece that often cause people to dither:

• The title. A very important thing to catch attention, but onlywhen you have finished. Call it "My brilliant article aboutwhatever it is "or "My prize winning novel" for now. Give it aproper title when inspiration strikes.

• Use the same trick when you save the file. All you need to dois be able to find it at this stage.

• We all know the first sentence is important in the finalversion. Don’t get obsessed with it too soon or you won't finishat all.

www.theproofangel.co.uk or http://ow.ly/sNlFs © Sarah Perkins 2014

"This isn't quite right but...

... I can't see why (or what to do)." The easiest thing to do is to focuson the strengths of your piece, & fill the gaps later. The key is to markup the problem so it can be fixed later. It is important to make sure:

• When you come back it will catch your eye & you willremember to finish it off. Some people like to use italics. I findturning the offending passage red is more obvious. SometimesI put in a row of XXX, so I can use "Find" to get to the nextproblem.

• When you come back you can remember what you weretrying to do.

Use this technique for passages where:

• places where it just doesn't flow. Remember to leave yourselfa note about what is needed, such as:

• Mention the Wall Street Crash here.

• Explain why they moved north.

• you write something you know doesn’t really fit in the piece.

• you know you have contradicted what you've already said.

Other distractions

• Keep a notebook or a separate file of ideas that come to youwhile you are writing. That way you have a record for later, butyou can carry on with the current task.

• If you really don’t like a section, cut it & paste it in anotherfile. If you change your mind later it will still be there. Call thefile [whatever the original is called] cuts, so the 2 files will belisted together, but you won’t confuse them.

• “Nothing breaks up an author’s progress like having to stopevery few pages to fuss about the weather.” Mark Twain.

Translating legal waffle into plain English

I recently came across this post about an excellent example of waffle,which is on display in every petrol station in Michigan:

http://ow.ly/sNtQL

Although the writer does translate it into plain English, unfortunatelyhis explanation rather loses the way. He needs an editor. So I'llsummarise.


The main point is that you shouldn't just copy what you are told to say.You should rephrase it so that it is suitable for your audience.

The root of this problem is that legislation requires them to display awarning sign. The law sets out what must be said, & the standard signpretty much copies the language.

There are 2 pieces of writing involved here, with completely differentpurposes:

• A piece of legislation: Any law needs to be really specificabout what it covers. When you are up in court, the issue isnot whether you have done wrong; it is whether you havecomplied with the law. The purpose of the legislation is to saywhat is acceptable.

• A sign: A sign should convey the necessary informationquickly & easily. In this case, it also has to comply with thelaw.

Both aim to convey the message "Be sensible while using this petrolpump.” There is no reason why the language in these two placesshould be the same. There are several reasons why it should bedifferent, all of which are common sense.

It would be good if we could get legislators to use plain language in thefirst place. Then we could just copy what they've written in moresituations. But we'd still need to pay attention to make sure it was stillsuitable for our audience.

I think it is true that lawyers (and lay people who are unsure) tend touse standard wording from various sources. Lawyers are keen to usethe correct terminology. Lay people often want to use a tried & trustedformula. Those arguments have their place, but the world wouldn'tmake much progress if we just did what has always been done, wouldit?

If you are told that a particular form of words is necessary for legalreasons, it is a good idea to ask why. Try to get the name of the Act orregulation & the section number. Then look it up & check therequirement. It is amazing what you can find on Google these days.

There are some situations where you do need to do exactly what thelaw says. That is why we have the clutter of no smoking signs in placeswe all know are smoke free.


In some situations, it is a good idea to keep a foot in both camps. Usethe correct term & provide a translation, such as:

• “attached items (called ‘fixtures’)”;

• “I release, or give up, any legal claims”;

• “a default judgment — which means that the court will givethe plaintiff what he is asking for.”

When we write, we should always think of the needs of the reader. Ifthere were no reader, there would be no point in writing, would there?

What you can learn from watching Strictly

It is a very long time since oratory & rhetoric dropped off the averageschool curriculum. From Roman times & on into the Renaissance theability to speak in public was taught as a fundamental skill.

Communication skills are still vital to success, and one of the easiestways to learn is by example.

Read this post to see what you can learn from the Strictly judgesabout how to get your message across & grab attention:

http://ow.ly/sNv6I

In some situations, it is a good idea to keep a foot in both camps. Usethe correct term & provide a translation, such as:

• “attached items (called ‘fixtures’)”;

• “I release, or give up, any legal claims”;

• “a default judgment — which means that the court will givethe plaintiff what he is asking for.”

When we write, we should always think of the needs of the reader. Ifthere were no reader, there would be no point in writing, would there?

What you can learn from watching Strictly

It is a very long time since oratory & rhetoric dropped off the averageschool curriculum. From Roman times & on into the Renaissance theability to speak in public was taught as a fundamental skill.

Communication skills are still vital to success, and one of the easiestways to learn is by example.

Read this post to see what you can learn from the Strictly judges abouthow to get your message across & grab attention:

http://ow.ly/sNv6I

Why use plain English

Many people argue that using plain language is dumbing down. It istrue that dumbed down material uses plain language, but that is adifferent point.

Using plain language gets the message over quickly, and is thereforemore efficient.

• It saves time for the reader, because they can read & take inthe information more quickly.

• Because of that, it helps to build trust.

• It helps to keep the attention of the reader. Long sentencesmay look impressive, but they are hard to digest andencourage people to skip a section or give up altogether.

• People understand the content more easily, so there is less need tosort out problems afterwards. For example, they will not ask so manyquestions.


Just because your reader can understand something complicateddoesn't mean they want to. Most of us would rather move on tosomething else more quickly, or do something else at the same time,rather than concentrate on understanding a difficult passage.

Anyone who says that technical information has to be long windedshould look at Warren Buffett's letters to the shareholders of BerkshireHathaway Inc. There you will see examples of a highly respectedintelligent person communicating important financial information to amixed group of people.

If plain language works in that context, why should it not work in manymore? Mr Buffett has said:

http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html

I've studied the documents that public companies file. Too often, I'vebeen unable to decipher what is being said or, worse yet, had toconclude that nothing was being said.

That is another thing that loses trust people know when you arewriting to fill the space. If you have nothing to say, do you really knowwhat you are talking about?

Problems can be avoided by:

• Thinking out what you need to cover before you start writing.

• Imagine your audience.

• When you review your work, think what it would sound like tothat audience. It often helps to read it out loud. Think about:

• Have you said what the audience needs to know?

• Can you read each sentence comfortably, in one breath, at theright speed to allow the audience to understand?

How to use split screen in Word

Putting aside the technological voodoo, this is just like writing in twoparts of an old fashioned ledger or large book. You are working in onepart of the book & keeping your finger in another so you can flip back toit easily.

Actually, it is better than that: you can see two parts of the samedocument on your screen at once. You can scroll through the upper &lower parts independently. This allows you can scroll through both partsof the document independently, & make changes as you go.


If you opened two copies of the document, one will be “read only” andyou can’t make amendments to it.

Just like when you are marking another place in the book with yourfinger, this technique is useful to check:

• the contents against the body of the text.

• that the body of the text covers all that was promised in theintroduction.

• the conclusion summarises your main points.

• a questions section against the answers.

• a map really does show everything mentioned in the text.

The exact mechanics vary according to which version of word you areusing.

• On older versions go to the “Window” menu at the top of thescreen & click “Split”.

• On new versions look for the same option in the “View”section of your ribbon, as shown on the left.

A horizontal split bar appears across the document window, and thepointer changes to the symbol on the right.

Place this split bar to where you want it, and then either click the baror press "enter". You can drag this bar to another place later, forexample if you need to see more of the lower half of the screen for aparticular task.

You can now enter new text or copy & paste between these twosections in the normal way. As an experiment, you might want to splitthe screen in a small document, say of a page or two. This will let yousee how the document updates simultaneously in both screens.

The scroll bars on the right hand side will remind you of your positionin each part of the document.

To return to a single pane view:

Click "Remove Split" in the same place as you found "Split". The singlepane that results from this will start at the top point of your upperpane.


How to keep your writing short and snappy

Short & sweet is a popular target. And it is easier said than done. Ittakes some effort. And a few pointers.

Here is a good list to keep you on track. I can't help thinking itundermines the point a little to have such a long list.

http://ow.ly/sNyOJ

Perhaps the idea is that repetition makes the message sink in more.

How to avoid cluttering your writing

There are all sorts of ploys you can use to stop yourself usingunnecessary words. One of the easiest is to make yourself a list ofbanned words. There are 2 key points here:

• The list should be short enough for you to remember. Itmight even be worth phasing the list in a couple at a time.Ideally, alarm bells should go off in your head every time youuse a word you have decided to ban.

• The words on your list should be dictated by how you write there is no point banning yourself from using a word thatdoesn't appear in your writing very often.

Have a look at your writing & look for candidates for your list. Seewhat words add nothing to the sense, but you still use regularly. Itmight help to start with this list of 10 words:

http://ow.ly/sNyYj

If you need more inspiration, you could try this list of 200 words:

http://ow.ly/sNz5Q


Writing resources Q4 2013

Education

plain english

pieces of writing

writing resources

lysnlfs sarah perkins

piece of legislation

right words

important thing

dont flow