Tools and strategies for writing in simple language
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These slides support a session run at Oxford University IT Learning Centre. It is posted on http://digiknow.sbsblogs.co.uk.
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Tools and strategies for writing in simple language
- 1. Tools to help with writing Simple language
- 8. Which way will the lift go?
- 9. Which way will you turn the wheel of your car?
- 10. Which way will you turn your wheel now?
- 11. What makes text easy to read?
- 13. I wanted to write you a short letter
- 14. I wanted to write you a short letter but I didn’t have time.
- 15. I wanted to write you a short letter but I didn’t have time. So I wrote you a long one instead.
- 16. … or Franklin or Pascal or Locke or somebody else. I wanted to write you a short letter but I didn’t have time. So I wrote you a long one instead. Mark Twain
- 17. Simple and clear writing is not natural. It is harder and more time consuming than complicated writing.
- 18. Bad advice
- 19. Avoid passives Be informal / write conversationally Avoid redundancy Avoid jargon - Use simple words Use short 'English' words Write short texts
- 20. Don’t avoid passives too much The School was founded in 1996. They founded the School in 1996.
- 21. Don’t be too informal You must confirm your attendance. Why don’t you let us know that you’re coming.
- 22. Redundancy can reduce errors next Tuesday (24 Dec) next Tuesday
- 23. Redundancy can aid comprehension Tuesday, 24 Dec 24/12
- 24. Simple words don’t always make things clear Attendance will be taken. We will check who showed up.
- 25. Short English words don’t always make things better. We will provide accommodation. We will put you up. We will find you a place to stay.
- 26. Which is simpler? get acquire
- 35. Non-native speakers will not always find short and easy words as easy to understand as you think.
- 36. Good advice
- 37. Formatting Space Structure Guides / Graphics Structure Important first, background last Clear outline Shorter sentences Language Limit politeness Avoid embedding and clusters Don't take out too much Tools Test readability Listen to what you wrote Get help with editing
- 38. Who does it well?
- 42. Making things more readable with formatting
- 44. Chunking makes texts more readable
- 45. Word Navigation feature is great for outlines
- 46. Make sure you use headings
- 47. Mindmaps help with chunking, structure, outline
- 49. Tips for more readable structure
- 54. 54 Short paragraphs can help you get away with more complicated sentences
- 55. F-shaped scanning pattern © Nielsen Norman Group 2017 https://www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped- pattern-reading-web-content/
- 56. “F-shaped scanning pattern is bad for users and businesses: it means that users may skip important content simply because it appears on the right side of the page.” https://www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped- pattern-reading-web-content/ (Kara Pernice, 2017)
- 58. How to use Hemingway app to simplify language
- 62. 62 Do experts pass the test?
- 63. 63 About us by Plain English Campaign plainenglish.co.uk/ about-us.html
- 64. 64 Complexities of simple by Dominik Lukeš metaphorhacker.net
- 65. 65 Plain Language Is for Everyone, Even Experts by Hoa Loranger, 2017 https://www.nngroup. com/articles/plain- language-experts/
- 67. Welcome to this site We are very pleased to have the opportunity Avoid too much politeness …
- 68. …but only in context
- 69. This is might be a useful tool If it’s not too much trouble Limit hedges and indirectness
- 70. Bad: "You may like to register by clicking here." Good: "Register here“ Better: Register Strip out unnecessary language
- 71. Less good: “Your attendance is important." OK: “It is important that you come.” OK: “Please come. It is really important” Verbs over nouns
- 72. Bad: operations review evaluation task force Less bad: task force for the evaluation of our operations review Better: task force evaluating our review of operations Beware of noun clusters
- 73. Good: '10:30 - Swim in the lake’ Bad: '10:30 - Swimming in the lake’ Good: 'Achieve objectives’ Bad: 'To achieve objectives’ Good: 'Explain’ Bad: 'Explanation Of...' Simple imperatives in lists of activities
- 74. Limit complex embedding and if statements Less good: The man we met yesterday was a famous artist. OK: We met a man yesterday. And he was famous artist. Good: We met a famous artist yesterday.
- 75. Don't strip out linking phrases Good: "John didn't eat because he didn't like soup." OK: "John didn't like soup. So he didn't eat." Less good: "John didn't eat. He didn't like soup."
- 76. Think about when to use nouns vs pronouns Jane was late. She overslept, then she missed the bus. This is the fifth time in a month she did something like that. Her boss would be angry. So Jane / she thought of an excuse.
- 77. Avoid too much repetition, but not all of it Jane was late. She overslept, then she missed the bus. This is the fifth time in a month she did something like that. Her boss would be angry. So Jane / she thought of an excuse.
- 78. Readability
- 80. What typical level of education is required to understand a text?
- 81. Aim for GCSE (or less) Grade 9 – 11
- 82. Note: 14-year old reading level does not mean, 14-year old content.
- 83. Measured by: length of sentences length of words frequency of words
- 84. But don’t game the readability scores.
- 93. textalyser.net
- 94. textalyser.net
- 95. Don’t trust URL analysis
- 96. Word choice
- 97. Up Goer Five by XKCD CC BY NC https://xkcd.com/1133
- 98. Up Goer Five by XKCD CC BY NC https://xkcd.com/1133
- 101. corpus.byu.edu/iweb
- 102. corpus.byu.edu/iweb
- 103. corpus.byu.edu/iweb
- 115. Editing tools
- 116. Listen to what you wrote
- 117. Listen to what you wrote
- 118. Readability in Word
- 119. All spelling errors must be corrected or ignored
- 120. Word online has different features
- 121. Word online has different features
- 122. People over tools
- 123. Writing / editing buddies / beta readers Agree set of principles Agree targets Use checklists Constructive Feedback rules
- 124. Careful that you don’t end up speaking to an internal audience to tick boxes.
- 125. Ask online for help
- 126. Be careful who you ask. People who write well often don’t know how they do it. And beautiful prose is not always easy to read.
- 127. More on digiknow.sbsblogs.co.uk Thank you This presentation was created by Dominik Lukeš and it is made available under Creative Commons Attribution license