Do you worry that if you write in plain language you will lose important information? How could you possibly include all the complex ideas when you are writing in simpler language?

Simplifying complex ideas doesn’t mean removing information – it just means making that complex information easier to understand.

In other words, it's meeting the reader at their level of language, rather than leaving anything out.

Most people’s eyes glaze over when they think of business reports, especially annual reports. But it doesn't have to be like that.

Recently, reports have grown in depth and length as organisations are encouraged to be as transparent as possible.

But as reports become more complex, it becomes more important to consider how to present the information in a way that engages readers and helps them to easily and quickly understand your content.

​A common view of plain language writing is that you can only use simple words that everybody can read.

But plain language is about the reader.

And your target readers, and what they know, may change for different pieces of content. Or you may write two different versions of the same information for different groups of readers, depending on the level of information that they need, and the knowledge they already have. 

So, can we use jargon in plain language writing?

Writing is a creative process, which, just like any creative process, means it’s very personal.

We may feel that our writing is a reflection of our knowledge and intelligence, of how well we articulate ideas, and of how good we are at spelling and grammar.

But if we think about ourselves as we write, we aren't thinking about the reader and what they need. 

We need to think about who will read the text, and use empathy to understand what they need.

Plain language writing means uses writing techniques and layout design to make your message clear to the reader. It is user-friendly writing.

It's not as easy as it sounds to write in plain language . And there are no rules on how to write in plain language – just guidelines. The guidelines are there to help you, but different contexts or readers mean that the guidelines must be interpreted correctly for your purpose.

There are benefits of using plain language to the reader (your clients and potential clients), and to your business or organisation.

Plain language, or plain English, is a way of writing and using layout design to make your message as easy to understand as possible. It's user-friendly writing.
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Plain language can

• help your readers understand your message quickly and easily

• help your clients trust you

• help your employees work more efficiently.

Most people feel a little worried about handing over their writing to someone else, especially someone outside their organisation.

You might wonder, “What will they think of my writing?” or “How will they know how I wanted to say it?”

An editor is experienced in working with your ‘voice’. The goal of editing is to enhance communication, not detract from it. They will discuss the brief with you in detail, and make sure they understand the values and message of your organisation.

What’s more frustrating than spending time writing and rewriting a detailed email with important information, only for the reader to miss the point or, worse, not read it at all?

We know how it feels to receive too many emails. We all have inboxes with ‘to be read’ emails that sit there for months. Most of us don’t have hours to clear all our emails. We usually just skim through to get the gist of what’s in them. We want to find the key points easily and quickly to decide whether we need to read the details.

The answer to getting your email read and actioned is to use the right structure so that the important information will be read and understood. 

​Do you work in a comms team and it’s always frantic? Or are you a copywriter and have more work than you can take on?
 
Last-minute edits and proofreads need doing, but the next project has already arrived on your desk – with a tight deadline.

Or you have several big projects on the go and your team just doesn’t have the time to spend on the nitty-gritty details.

Or even, your team is great at the writing, but not so good at the details. But, it’s important that the copy is accurate and reflects well on your company.
 
Consider outsourcing to an editor or proofreader to take the pressure off you and your team.

Here are 5 reasons why this makes sense in today’s WFH culture.

​Communicating your message, your brand and your values accurately and effectively are vital to your business.

Whether you write a business blog, a report, marketing material, emails, social media posts or an e-book, you want to communicate clearly and accurately.

If you write content, and want to look professional and engage with your readers, working with an experienced editor can be beneficial to your business.

Most organisations have an idea of how they want to be portrayed to clients or the public. They will have a brand and know what their values are.

With many people all creating writing on behalf of an organisation, including freelance copywriters or editors, it would be difficult to be consistent across all communications without a reference tool.

I’m sure we've all experienced the feeling when we've spent hours creating a detailed report with important information only for the reader to skim it and put it aside.

What if they missed an important point? How will they make a decision based on a quick skim read?

Do you have strong views on whether to use the Oxford comma? It's one punctuation mark that can be very divisive. 

Some are for it: why wouldn’t you want to make sure your writing is never ambiguous?

And others are dead against it: why add more commas when you don’t need them – it looks messy!

When you write content, your goal is to grab and hold the attention of your audience, and to make your content quick and easy to read and understand.

One technique to make content easier to read and scan is to use bullet lists.

Bullet lists are displayed lists (rather than in-line lists) that remove all the nonessential words, leaving the important words and information available quickly and easily.

​I always feel like the semicolon is one of the more sophisticated punctuation marks. But that it also that it scares people a little.

It tends to be used more in formal writing, but it has its place in fiction too. It can be very useful to subtly convey a relationship between two thoughts without using more words.
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And there is no need to fear it if you know how to use it correctly.
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  When the student got to school, they realised they had forgotten their lunch.
 
There are three examples of the singular they in that sentence. Did you notice? Would you have written it any other way?

​Italic font was first used in presses in Italy the 1500s and was designed to replicate the handwritten manuscripts of the time. Italic font was used differentiate informal manuscripts created for leisure reading from formal manuscripts, which used Roman font. It wasn’t until the sixteenth century that italic font was used for emphasis.

We all know the rhyme 1, 2, buckle my shoe. 3, 4, knock on the door.

​Or should it be One, two, buckle my shoe. Three, four, knock on the door?

Though a reader might not be conscious of it, if numbers are not formatted correctly and consistently, your writing will look unprofessional. This article is about how to make numbers and numerals in formal and informal writing consistent and easy to read in New Zealand English writing.

​We use abbreviations and acronyms every day without thinking about them, and we instantly know the meaning of many of them – like FAQs, ETA, IQ, DVDs. And today's text language is full of them, LOL (or lol if you are of the younger generation).

It can be confusing to write abbreviations and acronyms correctly, and as there are only small style variations, it doesn’t always look wrong to use one or the other.