The main purpose of language is to
communicate information, thoughts and feelings. And when you communicate you
want people to understand you, and you want to reach as many people as you can.
Yet the world is filled with pages of
complicated jargon, officialese, and legalese – language that’s just trying too
hard to sound posh. And this type of language creates a barrier in
communication.
That’s where plain English comes in – it’s a
way for you to reach the widest possible audience, with the greatest degree of
understanding.
George Orwell
English novelist and journalist George Orwell
was best known for his books “Nineteen Eighty Four” and “American Farm” – and
his passion for clarity in language. This passion led him to write an essay in
1946 called “Politics and the English
Language” – in which he provided some solutions to what he thought was
wrong with the writing of the time.
He gave the following rules:
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech that you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
And these rules basically outline what plain
English is.
Plain English
Professor Robert Eagleson penned a popular
handbook called “Writing in Plain English” which serves as a guide to writing
more clearly. And he defined plain English as “clear, straightforward
expression, using only as many words as are necessary. It is language that
avoids obscurity, inflated vocabulary and convoluted sentence construction. It
is not baby talk, nor is it a simplified version of the English language.
Writers of plain English let their audience concentrate on the message instead
of being distracted by complicated language. They make sure that their audience
understands the message easily.”
It’s a very long definition – but it covers
all the bases as to what exactly plain English is.
I also like the definition offered by the
“Oxford Guide to Plain English” by Martin Cutts, “Plain English refers to the
writing and setting out of essential information in a way that gives a
cooperative, motivated person a good chance of understanding it at first
reading, and in the same sense that the writer meant it to be understood.”
Basic guidelines
- Plan before you write
- Consider different ways of setting out your information
- Write shorter, simpler sentences
- Use words your reader will more easily understand
- Cut out unnecessary words
- Use lively verbs to express actions
- Use vertical lists to break up information
Jo Watson Productions
