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Writing so readers can understand you Paul Mundy and Bob Huggan www.mamud.com 1 Good writing Arouses the reader’s interest Stirs the reader’s imagination Makes the reader feel the text is aimed directly at him/her Presents believable evidence Gives good reasons for action 2 KIS MII Keep It Simple Make It Interesting * 3 Easy-to-read writing Use short, simple words Use short, varied sentences Anglo-Saxon, not French or Latin Average = 17 words Use short paragraphs 3-5 sentences each 4 “The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out” —Voltaire 1694–1778 5 Easy-to-read writing Be conversational Write like you talk Read it out loud Use personal words I, you, we, our (not one, policy makers, scientists) 6 Easy-to-read writing Write in a logical order State the main point in 1 sentence Say why it is important Give the details Check your grammar 7 8 Short words are better than long words Numerous Individual Remainder Initial To implement Attempt Sufficient Referred to as Many Person, man or woman Rest First To do Try Enough Called 9 Use Anglo-Saxon, not Latin or French Facilitate Utilize Demonstrate Initiate, commence In close proximity to Despite the fact that Endeavour Help Use Show Begin Near Although Try 10 Use Anglo-Saxon, not Latin or French Exerts a lethal effect For the purpose of In view of the fact that Is equipped with Magnitude Prior to Subsequent to Until such time as Remunerate Kills To Because Has Size Before After Until Pay 11 Use words the reader can understand The region has an annual surplus of water The region has more than enough water Women are involved in the disposal of the output of rice production Women sell the rice Long aeroplane trips may lead to transmeridianal dyschronism After a long plane trip you may have jet lag 12 Cut out words The rural poor face multiple problems which are interlocking in nature The rural poor face multiple, interlocking problems He initiated and facilitated in the conduct of meetings and workshops... He helped conduct meetings... 13 Use short sentences This cooperative of vegetable growers in the rural village of Paliparan located in the municipality of Dasmariñas, Cavite province in the Philippines, was initiated as an interest group of 17 vegetable growers in 1982 (31 words) The cooperative is located in Paliparan village, about 40 km south of Manila, the Philippine capital. It began in 1982 when 17 vegetable growers formed an interest group (25 words, 2 sentences) 16 Use active verbs, not passives The coop was initiated by the villagers… The villagers started the coop… It was decided by the governor that the assistance to the project was to be suspended The governor stopped supporting the project 17 Avoid weak verbs Am, is, are, was, were Conduct, provide Promote, implement Take place 18 Avoid weak verbs She was a student of Indian history She studied Indian history They conducted a study of the movement They studied the movement They promoted the sale of medicinal plants They sold medicinal plants IIRR implemented a strategy that resulted in the formation of 22 cooperatives IIRR helped form 22 cooperatives 19 Avoid weak starts There is… There are… It is important to note that… Interestingly… It is self-evident that… It goes without saying that… I might add… It should be pointed out that… 20 Turn abstract nouns into verbs Abstract nouns often end in -tion Acquisition Acquire, get Demonstration Demonstrate, show Guidance Guide 21 Turn abstract nouns into verbs Clayey soil has maximum water retention ability Find the noun that is built from a verb Turn it into a verb Find the Anglo-Saxon equivalent Retention ► Retain Retention ► Retain ► Hold Clayey soil can hold the most water 22 Turn abstract nouns into verbs The group plans the acquisition of a new vehicle The group wants to buy a jeep The aim of the project was to... The project aimed to... His conclusion was that the funds had been misappropriated by the cooperative leader He concluded that the coop leader had stolen the money 23 Avoid inflated prepositions and conjunctions With the possible exception of… Except For the reason that… Because He totally lacked the ability to… He couldn’t She was unable to give any information beyond the fact that… She said 24 Break up strings of nouns The following innovative project implementation modes were effected The project tested several new approaches The vastness, remoteness and endemic drought have posed severe challenges to the pastoral production system Pastoralists range over huge, remote, dry areas. That makes life for them difficult 25 Get rid of prepositions Especially of and by The implementation of this project was undertaken by the project within the framework of the following objectives… We aimed to do the following… 26 Avoid unnecessary modifiers Adjectives and adverbs often carry no meaning Delete them, or make them specific He ran quickly to the shop He ran to the shop The farmers successfully harvested 3 tons of maize The farmers harvested 3 tons of maize She earned a good income She earned Rs 500 27 Be precise (1) Words without much information: Fast, slow, good, bad, unusual, interesting… Better to say how fast or slow, why something is good, bad, unusual or interesting 28 Be precise (2) Feed your baby frequently Breast-feed your baby every 2 or 3 hours, or whenever he or she is hungry Vegetable consumption rose slightly People in St Kitts ate 5% more vegetables last year January rainfall is normally heavy The mean rainfall for January is 940 mm 29 Avoid false precision Too many significant digits The mean millet yield was 4.345 tons per hectare The average worker earns Rs 30.56 a day …4.3 tons… …Rs 30… The population is 34,965,865 …35,000,000 30 Add details if necessary… …to make sure the reader understands clearly what you are saying Use words that will build pictures in the reader’s mind Construction of health infrastructure has the capacity to catalyse significant improvements in rural nutrition New clinics can encourage rural people to eat better 31 Provide enough information The cooperative is located in the village of Paliparan in the municipality of Dasmariñas. The cooperative is located in Paliparan village, about 40 km south of the Philippine capital of Manila It borrows money from Pamana-ILCF and re-lends it to individual members of the coop at low interest rates It borrows money from Pamana-ILCF, an IIRRsupported credit cooperative. It relends this money to members at 7.5% interest a year 32 Remember KIS MII Keep It Simple Make It Interesting 33 More information Wikipedia: Weasel word Ten quick tips to improve your writing http://tinyurl.com/5wrdw8 http://tinyurl.com/2h5e4h Improve your writing: Your role as a writer http://tinyurl.com/lty2rs 34