1) Remember your readership
·
WHO are you
writing for?
·
WHY are you
writing?
·
Would I be better
off picking up the phone and talking to them?
If you must write…
2) Use informative and plain English
·
DO keep to the
point without being blunt
o
A focussed and
tidy mind should be able to express anything in less than 200 words
o
The writer should be doing the hard work – NOT the
reader!
·
DO avoid
editorialising
·
DO avoid
metaphors, similes or any other figure of speech which you are used to seeing
in print
·
DO use short
words rather than long
o
Why “commence”
when you can “start”?
o
Why “utilise”
something when you can just use it?
·
DO cut out all
text that adds nothing
·
DO have a
beginning, middle and end
·
DON’T express
your opinion - no-one is interested!
·
DON’T write too
much – avoid waffle
·
DON’T use
clichés, scientific words, or jargon
·
DON’T use Latin
or foreign languages if there is an everyday English equivalent
