EFFECTIVE WRITING 8 Readability

Writing - time and resource consuming, stressful process Texts have a strong tendency of using more complex, more sophisticated and longer words, more varied lexical units, specific stylistic features, sentences supported by subordinate clauses, more nominal structures versus less verbal ones, passive and gerundial constructions, few repetitions and almost no digressions. Hence, readability - the variable of utmost importance.

Readability Written communication is based upon a set of grammar rules and conventions that lead to readability. Readability depends upon the length of the sentence (normally maximum words in two distinct sentences) and the audience’s intellectual level.

Readability Readability also relies on our memory span and ability to retain what is written (the upper limit - 12 words at first sight), the position of the words in the sentence (easier what is at the beginning of the sentence) and the motivation for a certain type of text (for instance, a poem and a scientific article)

Readability Readers are of different types. Managers, supervisors, executives, decision makers skimread for main points and ideas. A worker or a technician or a consumer who needs following instructions in order to reach thorough understanding reads more closely and slowly.

Making your writing more readable Step 1. Put new information for the reader into a framework of information already known to the reader. e.g. The computers run on software. (Does it bring new data for the layman/specialist? new information - included in among pieces of information already supplied to the reader. Given information or former information is the background knowledge that helps making sense of new data.

Making your writing more readable Step.2. Use prominent positions in the text to activate the right kind of information in the reader’s mind. What are the prominent positions? Basically, where the words have more space around them: titles, headings, captions, labels, paragraph topic sentence, sentence subjects.

Making your writing more readable Step 3. Make it clear what the main topic of the report is and state your purpose explicitly. The topic and purpose - customarily expressed in technical genres in the titles, abstracts, forewords, summaries, overviews. It is preferable to use these features and not vague sentences. Fill them with key words. State the problem to be solved to orient the readers.

Making your writing more readable Step 4. Use key words prominently. Build sections and paragraphs around key words related to the main topic. Use the key words visually prominent in headings, subheadings, topic statements, sentence subjects. The best way is to establish a hierarchy of intermediate topics and subtopics for the various units of your text.

Making your writing more readable A common framework goes from general to specific. While writing, specific items become general and generate even more specific items. A well structured discussion is functional in at least two respects. First, it allows for easier interpretation as the framework has been established and as the new information is progressively added to the initial framework it is interpreted in terms of this framework, transformed in given data and then is helpful for the further understanding and interpretation. Second, it helps selective reading, as readers can locate much easier the desired level of detail.

Making your writing more readable Step 5. a. Use standard terminology for specialist readers. Never define, paraphrase, explain a concept to a reader who works in your filed. Adding extra info would disbalance the text.

Making your writing more readable Step 5. b. Clarify important technical concepts (by examples, analogies, visual aids, definitions) when writing for non-specialists. The most spontaneous method of explaining is illustration.

Making your writing more readable Step 5. c. For a mixed audience, of specialist and non-specialists, it is recommended to have either two documents (audience- oriented) or only one with brief definitions of technical terms. Step 6. Structure your text so as to give greatest prominence to the information you expect the reader to pay most attention to.

Making your writing more readable Step 7. Construct well-designed paragraphs. Make sure that each paragraph has a good topic statement and a clear pattern of organization. Usually, the topic statement is presented in the first two sentences of the paragraph and contains one or more keywords that focus the reader’s attention. Other conventions.

Making your writing more readable Step 8. Field test your writing As soon as you finished writing the first draft, test it on some intended users. Have them read it as if it were the final draft submitted for actual use. Let them mark it, criticize it, tell if it misleads, if they can easily locate for main points. An example in the case of instructions would be acting according to the instructions developed.

Making your writing more readable Step 9. Take cultural differences into account Western audience - explicit purpose statement, full explanations, clearly articulated main points. The Japanese prefer to be less straightforward, to state important points at the end or not at all, hint at an argument, supporting politeness. Readability depends on the individual’s psychological mechanisms, on his/her cultural norms, on his/her expectations.