Tips for Writing in Clear, Plain English

June 18, 2008

Stuck for Words

The first aim of copywriting is to communicate clearly and concisely. You’re not going to persuade people to buy if they don’t understand what it is you’re trying to sell. Considering how important the clarity of your words are, it’s surprising how many badly written websites there are cluttering up the web.

Perhaps it’s because people think writing is easy. Why pay a professional to do something you were taught at school right?

But as every writer knows, writing isn’t easy. Transferring ideas from your head to paper (or screen) can take sweat, tears and a lot of caffeine.

And writing clearly isn’t just about communication. Concise copy is a marketing advantage if you’re able to spell out your arguments more quickly, more clearly and more often than your competitors.

Recently I was asked for advice on improving a property investment website’s content. After running a readability test on Word I showed them in cold hard figures why their copy needed translating into plain English if they wanted to convert more visitors into clients.*

For anybody else struggling to push their Flesch Reading Ease score above 50%, here are my tips for writing in clear, plain English:

  1. Aim for an average sentence length of 15-20 words
  2. Vary between long and short sentences to help the flow and to make your points punchy
  3. Assign one idea per sentence, and add another point if it’s closely related
  4. Write in the active voice to keep your sentences lively, with verbs before the object
  5. Write for the reader rather than for yourself. Write to inform and answer their questions, rather than to show off your vocabulary
  6. Whilst your trusty thesaurus might have helped you sound clever at college, plain English writing doesn’t reward you for using words you don’t understand
  7. Imagine you’re talking to the reader, and use the shortened versions of words used in everyday language
  8. Avoid slang unless you’re trying to get down with the kids. In which case you’re probably trying too hard already
  9. People like writing that speaks to them as humans rather than dictates. So use ‘I’, ‘we’ and ‘you’ to keep your writing friendly
  10. Don’t use technical jargon and gobbledygook unless they’re terms your target reader will be familiar with
  11. Use positive, inspiring language that will motivate your readers. Say how your product ‘will’ solve their problem and how you ‘can’ save them lots of money
  12. Avoid negative words, such as ‘can’t', ‘don’t’ and ‘won’t’.
  13. Start sentences using connectors to split long ones in two, such as ‘but’, ’so’ and ‘because’
  14. Wield an axe and chop out unnecessary words. Brevity is the basis of clear writing
  15. Use subheadings, bullet points and summaries to aid skim readers
  16. When you’ve finished, read it out loud. Does it sound natural? If not, refer to points 1-15.

* To check the readability stats of a Word file - go to tools → options → spelling and grammar tab → tick the ‘Show readability stats’ box.

After running a spell check you can then see the number of passive sentences, Flesch Reading Ease score (aim is 60% for plain English) and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (a score of 7 equates to a reading age of 12, which is desirable for clear readability).


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Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under Blog, Copywriting 

Comments

4 Responses to “Tips for Writing in Clear, Plain English”

  1. Freelance Writing Jobs » Blog Archive » A Little Weekend Link Love June 21, 2008 on June 21st, 2008 4:27 pm

    [...] Tips for Writing in Clear Plain English at Copywriters Crucible [...]

  2. wilhb81 on June 23rd, 2008 7:20 am

    Great tips here…

    I had never thought that readers would rather prefer clear and plain English, as most of them were highly educated peoples…

    Also, thanks for the Flesch Reading Ease score as well, will try it on later…

    Wilson.

  3. Matt Ambrose on June 23rd, 2008 11:51 am

    Hi Wilson,

    You should always take your target audience into consideration when gauging your writing style and vocabulary. However, writing in clear, plain English simply ensures as wide an audience as possible can easily read your copy.

    I’m glad you found the tips useful.

    Matt.

  4. Recommended Reading « Writer Friend Jen on June 27th, 2008 5:36 am

    [...] Top Tips for Writing in Clear, Plain English @ the Copywriter’s Crucible [...]

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