3/18/2008
Guest Post from Joanna Young – A Plain English Guide to Writing with Difficult Words
My blogging buddy Joanna Young has graced my blog with another outstanding guest post. Joanna is a freelance writer and writing coach
who helps clients improve their writing, find their voice, build confidence, develop skills, and become part of a community that supports writers in every way. (Mini-testimonial … Recently, she gave me a little help on a newsletter and she did an awesome job!)
____________________
A plain English guide to writing with difficult words
I’m a big fan of plain English writing. It rarely let’s you down. As my plain English guru Terence Denman [see ref and link below] says:
“The more complicated and important the information you are trying to get across, the simpler your language should be.”
But what does that mean for all those fabulous words out there, the words that tumble out of the dictionary and tease us from the thesaurus? Are they totally redundant – or is there a way we can work them into our writing?
Here’s a plain English (and tongue-in-cheek) guide to 10 ways you can do just that:
1. Use long and unfamiliar words sparingly – if your readers can’t easily follow your words will have a soporific effect, causing them to glaze over (or maybe even nod off).
2. It can be tempting to throw in unfamiliar words to make your writing sound more thoughtful, academic, intellectual. Resist the temptation. Chances are you’ll end up with a bricolage of words, which looks, feels and sounds messy – and doesn’t carry the authority of your own voice.
3. Nine times out of ten that unfamiliar, hard-to-read or jargon-full word is going to be otiose. You don’t need it. It doesn’t add anything. Challenge yourself to find the simplest word rather than the most unusual.
4 Take care when you borrow an unfamiliar word from the dictionary or thesaurus – you might have misunderstood the definition, and it’s easy to make a bungle, a foozle you’ll come to regret.
5. If you’re writing in an organisation where the written style is antediluvian and you think all your colleagues were born before the flood… you have my sympathies. Fight back with plain English and they won’t know what’s hit them!
6. Be parsimonious with your use of unusual words. They’re hard for your reader to digest. A frugal use works wonders – maybe one in a 1,000 words. Ten in 600 is definitely pushing it.
7. Short, simple words, sentences and paragraphs come backed with a punch. If you’re looking for powerful, puissant writing plain English is your thing.
8. That unfamiliar word you’re tempted to use is probably unfamiliar for good reason. It’s moribund. On its way out. Use a plain simple word from everyday speech instead. Your readers will thank you for it. And sometimes it’s kinder to let the old words die.
9. You might think an article scattered with jargon and long-winded words was a sign of your intellectual prowess, a panoply of word power. But it’s not an impressive display of anything – other than your desire to look good. True word power comes when you can find the simplest, plainest word for the most difficult of concepts.
10. A simple way to introduce a new and potentially difficult word is to include an explanation or synonym (a word that means the same thing). This allows you to add a bit of variety to your writing, keep your readers on board, introduce them to some new words without having to check the dictionary, and prove you can write plain English with poise and aplomb.
I don’t want to make a palaver out of this issue, but I would like to know what you think. Is there a time and a place for difficult and challenging words? How do manage to work them into your writing?
Join the conversation – let’s fribble together!
This piece was inspired by Brad’s challenge to write a post using 10 or more of his words from the ultimate word nerd vocabulary test. I couldn’t resist the challenge!
____________________
15 Responses to Guest Post from Joanna Young – A Plain English Guide to Writing with Difficult Words
Pingback: amazon.com
Thanks for the chance to write a guest post Brad – you know I wouldn’t be able to resist the word nerd challenge, not least as that’s how we first ‘met’.
Thanks for the mini-testimonial too – I need to create a page of them, and this one will do very nicely
Joanna
Pingback: Guest Post from Joanna Young - A Plain English Guide to Writing … | Inc News
This is great! I used to think I was clever by using complex words to describe simple ideas. Then I saw that they were simply getting in the way of my message.
This is doubly true on the internet, where readers will often have English as a second or third language. Thanks for the fun reminder!
Tee! Fun, informative, and vocabulary-challenging all at once. Great post, Joanna!
Pingback: Punctuality Rules! » Blog Archive » Guesting
Joanna, the highlighted words kind of force readers to think about what you’re saying — that’s a good thing, considering how much we scan instead of really read. If I had to guess which words you’d choose for the post, foozle and fribble wouldn’t have made the list (they sound like cartoon characters
)
Joanna, I laughed and learned from your post! I love words and the uncommon ones often have a melody that tickles me. However, when reading outside of academia or technical text, I am put off by those who don’t write in plain english. I believe true brilliance is the art of writing in plain simple english. Thank you Joanna for the great post!
Karen
Karen, Deb, Nick, and others … just a reminder that you can write your own post here at Word Sell or on your own blog using 10 Words for Nerds and I’ll feature it here. It’s a good writing exercise!
This excellent post brought a smile to my face.
I’m glad this one made you all smile – I had fun writing it.
Brad – you know me too well. Foozle and fribble were the only two words I’d never heard of before and only used based on the definitions you supplied, thereby breaking my own rules!
I hadn’t thought of them combined like this before though. It does sound like some kind of tv show – “Foozle and Fribble” – it has a ring to it doesn’t it?
Joanna, I’ll have quite a surprise for you later this week!
Pingback: A Writer’s Swipe File - Why You Should Have One & Some Links
Lots of fun, Joanna.
I linked to this article in my post.
As always, you are inspiration.
Great post here Joanna, and a real keeper. In my work I am often at the crossroad looking for the best word that will take a complex concept about the brain forward.
Because of the use of multi-syllabic … often words with Latin parents … people often miss the wonder of a human brain in action.
Your post is a reminder and my own key tends to be. If readers can roll out an idea beyond the site — the words chosen were the best fit. Loved your own zip on a terrific topic. Thanks for your part, Brad! It was fun to stop by on a very busy day – and find words at play.