Readable
Write to make the reader's life easier
Readers read to get meaning, and to do this they must process your words in sentences, sentences into ideas, and ideas into understanding. You make their job easier or harder depending on how you write. Obviously if you present complicated words, convoluted sentences and disconnected ideas it is harder for the reader to understand. While if you write too simply you may be seen as simplistic, usually academic topics are complex enough without needing our writing style to make it more difficult. In general shorter is better, as itreduces reader cognitive effort, but too short becomes "cryptic". Some general tips to make documents easier to read are:
- Replace complex words by simpler words
- Break up convoluted sentences into "one idea per sentence" parts
- Convert indirect sentences to direct sentences of the type "The man bit the dog" (Subject-Verb-Object)
- Use examples for complex ideas
- Strip filler words - try deleting every third word to see if it still makes sense.
Tags: Well Written, Other
Example(s)
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