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PrinciplesofClearWriting
1.Writeintheactivevoice.Theactivevoiceeliminatesconfusionbyforcingyoutonametheactorin
asentence.Thisconstructionmakescleartothereaderwhoistoperformtheduty.
Thepassivevoicemakessentenceslongerandroundabout.Whoisresponsibleismuchlessobvious.
Passiveverbshaveaformoftheverbtobeplusthepastparticipleofamainverb.
am
is
are
was
were
be
been
plus
amainverbusuallyendingin"en"or"ed".
Examplesofpassiveverbs:
wasreceived,
isbeingconsidered,
hasbeenselected.
Thepassivevoicereversesthenatural,activeorderofEnglishsentences.Inthefollowingpassive
examplethereceiveroftheactioncomesbeforetheactor.
Passive:Theregulation[receiver]waswritten[verb]bythedrafter[actor].
Active:Thedrafter[actor]wrote[verb]theregulation[receiver].
Passiveconstructionsareconfusingwhenusedinregulations.Activesentencesmusthaveactors,but
passiveonesarecompletewithoutthem.
Thematerialwillbedelivered.
Bywhom?
Thestartdateistobedecided.
Bywhom?
Thefiguresmustbeapproved.
Bywhom?
Puttingtheactorbeforetheverbforcesyoutobeclearaboutresponsibility.
Themessengerwilldeliverthematerial.
Thecontractorwilldecidethestartdate.
Theadministratormustapprovethefigures.
Thepassivevoiceisappropriatewhentheactorisunknown,unimportant,orobvious.This
doesnotusuallyapplyinregulatorytext.
Smallitemsareoftenstolen.
Theapplicationshavebeenmailed.
2.Useactionverbs.
Avoidwordslikethis:
DON'TSAY
SAY
giveconsiderationto
consider
isapplicableto
appliesto
makepayment
pay
giverecognitionto
recognize
isconcernedwith
concerns
Theyarecalled"nominals"nounswithverbsinside.Theyarehardtoreadandmakesentences
longer.Actionverbsareshorterandmoredirect.
3.Use"must"insteadof"shall".
shall
imposesanobligationtoact,butmaybeconfusedwithpredictionoffuture
action
will
predictsfutureaction
must
imposesobligation,indicatesanecessitytoact
must
not
indicatesaprohibition
should
infersobligation,butnotabsolutenecessity
may
indicatesdiscretiontoact
Toimposealegalobligation,use"must."
Topredictfutureaction,use"will."
DON'TSAY:TheGovernorshallapproveit.
SAY:TheGovernormustapproveit.[obligation]
OR:TheGovernorwillapproveit.[futureaction]
4.Bedirect.Talkdirectlytoyourreaders.Usetheimperativemood.Regulationslendthemselvesto
thisstyle,especiallyprocedures,howtoinstructions,andlistsofduties.
Directnessavoidsthepassivevoice:
SAY:Signallcopies.
SAY:AttachacopyofyourW2toyourreturn.
Thisstyleresultsinproceduresthatareshorter,crisper,andeasiertounderstand.
5.Usethepresenttense.Aregulationofcontinuingeffectspeaksasofthetimeyouapplyit,notas
ofthetimeyoudraftitorwhenitbecomeseffective.Forthisreason,youshoulddraftregulationsinthe
presenttense.Bydraftinginthepresenttense,youavoidcomplicatedandawkwardverbforms.
DON'TSAY:Thefinefordrivingwithoutalicenseshallbe$10.00.
SAY:Thefinefordrivingwithoutalicenseis$10.00.
6.Writepositively.Ifyoucanaccuratelyexpressanideaeitherpositivelyornegatively,expressit
positively.
DON'TSAY:TheGovernormaynotappointpersonsotherthanthosequalifiedbythePersonnel
ManagementAgency.
SAY:TheGovernormustappointapersonqualifiedbythePersonnelManagementAgency.
Anegativestatementcanbeclear.Useitifyou'recautioningthereader.
DON'TWALK
DON'TSMOKE
Butavoidseveralnegativesinonesentence.
DON'TSAY:Ademonstrationprojectwillnotbeapprovedunlessallapplicationrequirementsaremet.
SAY:Ademonstrationprojectwillbeapprovedonlyiftheapplicantmeetsallrequirements.
It'sbettertoexpressevenanegativeinpositiveform.
DON'TSAY
SAY
nothonest
dishonest
didnotremember
forgot
didnotpayanyattentionto
ignored
didnotremainatthemeeting
leftthemeeting
didnotcomplywith
or
failedtocomplywith
violated
7.Avoiduseofexceptions.Ifpossible,statearuleorcategorydirectlyratherthandescribingthat
ruleorcategorybystatingitsexceptions.
DON'TSAY:Allpersonsexceptthose18yearsoroldermust...
SAY:Eachpersonunder18yearsofagemust...
However,youmayuseanexceptionifitavoidsalongandcumbersomelistorelaboratedescription.
Whenyouuseanexception,statetheruleorcategoryfirstthenstateitsexception.
DON'TSAY:Alabama,Alaska,...andWyoming(alistof47states)mustration...
SAY:EachstateexceptTexas,NewMexico,andArizonamustration...(Notethatthecategory"each
State"isestablishedfirstandthentheexceptionsarestated.)
8.Avoidsplitinfinitives.Thesplitinfinitiveoffendsmanyreaders,soavoiditifyoucan.
DON'TSAY:Besuretopromptlyreplytotheinvitation.
SAY:Besuretoreplypromptlytotheinvitation.orSAY:Besuretoreplytotheinvitationpromptly.
9.Usethesingularnounratherthanthepluralnoun.Totheextentyourmeaningallows,usea
singularnouninsteadofapluralnoun.Youwillavoidtheproblemofwhethertheruleapplies
separatelytoeachmemberofaclassorjointlytotheclassasawhole.
DON'TSAY:TheguardwillissuesecuritybadgestotheemployeeswhoworkinBuildingDand
BuildingE.
SAY:TheguardwillissueasecuritybadgetoeachemployeewhoworksinBuildingDandeach
employeewhoworksinBuildingE.
unlessyoumean
TheguardwillissueasecuritybadgetoeachemployeewhoworksinbothBuildingDandBuildingE.
(Thereareotherpossiblemeanings.)
10.Beconsistent.Don'tusedifferentwordstodenotethesamethings.Variationforthesakeof
variationhasnoplaceinregulationwriting.Usingasynonymratherthanrepeatingthepreciseterm
youintendjustconfusesthereader.
DON'TSAY:EachmotorvehicleownermustregisterhisorhercarwiththeAutomobileDivisionof
theMetropolitanPoliceDepartment.
SAY:EachautomobileownermustregisterhisorherautomobilewiththeAutomobileDivisionof
theMetropolitanPoliceDepartment.
Don'tusethesamewordtodenotedifferentthings.
DON'TSAY:Thetankhada200gallontankforfuel.
SAY:Thetankhada200gallonfuelcontainer.
11.Useparallelstructure.Arrangesentencessothatparallelideaslookparallel.Thisisimportant
whenyouusealist.
Nonparallelconstruction:
ThedutiesoftheExecutiveSecretaryoftheAdministrativeCommitteeare:
Totakeminutesofallthemeetings(phrase)
TheExecutiveSecretaryanswersallthecorrespondenceand(clause)
Writingofmonthlyreports.(topic)
Parallelconstruction:
Totakeminutesofallthemeetings
Toanswerallthecorrespondenceand
Towritethemonthlyreports.
12.Prefersimplewords.Governmentwritingshouldbedignified,butdoesn'thavetobepompous.
Writingcanbedignifiedwhenthelanguageissimple,direct,andstrong.Tomakeyourwritingclearer
andeasiertoreadandthusmoreeffectivepreferthesimpleword.
DON'TSAY
SAY
construct,fabricate
make
initiate,commence
begin
terminate
end
utilize
use
substantialportion
largepart
affordedanopportunity
allow
13.Omitneedlesswords.Don'tusecompoundprepositionsandotherwordyexpressionswhenthe
samemeaningcanbeconveyedwithoneortwowords.
DON'TSAY
SAY
becauseofthefactthat
since(because)
callyourattentiontothefactthat
remindyou
fortheperiodof
for
inmanycases
often
inmanyinstances
sometimes
inthenatureof
like
thefactthathehadnotsucceeded
hisfailure
thequestionastowhether
whether
14.Avoidredundancies.Don'tusewordpairs,ifthewordshavethesameeffectorwherethe
meaningofoneincludedtheother.
Examples:Wordpairstoavoid
anyandall
authorizeanddirect
ceaseanddesist
eachandevery
fullandcomplete
orderanddirect
meansandincludes
necessaryanddesirable
15.Useconcretewords.Governmentwritingoftenconcernsabstractsubjects.Butabstractwords
canbevagueandopentodifferentinterpretations.Putinstructionsinsimple,concretewords.
DON'TSAY
IFYOUMEAN
vehicles
automobiles
firearms
rifles
aircraft
helicopters
16.Don'tusewordsthatantagonize.Wordscanattractorrepelreaders.Itispossibletochoose
wordsinourwritingthatdonotmakethewrongimpressionorantagonizeourreaders.Usewordsto
whichpeoplereactfavorablyratherthanwordsthattheyresent.
USEWORDSLIKE
ability
achieve
benefit
guarantee
please
reasonable
reliable
service
useful
you
RATHERTHANTHESEWORDS
alibi
allege
blame
complaint
impossible
liable
oversight
unfortunate
waste
wrong
17.Avoidnounsandwiches.Administrativewritingusestoomanynounclustersgroupsofnouns
"sandwiched"together.Avoidtheseconfusingconstructionsbyusingmoreprepositions.
DON'TSAY:Undergroundmineworkersafetyprotectionproceduresdevelopment.
SAY:Developmentofundergroundproceduresfortheprotectionofthesafetyofmineworkers.
ORMORELIKELY:Developmentofproceduresfortheprotectionofthesafetyofworkersin
undergroundmines.
Whichmeaningisintendedbecomesclearerwhenthisfourwordsandwichisbrokenup.
18.Don'tusegenderspecificterminology.Avoidthegenderspecificjobtitle:
DON'TSAY
SAY
Crewman
Crewmember
Draftsman
Drafter
Enlistedmen
Enlistedpersonnel
Fireman
Firefighter
Foreman
Supervisor
Manhours
Hoursworked
Manpower
Personnel,workforce
Avoidthegenderspecificpronounwhentheantecedentcouldbemaleorfemale.
DON'TSAY:Theadministratororhisdesigneemustcompletetheevaluationform.
SAY:Theadministratorortheadministrator'sdesigneemustcompletetheevaluationform.
Becarefulwhenyourewritetoavoidtheproblem.Thefollowingexamplesdon'tnecessarilyhavethe
samemeaning
EachRegionalDirectorwillannouncehisorherrecommendationsattheconference.
TheRegionalDirectorswillannouncetheirrecommendationattheconference.
19.Writeshortsentences.Readablesentencesaresimple,active,affirmative,anddeclarative.
Themoreasentencedeviatesfromthisstructure,theharderthesentenceistounderstand.
Long,runonsentencesareabasicweaknessinlegaldocuments.
Legaldocumentsoftencontainconditionswhichresultincomplexsentenceswithmanyclauses.
Themorecomplexthesentence,thegreaterthepossibilityfordifficultyindeterminingtheintended
meaningofthesentence.
Solutions
Stateonethingandonlyonethingineachsentence.
Dividelongsentencesintotwoorthreeshortsentences.
Removeallunnecessarywords.Striveforasimplesentencewithasubjectandverb.Eliminate
unnecessarymodifiers.
Ifonlyoneortwosimpleconditionsmustbemetbeforearuleapplies,statetheconditionsfirst
andthenstatetherule.
Iftwoormorecomplexconditionsmustbemetbeforearuleapplies,statetherulefirstandthen
statetheconditions.
Ifseveralconditionsorsubordinateprovisionsmustbemetbeforearuleapplies,usealist.
20.Makelistsclearandlogicalinstructure.Listingprovideswhitespacethatseparatesthevarious
conditions.Listingcanhelpyouavoidtheproblemsofambiguitycausedbythewords"and"and"or".
Whenyoulist,usethefollowingrules:
Useparallelstructure.(Seeexampleinitem11above.)
Listeachitemsothatitmakesacompletethoughtwhenreadwiththeintroductorytext.
Iftheintroductorylanguageforthelistisacompletesentence
Endtheintroductionwithacolonand
Makeeachiteminthelistaseparatesentence.
Iftheintroductorylanguageforthelistisanincompletesentence
Endtheintroductionwithadash
Endeachiteminthelistexceptthelastitemwithasemicolon
Afterthesemicoloninthenexttolastiteminthelist,write"and"or"or"asappropriateand
Endthelastiteminthelistwithaperiod.
21.Useshortparagraphs.Awritermayimprovetheclarityofaregulationbyusingshort,compact
paragraphs.Eachparagraphshoulddealwithasingle,unifiedtopic.Lengthy,complex,ortechnical
discussionsshouldbepresentedinaseriesofrelatedparagraphs.
22.Useachecklistandreviewyourdraftforeachoftheseprinciplesseparately.
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