English Writing Tips – Writing to Inform
You should aim to convey your message concisely. This does not mean you should leave out necessary facts or be abrupt.
Don’t assume your reader will understand what you know
Nothing explains itself. You have to generate the interest of the reader and then take time to point out why the information is relevant. Guide your readers through the information, pointing out what is relevant and why. Don’t just refer to other pamphlets, graphs, tables or appendices. The chances are your reader won’t give them more than a cursory glance unless you point out what is relevant, interesting or important.
For example, if you are writing instructions for filling out a government form, you might stress the most important information in your covering letter:
Please make sure you put your national insurance number in the box on the right-hand side of page one of the Housing Aid Registration Form. This will make sure we don’t confuse you with anyone else with a similar name.
Take Time to Explain Difficult Information
While your aim is to keep your writing brief and to the point, you should take time to explain difficult points or translate technical terms.
It is essential to go through difficult points step by step, looking at the problem from the reader’s point of view, trying to find ways to illustrate the information. See what difficulties your readers face and edit or rewrite to overcome these problems. For example, if someone wants to know how to calculate their pension, don’t just write:
Your pension is based on the equivalent of 56% of your last full-year salary, plus an additional bonus of 2% for every five-year period of continuous service with additional benefits applying as shown under Schedule 7 of the Salaried Employees benefits tables in the Conditions of Employment Booklet obtainable from the Personnel Department.
This is lazy writing. The writer simply gives the general policy and hopes the reader will look up more sources of information. Compare the original with a suggested redraft where we answer the reader’s question and take time to explain and illustrate difficult points.
We calculate you will receive a pension of between￡9,450 to ￡9,750 when you retire next January. We have calculated your pension from your basic salary of ￡15,200 for the last 12 months of employment with the company.
￡ 1. Basic pension of 56% of last full-year salary: 8,400 2. A 4% bonus for 12 years’ continuous service: 600 3. Other entitlements: * A 3% bonus for a three-year overseas tour:
450 Total pre-tax, inflation-linked pension 9,450 While we have quoted ￡9,450 as your expected pension, this may increase to ￡9,750 depending on any salary increase before your retirement next year.
