As You Write

Organize Your Content in a Reader-Friendly Way

Identify Key Questions. Anticipate the questions your audience may have about the topic. What will they need to know to have a good understanding of the subject?

Structure Your Draft. Arrange your content based on these questions, following the order in which a reader might logically ask them. If appropriate, you may want to:

• Create headings based on the topic to be addressed in that particular section;
• Adopt a Q&A format, using the questions as headings to guide your audience through the document;
• Make headings about each topic that form a complete sentence.
• Include a summary at the beginning of the document that capture the main conclusions, recommendations, or important insights of your project. This allows the reader to understand the key messages quickly.

Ensure Logical Flow. Start with the important conclusions/outcomes of the piece to capture the reader's interest at the beginning. This helps to set the context and importance of the information that follows.

Describe Processes. If any of the information you are conveying to the public involves a process, set out that process clearly for the reader. Include a flowchart or other graphic that shows what needs to occur at each step as well as which actions are to be taken by the individual and which are handled by the Department.

Be Concise ...

Government documents often use complex, academic-style sentences to demonstrate expertise, which may not effectively communicate information to the general public. This bureaucratic style, with its dense and lengthy sentences, can hinder our mission and values by making it difficult for people and communities to understand our messages.

Examples:

✗ "With the prior written consent of the Planning Board, which is not to be unreasonably withheld, the Planning Board can grant, within 14 days of the application, the developer permission to assign the development agreement."

✓ "The Planning Board may allow the developer to assign the development agreement within 14 days of the application. The board must give written consent prior to the assignment. The board cannot withhold consent without reasonable justification."

✓ "The Planning Board may allow the developer to assign the development agreement under the following circumstances:

• within 14 days of the application, and
• with written board consent prior to the assignment.

The Planning Board cannot unreasonably withhold consent to the assignment."

Review your sentences for excessive detail, repetitiveness, and redundant words:

✗ "I received and read the email you sent yesterday about the report you're writing for the project. I agree it needs a thorough, close review from someone familiar with your audience."

✓ "I received your email about the project report and agree it needs a review from someone familiar with your audience."

✗ "The test revealed conduction activity that was peculiar in nature."

✓ "The test revealed peculiar conduction activity."

Tips:

• Set word or page limits for your project and adhere to them - attention spans are short. If this writing project is periodical, try to convey the same amount of information as the previous version in fewer words.
• Remove unnecessary words. LINK

While conciseness is valued, increasing the chance that your reader will understand your message is the ultimate goal. Using plain language doesn't always require you to shorten a sentence or paragraph. It is preferable to maintain the length of the section or include a few more words to make a concept clearer to your reader.

Increase Readability

Use simpler sentences that are easy to understand. Shorten sentences and paragraphs where possible and vary lengths.

Remember your target audience. Are you using words that they would be familiar with? Is there a way to express the information in a simpler way that still provides your audience with the information that they need to know?

Example:

✗"The proposed development will feature a multi-modal transit hub to facilitate interconnectivity and reduce the reliance on private vehicles, thereby promoting sustainable urban growth.

✓"The proposed building includes a station that connects different types of transport. The station will reduce residents' dependence on private cars, making the city more environmentally friendly."

Other ways to increase readability:

 ○ Create white space between paragraphs.
 ○ Use bulleted or numbered lists instead of narratives where applicable.
 ○ Use bold, italic or underline formatting to emphasize key words or phrases.
 ○ Create hyperlinks and change the URL to explanatory text

Create Figures to Help Your Reader

Find ways to convey the necessary information using a minimum of written text, accompanied by a figure (chart/table/graph/illustration/infographic), which helps with keeping your project concise and increases white space for more readability.

Would you prefer to read this?

Approximately 77.14 acres is designated retail, 116.16 acres industrial, 2.26 acres mixed used, and 14.08 acres office. The retail uses are concentrated along Bladensburg Road, Kenilworth Avenue, and Annapolis Road. Industrial is concentrated west of Kenilworth Avenue, in the Town of Edmonston. The little mixed use or office uses that exist in the sector plan area is center in the core near the intersections of Bladensburg Road, Kenilworth Avenue and Annapolis Road. (72 words)

Or this?

Land Use in Port Towns

Use	Size (Acres)	Concentrated Areas
Retail	77.14	Bladensburg Road, Kenilworth Avenue, Annapolis Road
Industrial	116.6	West of Kenilworth Avenue in Edmonston
Mixed-Use	2.26	Centered in the core near intersection of Bladensburg Road, Kenilworth Avenue, and Annapolis Road
Office	14.08	Centered in the core near intersection of Bladensburg Road, Kenilworth Avenue, and Annapolis Road

(43 words)

Do you need help with creating images, tables, charts, or infographics for your project? We can also make existing figures more reader-friendly. Just let us know.

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