Plain Language in Government Writing

A Step-by-Step Guide

Judith Gillespie Myers

• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781523096060
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Art Techniques
• Index: Business

A Plain-English Guide to Government Writing
Whether you're in the public or private sector, good writing skills are critical to your success in the workplace. Plain Language in Government Writing: A Step-by-Step Guide shows you how to apply federal plain-language guidelines to every type of writing 'Äî from emails, memos, and letters to agency communications, technical procedures, and budget justification statements. Through numerous exercises as well as examples from a variety of federal and state agencies, this practical guide walks you step-by-step through every phase of the writing process, providing tips for improved clarity, conciseness, and completeness. This valuable reference will help you:
Write for diverse audiences in reader-friendly, plain language
Overcome writer's block
Gain confidence in your ability to write 'Äî and get results
Make your writing visually appealing
Prepare for briefings and presentations
Recognize successful writing and identify what makes it effective
A Plain-English Guide to Government Writing will enable you to express yourself more clearly and concisely, produce documents more efficiently, and work more effectively with others throughout the writing process.

PART I
Process and Stages of Plain Language Writing

CHAPTER 1
Succeeding as a Writer in Today’s Workplace

♦ Mixed Feelings ♦

Maria had been called into the office of Lee, her supervisor.

“Maria, we’re going to give you a promotion. Congratulations!”

“Thank you,” said Maria, hardly able to contain her surprise.

“There’s one thing you need to know about this promotion,” said Lee. “It entails much more writing. I need you to edit the newsletter and send out monthly reports to the budget office. I’d also like weekly updates on the customer service project.”

Maria had mixed feelings about her promotion. On the one hand, she was happy about the increase in salary and responsibility. On the other hand, she was a bit worried about the prospect of writing. Maria had not done much writing in her job lately. “I guess I’d better brush up on my business writing skills,” she said to herself.

To succeed in the workplace, whether you are in government or elsewhere, you must be able to express yourself effectively, clearly, and persuasively. You must create documents that your readers will read and understand, documents that result in decisions, documents that affect your readers as you intend. Each letter, report, or email that you send out is a reflection on your organization. And it is a reflection on you.

Like Maria, you might find the whole process of writing daunting. Many of us do. And yet, with the right guidance and practice, we can all become better, more effective writers.

COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BUSINESS WRITING

One reason that many people dread writing is that certain myths have become associated with business writing and with the writing process. Do these sound familiar?

1. Myth 1: The first rule of business writing is to be businesslike, so a business letter has to sound somewhat unnatural.

Reality: Business letters should sound natural but professional. While the tone of your letter depends on the context, purpose, and audience, you want to sound friendly and sometimes even informal. The increased use of email has led to more informality in correspondence, so today’s letters are typically more conversational than those of the past.

2. Myth 2: To convey important government information, your document must sound intellectual and sophisticated.

Reality: Your primary goal in conveying any information is to make sure the reader understands what you’re writing. To achieve this goal, you need to write simply and directly. Law school professor and plain language advocate Joseph Kimble refutes the notion that plain language will “dumb down” important government communication: “Any second-rate writer can make things more complicated; only the best minds and the best writers can cut through. It takes skill and hard work to write in plain language.”¹

3. Myth 3: Plain language can’t be used for technical writing because technical writing involves complex subjects and uses technical terms.

Reality: Technical information must be clear and straightforward so that people can understand it, regardless of their technical background. In fact, focus-group results show that even technical experts do not always understand technical language easily or quickly. Using plain language, you can explain technical terms and complex ideas in a way that most readers will understand.

4. Myth 4: Really good writers write it right the first time, without revising their drafts.

Reality: Very few people can write a polished paragraph on the first try. Good writing involves many rewrites and might include complete reorganization. Even after an experienced writer has worked on a manuscript, it goes to a professional editor for revision and polishing before it is published.

F. Scott Fitzgerald revised his stories at least five times before they were published. Ernest Hemingway once told a reporter that he wrote the ending to A Farewell to Arms 39 times before he was satisfied. When asked what it was that stumped him, Hemingway responded, “Getting the words right.” Vladimir Nabokov once admitted that he rewrote every word he had ever published and wore out his erasers before his pencils.

5. Myth 5: Grammar and punctuation are the most important aspects of learning to write well.

Reality: The most important point is to communicate your message clearly. If the reader doesn’t understand what you’re saying, why bother to write? However, having an error in grammar or punctuation is like walking out of the house in your best formal attire with a ketchup stain on your shirt: It detracts from the message.

6. Myth 6: You need to keep control of your writing. This means correcting each idea as it comes to you, before you put it down on paper.

Reality: As soon as your ideas start to flow, you should begin writing so you won’t lose them; you can always go back later and make minor modifications. As we will discuss later, it’s important to divide writing into stages and not to mix the stages. In the drafting stage, you want to capture those first thoughts, not censor them.

Natalie Goldberg describes first thoughts this way:

First thoughts have tremendous energy. It is the way the mind first flashes on something. The internal censor usually squelches them, so we live in the realm of second and third thoughts, thoughts on thought, twice and three times removed from the direct connection of the first fresh flash . . . . First thoughts are also unencumbered by ego, by that mechanism in us that tries to be in control. . . .²

7. Myth 7: You should strive for long sentences and long words in business documents.

Reality: A document with long sentences and many syllables is considered more difficult to read than one with shorter sentences and fewer syllables. For most business writing, the ideal sentence length is 15 to 20 words, or about an eighth- or ninth-grade reading level.

The guidelines at www.plainlanguage.gov give the reasons for short sentences:

Sentences loaded with dependent clauses and exceptions confuse the reader by losing the main point in a forest of words. Resist the temptation to put everything in one sentence; break up your idea into its parts and make each one the subject of its own sentence.³

8. Myth 8: A document is a document. Once you learn how to write, you can use the same design and style from one workplace to the next.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• About the Author
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Part 1 Process and Stages of Plain Language Writing
• Part II types of Business Writing
• APPENDIX: Exercise Answers
• Index