Tips to Improve Clarity in Your Writing
It is important that when you write, you do it in a form that is comprehensible to your reader because writing is about communication. You are sending an information and you expect your audience to be able to understand what you are writing and to be able to apply the information that you are passing across. For that to happen you must communicate in a way that your audience or reader can decipher and understand. to be able to understand and act on the information that you are passing across he or she must be able to decipher, this will demand that you write in a language that your reader understands and in a form a manner that he can hear she can comprehend, communication will not be accomplished and the purpose of your writing will be defeated. Up your writing game by improving clarity with some tips discussed in this article.
Ensuring clarity in writing applies to everyone trying to communicate by writing, for whatever reason for which you might be writing it is important that you put into cognizance need for clarity so that you can achieve the purpose of putting words together in writing. If you want to know more about how you can make your writing to gain more clarity, then you should go through this article and up your writing game by using these tips to improve your clarity.
1. Put your audience in mind
In order to make sure whatever information you are passing across is easy for your reader to relate with and understand, in the sense of making it audience-friendly or reader-friendly, you must write with your reader in mind. Do not just write anyhow or just how you think you want to write. Ask yourself what kind of audience you are writing to, consider things like their literacy level so you know the what kind of words you can use. Are you writing to people of average literacy or people with high literacy level? All of these should come into play when you are writing so that you can be able to communicate with your audience on their level either high or low. It is just like you are selling a product must be in demand and properly packaged in a way your consumer can appreciate it for you to be able to sell.
2. Do not use filler words or unnecessary words
Ensure you avoid using filler words or jargons when writing. This is very important as to remove unnecessary things from your writeup, things that may constitute unnecessary confusion or lack of clarity in your work. If you do not need the words, do not use them, just use words that are important to what you are writing. You must also be careful with your choice of words, do not just pick big vocabularies to impress where it is not necessary, simply use words that are going to pass the message across in the clearest way possible and avoid any unnecessary addition.
3. Maintain direction (focus)
Ensure that in your write-up you maintain your focus, do not yield to any temptation to go outside what you are aiming at in your write-up. What is your aim of writing? The aim of writing whatever it is that you are writing should be maintained throughout your write-up. Do not drift into unnecessary things that may not help in driving home your point. Do not unnecessarily make the reader to wonder what you are driving at or what point you are making, be clear. Stay on point.
4. Make do with short paragraphs
Also try to use short paragraphs. Do not make your paragraphs too lengthy, putting too many sentences in a single paragraph may not really be the best, this might make your write-up look unattractive to readers. In using short sentences in your paragraphs, make sure your sentences are straight-to-the-point and hitting the nail on the head, this will aid clarity. Short paragraphs will make your write-up attractive to your reader. Try to use more of white space, that is separate your paragraphs, do not muddle your write-up together.
5. Do not think your reader knows as much as you
Do not assume that your reader or your audience knows as much as you do about a subject. If they knew as much as you do, then what would have been the essence of your writing? When you are writing, try to take a more or considerate approach by assuming that your reader may not have all the knowledge you have on that topic. So that you do not write in a vague or hyper manner that will make it difficult for your reader to understand what you are communicating. Try to write in a language that will enable all your targeted audience to be able to relate with your write-up to a good extent. This means that you may have to define some words that readers might not be very familiar with, define such words, when you use jargons may be in your field, ensure you explain what your words mean especially if other people who are not used to such words may have to read your write-up.
6. Employ active voice usage
One of the things that can help to boost your writing and can make your writing your write-up clear enough or clearer is to write more using the active voice. Using active voice will make what you are saying clearer and straight to the point. This will make it more easily understandable than just writing in the passive voice which may not be as clear as just writing straight forward in the active voice.
7. You may use illustrations or stories
You may also decide to use illustrations in your writing to drive home a point, you can employ the use of a clear illustration that can your readers can relate to, and that can easily help them to understand what you are communicating. You can even use stories that relate with the point you are driving at. All these can help to boost clarity and help the impact of your writing. Do not undermine what impact a good illustration or a good story can have on your write-up when you do it well, it can even make your writing more interesting and can catch the attention of your audience or reader more easily than just ordinary writing. A good story or a good illustration is like a spice in your writing to spice it up and to make it more appealing to your reader. Remember that people like stories.
All of these are things you should put into consideration when writing on any topic. You should put in mind and remember that the goal of writing is to communicate, that is, to pass a message across and therefore if your reader is not getting the point you are trying to pass across, the essence of the writing is defeated, the purpose of writing is unaccomplished. Try as much as possible to make your writing as clear as possible using right tips and put yourself in the shoes of your audience.