Building Plain Language From the Ground Up

Part II-Organization: Clarity without Clutter

By Cheryl Stephens

Organizing information is a challenge for writers. Poor organization can knock the power out of your message and be a source of frustration for you and your readers. The plain language process can strengthen your organizing skills and your bond with readers. Here are some ideas.

Get clear on the task

First, organize yourself and your production team. Agree on your audience profile, commit to the central message and clarify your purpose. Form the foundation of your document by answering the who, what, and why.

Remember, the reader is a key member of the organizing team. Reader input ensures readability and usability.

Adopt a Plain Perspective

Every subject can be looked at from different perspectives. Which perspective should you take to present the information most effectively for your particular readers? Some of the perspectives on a social issue might come from the children, the families, the schools, the neighborhoods, the police, the court system, the community, the political system. Perspective may also come through a concept such as crime prevention or the benefits of the extended family. Any number of angles on the subject can be tackled, but you need to choose one unifying perspective from which you explore the various sides of the prism.

Organize the information logically

We have found this framework useful for organizing large amounts of information:

Create categories for your information.
Divide the information among the categories.
Put categories in an appropriate sequence.
Figure out a rational secondary division of topics within the categories.

There are three elements to consider when creating information categories:

The nature of the subject itself
The reader's objectives and needs,
Your guiding purpose or strategy.

You can categorize information according to the types of information, the variety of concepts, or their importance or priority.

Some topics organize easily into a chronological, alphabetical or hierarchical order. Others are more difficult. Sometimes a document flows well if you use a basic question and answer format like Who, what, when, where, and how?

Other patterns include:

known to new information
common to specific
frequent to rare occurrences
comparison and contrast
priority of importance
a continuum or measure of value

When in doubt, let the needs of your readers be your guide.

Answer Readers' Questions

Do a point form list of the questions you need to answer for your readers. This list might become an outline of headings or it might just serve to keep you on track in preparing your first draft. When you look at the list, consider again whether you have chosen the most appropriate sequence for the topics. What will your reader want to know first, next, and last (or least)? Consider the need for clear headings to serve as signposts, with definite breaks between major topics like policy, procedure, and instruction.

Let's take a software manual as an example. Users complain about manuals being organized by some mysterious logic. The key is to organize the information according to the tasks the user will perform because that's how we approach the manual -- looking for clues to how to solve a problem and complete a task. It doesn't help the user when the manual topics are beginner, advanced, special projects. When we've got a problem, the task is obviously too advanced for us, but it could seem basic to the manual's writer. And when we do something new, how do we know whether it is considered a special project or just one we haven't yet encountered? Always use categories the readers will recognize.

In Information Anxiety, Saul Wurman said that communicating is remembering what it is like not to understand. Readers need new information but they also need to be able to access it with their existing knowledge. Readers want to be able to find it easily and quickly. Plain language helps.

Know your readers' needs

Last, but not least, plain language process requires adequate research into the way your particular readers will receive and use the information. Documents need to be tested. This includes methods of involving the reader in assessing the information before final draft to ensure that it's easy to understand, use, and get at in a hurry.

So far in this series we've covered laying the foundation through research about readers' needs and advance planning, then organizing information to make it easy for your readers. In the next article, we'll talk about writing for real people with a low tolerance for jargon and obfuscation.