Three Rules for Better Writing

By Natalie Macris

This article is adapted from Planning in Plain English: Writing Tips for Urban and Environmental Planners, by Natalie Macris, published by the American Planning Association and available from Planners Book Service. Copyright by APA.

A well-written plan or other planning document can be a valuable resource for citizens, decision-makers, government agencies, consultants, and many others. It can keep a planning process running smoothly, advance policies, prevent misunderstandings, head off legal challenge, and even improve the public's perception of government.

Then why are so many planning documents hard to read, understand, and use? There are many reasons. Some planning documents are difficult to write clearly because they need to "please everyone," from citizens who want to know what will happen in their neighborhood to lawyers who may need to defend the planning organization against a lawsuit. Political pressures can make planners "soft-pedal" controversial points, rather than write in clear, direct statements. Esoteric legal requirements have made some planning documents longer and introduced complicated terminology. Meanwhile, schedule and budget constraints mean that most planners do not have much time or money to spend on editing and rewriting, let alone adding maps or other graphics that would make their documents more interesting to read.

With those limitations in mind, here are three basic rules for avoiding some of the writing idiosyncrasies of the planning field. These rules are common suggestions found in almost any guidebook on writing — you have no doubt heard them before. Consider, though, how they apply specifically to the writing quirks of the planning profession.

Rule 1 — Write Simple Sentences

Generally speaking, each sentence you write should:

• be short (no more than 20 to 25 words long), and
• express only one main idea.

Short sentences that deliver one idea at a time are usually easier to understand. They also force you, the writer, to think more carefully about the message of each sentence. Using short sentences can be especially effective when you are explaining a process or sequence of events (something that planners do routinely).

Example

Long Sentence: The City Council adopted the ordinance in October, following which Planning Department staff identified a change that they believed to be necessary to one of the conditions, requiring the Council to review and adopt a revised ordinance in November.

Shorter Sentences: The City Council adopted the ordinance in October. Planning Department staff later identified a necessary change to one of the conditions. This required the Council to review and adopt a revised ordinance in November.

In the above example, the three shorter sentences follow the "one-idea-per-sentence" rule.

Rule 2 — Write Active Sentences

Consider this sentence: "It is the determination of City staff that there is a possibility of associated increases in traffic noise if this project is approved and constructed." It sounds bureaucratic and dull, doesn't it? It's also unclear. Who is going to approve the project? Who is going to construct it?

The sentence is "passive"; it uses the passive voice (in this case, the verb "is") and has several nouns ("determination," "possibility," "increases") that the writer could convert to verbs.

Planning documents are usually full of sentences that needlessly use the passive voice. Here are some common examples.

The Ambiguous Sentence

By using the passive voice, the writer avoids identifying the subject of the sentence (that is, who or what is responsible for the action implied in the sentence). This use of the passive voice is the worst offender because the writing is not only dull, but often unclear.

Example

Passive Sentence: A preliminary grading plan shall be submitted prior to project approval.

Active Sentence: The developer must submit a grading plan before the City approves the project.

Notice that the active sentence identifies who should submit the grading plan, as well as who will approve the project. Clearing up this type of ambiguity allows the reader — the planner enforcing the project's conditions of approval, for example — to understand who is responsible for what.

The Lazy Sentence

Sometimes, a writer just gets lazy. Phrases that begin with the words "in" or "by" are often clues that the writer could easily turn the sentence around to read in the active voice.

Example

Passive Sentence: Existing contaminant levels at the project site are summarized in Table 5.

Active Sentence: Table 5 lists existing contaminant levels at the project site.

Using Verbs as Nouns

Nouns created from verbs are common culprits in passive sentences. You can convert many of these nouns back into verbs to create shorter, clearer, and more active sentences.

Using the example cited above:

Passive Sentence: It is the determination of City staff that there is a possibility of associated increases in traffic noise if this project is approved and constructed.

Active Sentence: City staff has determined that traffic noise may increase if the County approves this project and the developer builds it as proposed.

Rule 3 — Use Simple Words and Avoid Jargon

The best way to recognize planning jargon in your writing is to imagine that you are speaking directly to one of your readers, or better yet to a friend — someone who is reasonably intelligent but who may not know a lot about your subject. How would you convey your ideas if this person were sitting across a table from you? Would you use the same words? The words that seem too complicated, pompous, or formal for that situation are probably the jargon words.

Examples:

Jargon Sentence: Grading activity required by new development would have associated short-term erosion impacts.

Plain English Sentence: Grading would cause soil to erode.

The jargon sentence above uses the words "activity" and "impact" — two jargon words that usually appear too often in planning documents and can obscure the meaning of a sentence. The plain English sentence makes the message clearer.

Jargon Sentence: Public infrastructure can be growth-inducing from a local and regional perspective.

Plain English Sentences: Construction of streets, sidewalks, and water and sewer pipes would allow development plans for the area to move ahead. Development in this area could bring changes throughout the region.

Again, the example shows how just a few jargon words can cloud the meaning of an entire sentence. Notice how removing the terms "infrastructure," "growth-inducing," and "perspective" forces the writer to convey the idea more clearly. (Of course, that can mean using more words, as in this example.)

Some words that clutter planning documents do not qualify as planning jargon. These words are not specific to our profession, but they are still unnecessarily complicated. It's generally best to replace these words with shorter, more common ones.

Examples

Complicated Words: The property is located contiguous to the airport and comprises 30 acres.

Simpler Words: The 30-acre property is located next to the airport.

Complicated Words: The Planning Department utilized newspaper ads to disseminate further information concerning the General Plan update.

Simpler Words: The Planning Department used newspaper ads to issue more information about the General Plan update.

It is important to remember that almost no one follows all of the rules all of the time. Sometimes there are good reasons for this. For example, in writing about planning matters, the passive voice can be the right choice when it isn't practical or appropriate to list every party that will be carrying out an action. The actors may be unknown, unimportant, obvious, or best left unidentified for political reasons. Sometimes, too, jargon can be useful as shorthand — for example, in a memo to colleagues — as long as you can be certain that all of your readers will understand it.

Another important point: Some offices have already set up report formats and standard language requirements that violate "the rules" and make clear communication more difficult. You may not have the time (or, especially early in your career, the clout) to make wholesale changes. In these instances, it's best to recognize that change, like the planning process itself, usually happens one small step at a time. The same applies to the process of becoming a better writer.

Natalie Macris is a San Francisco-based urban and environmental planner who specializes in writing and editing planning documents. You can reach her at nmacris@planningediting.com. Copyright by the American Planning Association.

October 2002