Writing good copy

Your aim is to write a document that the reader will be able to understand after one reading. This page offers you advice on how to achieve this, including:

• setting your tone
• making your points succinctly
• keeping to the point

Your tone

Think about the tone you are using. It is very easy to write in an over-formal tone of voice. In fact, most of us do automatically. Try to stop yourself doing this by thinking about how you would phrase something if you were talking and not writing.

In local government writing, we tend to use too many passives, which make the tone bureaucratic and over formal. Avoid passives and use the active voice as much as possible. The active voice is clearer, more direct and more human in tone. It also tells the reader who is responsible for what, which makes the writing clearer.

What are the passive and active voices?

Make your points succinctly

All too often in local government, we write sentences that try to cover too much information.

If you find yourself doing this, stop and rewrite the sentence, breaking it up into several sentences that make one point each. Or, if you don’t want to interrupt the flow of your writing, highlight the sentence as a reminder to come back and break it up later.

You should aim to write sentences of 15 to 20 words by making only one point, sometimes two, in each sentence. Where there is a comma, ask yourself if it could be a full stop.

Sometimes, it is impossible not to write long sentences. In these cases look for opportunities to write bulleted lists.

You may also find that there are superfluous words in your document. Watch out for stock phrases creeping into your work and padding out your sentences with waffle.

How can I write shorter sentences?

Keeping to the point

Follow the notes you made at the planning stage and do not stray from the different points while writing each section.

Other things to remember

• Keep punctuation simple. That way you are less likely to run into problems.
• Use subheadings to structure your text.
• Keep paragraphs short, each one covering one topic.
• It is fine to use the verb ‘to get’ instead of ‘to obtain’, ‘to gain’, ‘to earn’, ‘to win’ and ‘to attain’.
• Feel free to repeat words in the same sentence or paragraph if it is easier to understand.

When you have finished your first draft put it on one side for a day. Come back to it later to edit and proof-read it.

Tips on editing and proof-reading.