writing

Cassie, an EL2, enrolled herself in a plain language course to improve her reviewing efficiency, but was detained by an unruly edit and missed it. Well, one of her did. Her doppelganger decided that it made no sense to let inefficiency keep her from a workshop designed to address it, so she attended – then sent her entire team. A year on, let’s compare the pair. Same name. Same age. Same APS level. Contrast their diaries to see how this Sliding Doors moment changed their typical day. Actually, half-day. Because we catch up on their birthday, and they have plans […]

Imagine you have put a lot of effort into writing a document for your manager. You’re keen to find out if they agree with you. But you’re also worried they might not. Will your document be successful? We all want our workplace writing to succeed. But how do you write a successful document? More importantly, what does a successful document do? It all starts with persuasion. Successful documents get outcomes. They influence our readers to act. For example, if your manager is persuaded by your brief that explains the importance of a costly change, they might give that change the […]

Workplace writing cannot succeed with a one-size-fits-all approach. Yet most of us enter the workforce having learned exactly that: the essay. Why do we use this approach and how does it limit successful communication? An essay is the perfect writing tool for an education setting. The simple beginning, middle and end pattern helps students tackle the challenging task of assignment writing. And the predictable structure allows teachers to mark dozens of essays more efficiently. But surely more complex writing tasks call for different tools in our writing toolbox? Here are 4 features of essay writing that can slow us down […]

Writing for government can be a significant challenge with so many different demands competing for our attention.

Making content is often approached in terms of individual projects. You need to produce a webpage, brochure or report, so you focus on the steps and resources you need to complete and publish that particular piece of content. But making great content – that is clear and engaging, and meets both business and user needs […]

Content is everything that goes on a website or page: the words, the headings and structure, the photos and diagrams, the graphs and infographics. But if the content is dense, muddled or confusing, users may get the wrong message or give up. They might spend time reading the information again, go to other information sources, […]

The position of Strategic Content Coordination Assistant (AKA ‘US embassy speechwriter’) will pay $111,663 and be located in Canberra.

Every day, public servants across the world write millions of formal memos, notes and briefings. Here’s how to write good ones.

‘Readability’ just means how easy a piece of text is to read and understand. Content developers are sometimes asked to write for a certain ‘readability level’, as determined by readability checkers. The readability level is usually provided as the level of schooling required to read the text – for example, ‘grade 9 readability’. The Australian Government’s […]

Good content – a logical structure, plain language and effective visuals – helps people to understand information. What might be surprising is that good content can also affect your bottom line.  Content is everything that goes on a website or page: the words, the headings and structure, the photos and diagrams, the graphs and infographics. […]

The Commonwealth is getting its first new style guide since 2002, courtesy of the Digital Transformation Agency, but not until the end of 2019. Also, a tale of digitally transformating the staff experience at one of the Commonwealth’s largest departments.

The Department of Human Services is planning to provide 200 staff per year with “plain English” training.

Plain English in government is not a new concept. But when we know about the potential gains, how well are agencies doing in making it happen? The results of a Plain English Foundation survey are sobering.

There comes a time during the writing of a government report when someone suggests bringing in an editor to “plain English” the text. But what exactly does a plain English editor do, and what can you expect if you work with one?