Clarity

​COntent Writing:

Clarity ​

It's important to have clear, concise sentences that give good information.​

​-William Strunk

​"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell."

​Avoid linking verbs, like do, to, be, and is. These "small" words can trip up the reader.

​omit needless words.

Many people read articles on their phones. ​We want to omit needless words and use everyday language.

​avoid run-on sentences.

​We want effortless, streamlined copy

Imagine you're reading something on your phone. Would you want to scroll through blocks and blocks of text? ​

​write in active voice.

Active voice reduces needless words and promotes good sentence flow. Active voice is when the subject (the "doer") performs the action.

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1. The lawyer managed the car accident case.

2. The injured person filed the lawsuit.​

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Subject | Subject

​Avoid passive voice.

Passive voice can get clunky and hide a sentence's meaning. Passive voice is when the subject (the "doer") isn't performing an action. The underlined sections are indicators of passive voice.

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1. The car accident case was managed by the lawyer.

2. ​The lawsuit was filed by the injured person.

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Subject | Subject

Sometimes, was+verb creates passive voice.

​easy tip to avoid passive voice.

​if you can add "...by zombies" to the end of it sentence, and it makes sense, it's in passive voice!

Examples:

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1. The medication was found to cause cancer by zombies.

2. This case is being managed by zombies.

3. The case was won last week by zombies.

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​ ways to consolidate wordy phrases

​You can shorten some everyday phrases to make sentences more concise. Even removing one word can make a sentece clearer.

​Longer	​Shorter
​in order to	​to
​be able to	​can
​as a result of	​because
​due to the following	because of ​
the color of the bike was blue	the blue bike

Open Ended

Write this sentence in active voice:

"The lawsuit is being filed by the lawyer today."

Multiple Choice

Choose the most concise sentence, free of "small" words.

• A lawyer may be able to help you recover the damages you need for your accident and injuries.

• An accident lawyer can seek your injury-related damages. We work on contingency.

• An attorney may be able to negotiate a settlement with the insurer without charging attorney's fees or retainers.

• A car accident lawyer may be able to seek compensation if the accident wasn't your fault and you need compensation for your losses now.

Multiple Choice

Identify the sentence that's in the active voice.

• A car accident lawyer won the case.

• The case was won by a car accident lawyer.

Multiple Choice

Identify the sentence that's in the active voice.

• We advocate for people who have been hurt due to negligence.

• We advocate for injured people.

Multiple Choice

Identify the sentence that's in the active voice.

• The case is being managed by our legal team.

• Our legal team is managing the case.