2. How to write clear, readable and enjoyable text Dr John Lockley Deputy Chair SOMW © 2015 John Lockley

3. What’s academic writing about? To dazzle with wonderful prose… …or to communicate an idea?

4. Structure v style — is there a difference?

5. How to write well Structure/style Practical aspects.

6. Why write badly? It’s easy! (…anyone can do it…)

7. Types of writing Research Feature/summary article News Instructions Book Programme Video Website.

8. …and don’t forget Professional communications Referral letters Discharge summaries Out-patient letters Letters to patients.

9. The preliminary questions What’s the piece about? What’s the audience? How many words/ how long? Any editorial position? Deadline.

10. It’s all about communication… Connect with your audience, whoever they are Whether they are mildly interested… … on your side… … or hostile… ‘Get behind their eyes.’

11. Getting behind their eyes… Age Reading age IQ Level of knowledge/ specialist interest.

12. …and how does this change The language? The technical terms/ jargon? The abbreviations? The assumptions?

13. Designing/writing the piece Have something to say Find an interesting/memorable way to say it Get the structure right Tailor your language and style to your audience Watch for ambiguities Polish it.

14. Structure Start with a ‘hook’ Theme, driving principle, solution End with a ‘kicker’ Make it logical – put it in order.

15. News stories The ‘pyramid’ The hook.

16. Remember… Lots of data  Clarity

17. Personality types Myers-Briggs ‘Intuitive’ (‘N’) – ‘The big picture’ ‘Sensor’ (‘S’) – details and lists Cater for both in your structure.

18. Is the structure right? Do you have an introduction and a conclusion? Are the chapters in the right order? Are the paragraphs in the right order? Are the sentences in the right order? Are the words in each sentence in the right order… …and as near as possible to what they are describing ?

19. Word order The doctor asked the patient to clean his hands with antiseptic gel in the clinic. The clinic doctor suggested that the patient should clean his hands regularly with antiseptic gel.

20. Getting it right (cont.) Watch the punctuation (and hence the logic) ‘Charles I walked and talked half an hour after his head was cut off.’ ‘Charles I walked and talked. Half an hour after, his head was cut off.’

21. Clarity of reading Active or passive voice? Remove repeated words (unless there for effect, or unavoidable) Can it be simplified? - complexity of sentences - complexity of ideas - length of words If it doesn’t ‘work’, is the structure wrong? (Polish, polish, polish…)

22. Style Write simply — don’t show off Less is more It often helps to write the piece 30% too long, then reduce it to size Or, if it feels too ‘thin’, add in another idea.

23. Complexity Multi-syllabic, multi-clause, eruditely incomprehensible, high Fog factor … long words, complex sentences, difficult to understand and full of jargon KISS… … ‘Keep It Simple, Stupid.’

24. It’s easy to forget… …what the reader doesn’t know technically New concepts (e.g. non-ST-elevated myocardial infarction) Specialised investigations New operations …especially when written as abbreviations and acronyms.

25. Doing the business

26. Techniques Good writing is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration Always write to the given word length Use Word’s ‘Outline’ view to help organise your structure Make sequential backups (‘Article A1’, ‘Article A2’, ‘Article B1’….)

27. Never miss a deadline, especially for a paper or a journal Polish your text again, and again… Put it away for a few days …and then polish it some more Always compare your final text with what eventually gets printed.

28. Proof-read your article Factual accuracy (& libel) Spelling Grammar Punctuation Ambivalence.

29. Rhythm and internal logic ‘Feel’ the rhythm of the words in each sentence Use different length sentences to shock, or make a point Try to put a verb in each sentence, and also in each part of a sentence divided by a colon Don’t use exclamation marks to mean ‘this is a joke’.

30. Rules are for guidance only: communication is everything.

31. And finally… Go over each piece obsessionally Then do it some more.

32. Questions?