{"id":10500,"date":"2020-11-06T01:06:36","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T01:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/ccom101\/?page_id=10500"},"modified":"2020-11-06T01:06:36","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T01:06:36","slug":"concise-writing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/ccom101\/learning-pathways\/effective-business-writing-and-legal-considerations\/concise-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Concise writing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"content\" class=\"mw-body container\" role=\"main\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-md-12\">\n<div class=\"panel\">\n<div class=\"panel-body\">\n<div id=\"bodyContent\">\n<div id=\"mw-content-text\" lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"mw-content-ltr\">\n<div class=\"floatright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wikieducator.org\/File:Arrow_head.jpg\" class=\"image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Arrow head.jpg\" src=\"\/\/wikieducator.org\/images\/thumb\/0\/0e\/Arrow_head.jpg\/320px-Arrow_head.jpg\" width=\"320\" height=\"214\" class=\"img-responsive\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>At the heart of business is the idea that \u201ctime is money.\u201d This may lead you to believe that shorter messages are always better; however, concise writing is not just fast or short; it is writing that balances the clarity of the message with efficiency.\n<\/p>\n<p>On this page, we look at two aspects of writing that affect clarity:\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> sentence length and complexity\n<\/li>\n<li> using the <i>active<\/i> or <i>passive<\/i> voice.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><br style=\"clear:both;\">\n<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"mw-headline\" id=\"Sentence_length_and_complexity\">Sentence length and complexity<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>With business writing, the main focus is on the reader\u2019s ability to quickly absorb and react to the communication. Concise business writing uses clean, straightforward sentence structure to improve understanding and retention. This is different from the writing in novels or poetry in which taking pleasure in the rhythm and complexity of sentences is part of the experience. Business writing uses simpler sentences to be more concise and less likely to be misinterpreted.\n<\/p>\n<table class=\"oeru2 oeru-demo-table\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Straightforward Sentences\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Grammatically, there are three kinds of sentences. It\u2019s not especially important for you to be able to identify them in order to be a good business writer. However, taking a moment to think about how they work and what they do will help you become more concise and clear.<\/p>\n<p><b>Simple sentences<\/b> consist of a single independent clause:\n<\/p>\n<p>The dog ran.\n<\/p>\n<p>[A noun and a verb is all it takes to make a simple sentence.]\n<\/p>\n<p>The cat ate her tuna.\n<\/p>\n<p>[This adds a direct object, \u201ctuna,\u201d but it\u2019s still a simple sentence.]\n<\/p>\n<p>The parrot sat on her perch and whistled.\n<\/p>\n<p>[This includes a prepositional phrase, \u201con her perch,\u201d and two verbs, \u201csat\u201d and \u201cwhistled,\u201d but it\u2019s still a simple sentence.]\n<\/p>\n<p><b>Compound sentences<\/b> consist of two or more independent clauses attached by a comma and a conjunction:\n<\/p>\n<p>Amanita threw the ball, and the dog fetched it.\n<\/p>\n<p>[\u201cAmanita threw the ball\u201d could stand alone as a sentence, as could \u201cthe dog fetched it.\u201d That structure is what makes this a compound sentence.]\n<\/p>\n<p><b>Complex sentences<\/b> consist of at least one dependent clause followed by at least one independent clause:\n<\/p>\n<p>While Amanita looked for the ball, the dog chased a grasshopper.\n<\/p>\n<p>[Even though the part of the sentence before the comma has a subject, \u201cAmanita,\u201d and a verb \u201clooked,\u201d the addition of \u201cwhile\u201d means it can\u2019t stand on it\u2019s own as a sentence. \u201cThe dog chased a grasshopper\u201d can stand alone, so it is an independent clause.]\n<\/p>\n<p><b>Compound-complex sentences<\/b> \u2014 you can probably figure this one out from the name and the example:\n<\/p>\n<p>While Amanita looked for the ball, the dog chased a grasshopper, and the cat looked bored.<\/p>\n<p><i><b>So, why does this matter?<\/b><\/i>\n<\/p>\n<p>Using compound and complex sentences is great! However, be sure you are not writing long strings of clauses that get really hard to follow. Additionally, you should vary your sentence types for more engaging reading.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<p>In order to write straightforward sentences that are appropriate and effective in business communication, there are a few things to keep in mind.\n<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li> Be careful not to include too many ideas in the same sentence. A sentence like this is not only confusing, it also becomes really boring to read and doesn\u2019t sound very sophisticated:\n<ul>\n<li> <b>Michael copy edited the report, and the data tables were compiled, and the graphics looked wonderful.<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li> All three of these activities are part of the completion of a report, but they don\u2019t really belong in the same sentence.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li> <b>Michael copy edited the report while the rest of the team compiled the data tables. The graphics looked wonderful.<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li> By using a connector or conjunction (e.g. and, but, so, because&#8230;) other than &#8216;and&#8217; \u2014 in this case, &#8216;while&#8217; \u2014 the sentence actually gives more information: that the copy editing and compiling happened at the same time. If you substitute &#8216;after which&#8217; for &#8216;while&#8217;, you\u2019re actually changing the story slightly. Also, it\u2019s great that the graphics are impressive, but that idea doesn\u2019t belong in the same sentence.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li> Starting a sentence with a dependent clause can sometimes bury the important news at the back end of the sentence. It\u2019s not forbidden to begin with dependent clauses, but be very careful about when you choose to do so. Think about the emotions a reader goes through when faced with a sentence like this:\n<ul>\n<li> <b>While we suffered a dismal first quarter because of supply-chain issues, and our stock price wobbled a lot thanks to fluctuations in the Japanese market that caused the company to begin targeting employees for lay-offs, the executive team is happy to report that we are on track for a profitable year.<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li> That sentence is almost cruel in the amount of anxiety a reader has to suffer before getting to the good news! The whole point of that sentence is that the company is doing well. Yay! Therefore, the sentence should start with the important part.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li> <b>The executive team is happy to report that we are on track for a profitable year, even though we suffered . . .<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li> There\u2019s a whole different response when the sentence tells the important news first.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li> Clear is good; simple can <i>sometimes<\/i> be boring, so vary your sentence structures. Imagine an entire report full of this:\n<ul>\n<li> <b>Profits were up. This is good. Production increased by six percent. Employees received bonuses in two of four quarters. The stock split.<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li> Even though you are reading excellent news, you\u2019re about to fall asleep from boredom, aren\u2019t you? Writing cleanly and concisely doesn\u2019t mean writing like a robot. Think about how the small nuggets of information relate to one another, and combine them in sentences that a) make sense, b) put the important news first, and c) show that you take pride in writing well.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li> <b>We are happy to report that profits are up, and our shares have split. This results from a six-percent increase in production, and we were happy to reward our hard-working employees with bonuses in two of four quarters.<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li> Not only is it possible to read this passage without dozing off, it also gives more information by showing the relationship between the bits of information given.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li> Be careful about wordiness (using too many words and\/or words which are unnecessarily complex or abstract). As you write and edit, ask yourself whether you are using several words when there\u2019s one perfectly good one that would work instead. At the same time, be careful of turning a single sentence into a paragraph by stringing together every idea you\u2019ve ever had. Findings from Goddard (1989) suggest that sentence length is related to reader comprehension. This research suggests that between 20 and 25 words is the maximum for good comprehension.\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<table class=\"oeru1 table table-striped\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Sentence Length<\/th>\n<th>Comprehension Rate\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>8 words<\/td>\n<td>100%\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>15 words<\/td>\n<td>90%\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>19 words<\/td>\n<td>80%\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>28 words<\/td>\n<td>50%\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Remember, your goal is not to make your sentences short, your goal is to convey your ideas clearly and to avoid ambiguity. That said, the more complex the material you are discussing, the more straightforward and clean your sentences need to be.<sup id=\"cite_ref-1\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"#cite_note-1\">[1]<\/a><\/sup>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<table class=\"oeru2 oeru-demo-table\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Avoid<\/th>\n<th>Try<\/th>\n<th>Why\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>I am writing to tell you that the cat ate the mouse.<\/td>\n<td>The cat ate the mouse.<\/td>\n<td>Isn\u2019t it obvious that \u201cI am writing\u201d?  How else would the reader see this?\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>At this point in time, you need to complete a new application.<\/td>\n<td>You need to complete a new application.<\/td>\n<td>What other time period could we be in?\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>In a very few cases, the amount was refunded.<\/td>\n<td>Rarely was the amount refunded.<\/td>\n<td>Why use a whole phrase when a single word is right to the point?\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>\nBe careful not to repeat yourself over and over and over.\n<\/p>\n<table class=\"oeru2 oeru-demo-table\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Avoid<\/th>\n<th>Try\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>It is absolutely essential that we clear these lines of customers quickly.<\/td>\n<td>We have to clear these lines of customers quickly.\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Those two items are exactly identical, except for the price tag we added.<\/td>\n<td>Those two items are identical, except for the price tag we added.\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>It\u2019s a true fact that she was late again.<\/td>\n<td>It\u2019s true she was late again. (Even better in most cases:) She was late again.\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>\nFinally, become aware of your own bad habits; we all have them! For example, do you use \u201calso\u201d too much to show the relationship between ideas? Do you use the complex sentence type a little too often? Do you use \u201cone\u201d (as in \u201cOne hopes to understand the meaning of this sentence.\u201d) and then get stuck in a mess of pronouns? Do you start sentences with \u201cWhat it is, is . . . \u201d? Whatever your particular habits, become aware of them and take care to look for and fix them when you edit your work.\n<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"mw-headline\" id=\"Active_and_passive_voice\">Active and passive voice<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You may have heard of the &#8216;active&#8217; and &#8216;passive&#8217; voice \u2014 perhaps in a comment from a language teacher or in the grammar checker of a word processor.\n<\/p>\n<p>What is the difference between these two voices? In the simplest terms, an <i>active<\/i> voice sentence is written in the form of \u201cA does B.\u201d (For example, \u201cCarmen sings the song.\u201d) A <i>passive<\/i> voice sentence is written in the form of \u201cB is done by A.\u201d (For example, \u201cThe song is sung by Carmen.\u201d) Both constructions are grammatically sound and correct. When the passive voice is used too frequently, it can make your writing seem flat and drab. However, there are some instances where the passive voice is a better choice than the active. Let\u2019s look at a couple of examples of the passive voice:\n<\/p>\n<table class=\"oeru2 oeru-demo-table\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Example 1: using the passive voice to &#8216;hide&#8217; who completed an action\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li> ACTIVE VOICE:  Tamara lost the potential sale in North Dakota.\n<\/li>\n<li> PASSIVE VOICE:  The potential sale in North Dakota was lost.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You may have noticed something about this passive voice example: the passive voice can be used to \u201chide\u201d who performed the action. Although the sentence is grammatically correct, we do not know who lost the sale if we only read the passive sentence. This could be a good way to focus on ways to improve company strategy, rather than focusing on a single person\u2019s performance (and avoid criticising a single employee in a potentially public setting). If, however, it is important that Tamara lost the sale, but we want to focus on the loss rather than who lost it, we could say \u201cThe potential sale in North Dakota was lost by Tamara.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<table class=\"oeru2 oeru-demo-table\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Example 2: using the passive voice to &#8216;soften&#8217; a message\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Business writing is known for being direct and to the point in most situations, so you should favor active rather than passive verb constructions. But there are occasions when being too direct can make you sound insensitive. Consider the following refusal of a request for a raise:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> ACTIVE VOICE: You cannot have a raise at this time.\n<\/li>\n<li> PASSIVE VOICE: A raise can not be given at this time.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In this case, using the passive voice has softened the negativity of the message and made the message sound more considerate.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>If you are trying to avoid open criticism or rejection of someone, one strategy is to de-emphasise the subject in the sentence. Bring out your sensitive side by knowing how to tactfully apply passive voice. Reserve passive verbs for the moment you need to say \u201cno\u201d in a message.\n<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"mw-headline\" id=\"Acknowledgements\">Acknowledgements<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The content on this page was adapted from <a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"external text\" href=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmopen-businesscommunicationmgrs\/chapter\/word-choice-and-tone\/\">Word choice and tone<\/a>, authored by Susan Kendall and provided by Lumen Learning under a <a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"external text\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC-BY-4.0 licence<\/a>. The content is part of the online course <a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"external text\" href=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmopen-businesscommunicationmgrs\/\"><i>Business communication skills for managers<\/i><\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"mw-headline\" id=\"References\">References<\/span><\/h2>\n<ol class=\"references\">\n<li id=\"cite_note-1\"><span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\"><a href=\"#cite_ref-1\">\u2191<\/a><\/span> <span class=\"reference-text\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"external free\" href=\"http:\/\/sites.utexas.edu\/legalwriting\/2015\/04\/29\/manage-your-sentence-length-2\/\">http:\/\/sites.utexas.edu\/legalwriting\/2015\/04\/29\/manage-your-sentence-length-2\/<\/a><\/span>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><!-- \nNewPP limit report\nCPU time usage: 0.039 seconds\nReal time usage: 0.047 seconds\nPreprocessor visited node count: 44\/1000000\nPreprocessor generated node count: 124\/1000000\nPost\u2010expand include size: 26\/2097152 bytes\nTemplate argument size: 0\/2097152 bytes\nHighest expansion depth: 3\/40\nExpensive parser function count: 0\/100\n--><\/p>\n<p><!-- Saved in parser cache with key we_en-mw_:pcache:idhash:187430-0!*!*!!en!2!* and timestamp 20201105023126 and revision id 1082245\n -->\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"visualClear\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-md-12\">\n<ul class=\"pager\">\n<li class=\"previous\">\n            <a href=\"\/ccom101\/learning-pathways\/effective-business-writing-and-legal-considerations\/word-choice-and-tone\">\u2190 Previous<\/a>\n          <\/li>\n<li class=\"next\">\n            <a href=\"\/ccom101\/learning-pathways\/effective-business-writing-and-legal-considerations\/clarity\">Next \u2192<\/a>\n          <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<footer><\/footer>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At the heart of business is the idea that \u201ctime is money.\u201d This may lead you to believe that shorter messages are always better; however, concise writing is not just fast or short; it is writing that balances the clarity of the message with efficiency. On this page, we look at two aspects of writing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":790,"featured_media":0,"parent":10488,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10500","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/ccom101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/ccom101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/ccom101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/ccom101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/790"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/ccom101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10500"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/ccom101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10501,"href":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/ccom101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10500\/revisions\/10501"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/ccom101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/ccom101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}