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How to write clearly?

2. Focus on the reader

Focus on the reader

Focus on the reader

Be direct and interesting. Always consider the peopleyou’re really writing for: not just your boss, or the reviser of your translations, but the end users. Like you, they’re in a hurry. Who are they, what do they already know, and what might you need to explain?

Try to see your subject from the point of view of your readers:

Involve them by addressing them directly (‘you’ is an under-used word in European Commission documents).
Imagine which questions they might ask, and make sure the document answers them. Maybe even use these questions as sub-headings. For example: ‘What changes will this new policy make?’ ‘Why is this policy needed?’ ‘Who will be affected?’ ‘What do we expect to achieve?’.
Interest them. Give them only the information they actually need. Leave out as many details of European Commission procedures and interinstitutional formalities as you can. These are meaningless to most readers and simply reinforce the Commission’s image as a bureaucratic and distant institution. If they are really essential, briefly say why.

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