Plain Language In Government Writing

Writing for Dollars, Writing to Please seeks to change public and legal writing--by making the ultimate case for plain language. The book gathers a large body of evidence for two related truths: using plain language can save businesses and government agencies a ton of money, and plain language serves and satisfies readers in every possible way. It also debunks the ten biggest myths about plain writing and looks back on 50 highlights in plain-language history. The first edition was described by reviewers as "powerful," "compelling," "inspiring," and "astounding." This second edition has been updated and expanded throughout. Professor Joseph Kimble is a leading international expert on this subject. Here is the book that sums up his important work, with a message that is vital to every government writer, business writer, and attorney.

Presents a hands-on guide to plain language writing for government employees. The goal is to provide effective service by telling people what they need or want to know using language that is easily understood and information that is organized in a clear and logical way.

A Plain-English Guide to Government Writing Whether you're in the public or private sector, good writing skills are critical to your success in the workplace. Plain Language in Government Writing: A Step-by-Step Guide shows you how to apply federal plain-language guidelines to every type of writing — from emails, memos, and letters to agency communications, technical procedures, and budget justification statements. Through numerous exercises as well as examples from a variety of federal and state agencies, this practical guide walks you step-by-step through every phase of the writing process, providing tips for improved clarity, conciseness, and completeness. This valuable reference will help you: Write for diverse audiences in reader-friendly, plain language Overcome writer's block Gain confidence in your ability to write — and get results Make your writing visually appealing Prepare for briefings and presentations Recognize successful writing and identify what makes it effective A Plain-English Guide to Government Writing will enable you to express yourself more clearly and concisely, produce documents more efficiently, and work more effectively with others throughout the writing process.

Provides 1) theory about plain language for legal writers, 2) models of legal documents such as wills, laws, agreements, etc, and 3) practice exercises on language.

“This easy-to-follow guide is useful both as a general course of instruction and as a targeted aid in solving particular legal writing problems.” —Harvard Law Review Clear, concise, down-to-earth, and powerful—all too often, legal writing embodies none of these qualities. Its reputation for obscurity and needless legalese is widespread. For more than twenty years, Bryan A. Garner’s Legal Writing in Plain English has helped address this problem by providing lawyers, judges, paralegals, law students, and legal scholars with sound advice and practical tools for improving their written work. The leading guide to clear writing in the field, this indispensable volume encourages legal writers to challenge conventions and offers valuable insights into the writing process that will appeal to other professionals: how to organize ideas, create and refine prose, and improve editing skills. Accessible and witty, Legal Writing in Plain English draws on real-life writing samples that Garner has gathered through decades of teaching. Trenchant advice covers all types of legal materials, from analytical and persuasive writing to legal drafting, and the book’s principles are reinforced by sets of basic, intermediate, and advanced exercises in each section. In this new edition, Garner preserves the successful structure of the original while adjusting the content to make it even more classroom-friendly. He includes case examples from the past decade and addresses the widespread use of legal documents in electronic formats. His book remains the standard guide for producing the jargon-free language that clients demand and courts reward. “Those who are willing to approach the book systematically and to complete the exercises will see dramatic improvements in their writing.” —Law Library Journal

The revised edition of The Canadian Style is an indispensable language guide for editors, copywriters, students, teachers, lawyers, journalists, secretaries and business people – in fact, anyone writing in the English language in Canada today. It provides concise, up-to-date answers to a host of questions on abbreviations, hyphenation, spelling, the use of capital letters, punctuation and frequently misused or confused words. It deals with letter, memo and report formats, notes, indexes and bibliographies, and geographical names. It also gives techniques for writing clearly and concisely, editing documents and avoiding stereotyping in communications. There is even an appendix on how to present French words in an English text.

"Professor Joseph Kimble, a leading expert on plain language, has collected in this one book many of his published essays. They will interest and inform judges, lawyers, law students, legal scholars, and anyone else who engages in legal writing."--BOOK JACKET.