The summary at the beginning of a longer document is intended to save readers time by summarising the whole document. The summary may be called an abstract for a journal article, or an Executive Summary in a report.

It can be a challenge for authors to condense all their careful thought and effort on a long document into a much shorter summary. But remember the reader.

More people will read the summary than the whole document. Ideally the summary will encourage readers to read on. But if they don’t, what do you want people to know and remember?

It can take a surprising amount of time to get the summary right as every word is carefully considered. If time is limited, copying sentences from the document is a starting point, but it is best to write just for the summary.

Tips

• Be aware of any length limits, such as 100 words or one page.
• Allow enough time to write the summary – don’t rush it at the last minute.
• Rewrite key messages in a clear and succinct form.
• Choose words carefully to convey the extent of certainty.
• Focus on the results, more than the process, if space is limited.
• Remember a well-chosen graphic or key statistic may be more effective than many words.
• Use the present or past tense (not the future tense), as the work has been done.

See our related post on writing to a word limit (August 2014).

The words you choose to describe important content and issues in your document can set the tone for your document, and influence the reaction of your readers. Choosing the right word can make all the difference to your document.  Take special care with words in titles. If the title doesn’t have the right words, or is unclear, confusing or offensive, some readers may not read on.

Consider these examples:

• Are people described as clients, customers, consumers or stakeholders?
• Are older people described as seniors, the elderly, the aged, pensioners or retirees?
• Are women described as ladies, girls, females or women?
• Are people who walk described as vulnerable road users, pedestrians or active transport users?

Language is always changing, so be aware of changing trends in meanings and preferred terms. Large organisations may have a style guide to provide guidance. An editor can advise whether the words you have used are the best for your document and audience, or may be inappropriate.

For more, see our March 2014 post on inclusive language – be inclusive by using gender-neutral or gender-free language.

Right with Rhonda helps you impress the people you need to impress with words. But you don’t need to use long words, long phrases or long sentences to impress people. To communicate clearly, use the shortest form of a word and use a verb not a noun phrase.

For example, use

• in, not within
• use, not utilise
• start, not commence
• investigate, not conduct an investigation
• evaluate, not undertake an evaluation.

Ask yourself: do the extra letters and words add to the meaning or not? If the extra words are not needed, delete them. Of course, sometimes a longer word or phrase is needed to clearly convey a specific meaning. As much as possible, keep it simple and short.

Footnotes at the bottom of a page can be used to provide references or additional information such as an explanation or clarification.

I am not a fan of footnotes at the bottom of a page as they don’t contribute to clear communication. It is distracting for readers to leave the text, go to the bottom of the page to read a note usually in smaller font, then try to return to their place in the text. Then repeat several times on a page. And on the next page and the next.

When considering footnotes, ask yourself: How important is the information? If it is very important, worth saying and you want readers to read it, then put it in the text, not as a footnote. If it is not important, leave it out. This suggestion applies to both brief, infrequent footnotes and longer, more frequent footnotes.

For footnotes which are references, consider using the author date style for referencing in the text. If important explanatory notes are required, consider listing them either at the beginning of the document or at the end of the chapter or document.

Editing a document for clear communication focuses on both the text and the layout of the text. What to look for in the page layout depends on the type and length of document.

For long, text-rich documents, be aware of “widows” and “orphans” which are lines of text separated by a page break from the rest of the paragraph they are in, making the text harder to read. A “widow” is a paragraph-ending line that appears at the top of the next page, at the end (death) of the paragraph. An “orphan” is a paragraph-opening line that appears at the bottom of a page, at the beginning (birth) of the paragraph.

“Widow” lines can be more distracting to readers than “orphans”, but both should be avoided. Turn on the “Widow/Orphan control” feature in Word under Format – Paragraph – Line and Page Breaks.

Other tips

• split a long paragraph into two paragraphs if possible
• rewrite the paragraph slightly to remove a “widow” line
• insert a page break before an “orphan” line.

Look out for headings orphaned at the bottom of a page or with only a line or two of text under them. To make headings stand out, push them to the top of the next page. In formatting the style for headings, turn on the “Keep with next” feature in Word under Format – Paragraph – Line and Page Breaks.

The first step in writing to a word limit is to understand what is counted in the word limit – the abstract, references, tables and/or footnotes? Your software will count the words in your document. Turn on the word count feature so you can see the number of words as you type.

Before you start writing, divide the total word limit across the main sections of your work and allocate words to each section.

Being over the word limit is a more common problem than being under the limit. To reduce the number of words, consider these tips:

• Reduce duplication
• Say it once and remove repetition
• Summarise material instead of using long direct quotes
• Delete unnecessary detail
• Use a plain English writing style
• Combine sentences
• Use single words instead of phrases
• Use abbreviations if they are well known and accepted.

For very short word limits, think about your key message and write that as simply as possible. If you are just over the limit, look at every word to see if it is necessary for your message or could be deleted.

Lists of dot points are often used to break up paragraphs of text and present information clearly for readers. In keeping with the trend towards minimal punctuation, here are some tips to punctuate a list of short dot points:

• use a colon at the end of the introducing sentence
• use lower case to start each dot point
• avoid any punctuation after each dot point
• use a full stop at the end of the last point.

If each dot point is a complete sentence, you may punctuate the list differently by starting each point with a capital letter and ending with a full stop.

Your list will be easier to read if your dot points are structured the same way, such as starting each point with an active verb or using a consistent sentence style. Use a simple symbol for your dot points to avoid distracting readers from the text.

You’ve been working on your document for ages. You are finally happy with it. You might even have had it edited by someone. Then you make some last minute changes.

Changes made at the last minute can be more likely to have mistakes for several reasons. You have not looked at these words as often as other parts of the document, and you may be making changes when you are tired, stressed or rushed.

Here’s what to look out for with last minute changes:

• If you change a date or spelling in one part of the document, check you have changed all occurrences throughout the document.
• If you re-arrange a sentence or a list, check the punctuation to ensure the full stop is not left out or duplicated.
• If you add a dot point to a list, check it is in the same style as the rest of the list and has the right punctuation.
• If you change a heading, check your capitalisation is consistent with other headings of the same level.
• If you change the tense in a sentence, check all the verbs have been changed and are consistent.
• If you change from plural to singular (or vice versa) in a sentence, check all verbs are consistent with the change.
• If you add or delete a table or figure, check any cross-references and numbering are updated.
• If you add an extra word, sentence or paragraph, check the spacing and pagination of the document. Does the text still fit? You may need to re-do the table of contents.