Tiny Victories — Structure and Organizing

Another post in a series about communications, writing, editing, and plain language

by Laura Edlund

(Written and posted to LinkedIn April 4, 2025; adapted for website April 6, 2025)

First the victory: A client says, “Great job on reducing the length … and restructuring the order. The sequence … is logical and provides more clarity.”

So what was the problem? What was the solution?

The communication had structural challenges—not a house tipping over or a bridge sagging but instead LOTS of information, an unclear path through it, circling back, and bogging down, and a super long overview.

Here are three approaches that I’ve used over many years of editing. Plus scissors and guillotines!

Approach 1
One oft-recommended approach is to review all headings in Microsoft Word’s “Outline” view, revise the heading order, and revise the whole. That can help (1) if each heading does, in fact, reflect the text after the heading and (2) if the headings relate well to the audience needs and the purpose. But sometimes the headings don’t do either or both. Some headings are unclear, too generic, or not updated. Those headings need fixing now or later.

Approach 2
Another approach is to read the whole again in detail, note the main ideas and groups of information (on sticky notes, recipe cards, graph paper, or chalk board—whatever works for you), and physically arrange and rearrange groupings to find an effective order. Take a photo.

Then, with the new order, write a summary—like a plain language summary, executive summary, or abstract—even if you don’t need that summary in the final communication. This is your test order.

Question the new test order: Does it work? Why? Why not? Poke holes in it. Fix it. Evaluate it. Take a photo of the order again.

Then use your new and fixed-up order to implement the changes to revise the whole document and write effective headings as you go.

While you are doing that, cut the repetitions or keep only the repetitions that are useful to the audience and purpose. Then go back and revise the overview to consider if the restructuring works. Go back to repeat any steps if needed.

Finally, revise the summary so that it reflects the final body of the communication. Side note: Summaries as published should always be double-checked to make sure they reflect the actual content.

Approach 3
Still another approach is to take a draft, print out a hard copy, and read it on paper while highlighting all main ideas and groupings of information. Then, on the hard copy, for each group of information, write in highlighter the page number so that you will know the original page number when you cut the document apart. (Yes, literally, cut; this is hands-on, but it works.)

Cut the document apart with scissors or a guillotine.

Then physically arrange and rearrange groupings to find an effective order. You might pin chunks of text to a bulletin board, tape them to a wall, or organize them on the floor and down the hall.

As you work, you might find text that repeats, circles back, goes nowhere, or goes where no-one wants it to go (really), so keep those text chunks to the side.

When you have an order that you think is final, take and keep a colour photo of the “final” order. (The colour is so that you can see the highlights about what text chunks come from where.) Also, keep the text chunks that do NOT fit the new order; you might need them later or need to explain your choices.

Then write the summary, evaluate it, poke holes in it, fix it, etc. Then take a photo of the order again. Then you can use the new, fixed-up order to refer to the original page numbers and order AND revise the whole document.

Ta da! Tiny victory
For more tiny victories in editing, writing, communications, and plain language, see my other blog posts on my web site or my LinkedIn page.

Plain Language & Clear Communications Resources—Updated 2021

In 2015, I wrote about re-energizing my interest in and focus on plain language & clear communications. This is still true: I love this work.

For fellow writers and editors, here are some of the resources I find useful. I will add to this list and tweak it regularly. And if you have any suggestions, please contact me with them. Thanks!

Plain Language Association International (PLAIN) http://plainlanguagenetwork.org

the definition for plain language from the International Plain Language Federation, as quoted at <https://plainlanguagenetwork.org/plain-language/what-is-plain-language/> : A communication is in plain language if its wording, structure, and design are so clear that the intended audience can easily find what they need, understand what they find, and use that information.

Oxford Guide to Plain English, by Martin Cutts—now in the 2020, 5th edition

about upcoming ISO standards for plain language: <https://www.iso.org/news/ref2566.html>

Plain Language in Plain English, edited by Cheryl Stephens and other work by Cheryl Stephens

Plain Language: Clear and Simple, a Canadian government publication now available via Iva Cheung’s blog < http://www.ivacheung.com/2014/03/plain-language-clear-and-simple/>

How to Write Clearly, available as a pdf from the European Commission at < http://ec.europa.eu/translation/writing/clear_writing/how_to_write_clearly_en.pdf>

Claire’s Clear Writing Tips—an expansion on the above, also available as a pdf from the European Commission at <https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/clear_writing_tips_en.pdf>

United States government plainlanguage.gov “Checklists and handouts” listing at <https://www.plainlanguage.gov/resources/checklists/>

Vertical Lists, Punctuation, Plain Language, Accessibility

A question posted on LinkedIn recently asked about vertical lists (numbered or not) and how to punctuate them. Plain language specialists often recommend vertical lists, but how are the lists useful? What punctuation should be used? Are vertical lists accessible?

Here are some answers coming from my experience and from where I live and work (Ontario, Canada, home of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act):
• Yes, vertical lists may help an intended audience find, understand, and use information. For example, effective vertical lists can help break up long lines of text.
• Yes, punctuation needs to be clear and understandable to the audience and in the context.
– That might mean punctuation as shown before and in this list.
– It might mean no punctuation in lists of single words or phrases.
• But, any vertical list does need to be formatted correctly for the content to be accessible.

For more about vertical lists, why they are useful in some contexts, punctuation, and how to format them correctly, see Ontario sources such as <https://lnkd.in/g45STpKP> and international sources such as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

(Published February 6, 2025, to LinkedIn and <lauraedlund.ca>)

Communication Is Human: My Policies as an Editor, Writer, Plain Language Specialist, and Consultant

by Laura Edlund, published January 6, 2025*

People have a lot of questions about writing, editing, communication, publication, creative work, consulting, confidentiality, non-disclosure, other legal and ethical considerations, Chat GPT and other AI products, information, sources, credit, copyright, and more subjects. Here are some of my answers as of January 6, 2025.*

I do not use generative AI in my work as an editor, writer, plain language specialist, and consultant. One reason is that using generative AI would contradict confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements I have with many clients. This is the case even if the eventual outcome of the work is published.
Some of my clients may use generative AI, machine translation, large language models (LLMs), and the like in their work before or after my work on a communication. That is outside my control unless specifically stated in the contract I have with a client.
I use tools and processes such as PerfectIt and macros in my work. These are not generative AI.
I use my human intelligence—education, training, experience, and expertise gained over 30 years, continual professional development, and human critical thinking—to make decisions as I write, edit, and consult. I refer to research, references, professional standards, best practices, and good practices.
Information, facts, and evidence matter, and disinformation can harm. For that reason, I refer to sources of information and opinion, as noted below.
Research and evidence-based academic writing matter. Lived experience matters. Traditional Indigenous Knowledge matters. This is to acknowledge that information matters and sources vary.
In my own writing, I refer to specific sources, my experience, or my opinion to be clear about the basis for my writing.
In my own writing, I refer to sources and credit them appropriately, or I will be prepared to do so. If for reasons of confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements, privacy concerns, or other legal or ethical considerations, I can’t refer to a fact, statement, or experience, then I will not do so to respect those considerations.
Information and evidence changes over time, and knowledge is gained. I learn something new every single day. For that reason, in my own writing (on my web site, in posts on social media, on my resume), I will include the date of original publication or update.
I respect copyright and expect others to do the same. If you quote or adapt this policy statement, credit me as the source.

For more about writing, editing, plain language, and consulting services, please contact me at lauraedlund.ca.

#writing

#editing

#writer

#editor

#PlainLanguage

#consultant

#AI

#generativeAI

#AIpolicies

#InformationDisinformation

#PolicyStatement

#AcceptingNewClients

(*Edited to correct a classic January typo—that is, revising to the year 2025.)

The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition, some highlights

In August 2024, I posted on LinkedIn about the many updates in the new edition of the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) by looking at the new edition through a different lens in each post. The following combines my related posts under these headings: accessibility, global examples, geography and maps, artificial intelligence (AI), and still more… (a final catchall) based on my own recent or current work.

Note that these are only some of the many sections of CMOS and its updates from the 17^th edition to the 18^th edition. The CMOS update team has summarized all significant changes in a list. Kudos to the CMOS team for this huge update!

Accessibility
“2.143: Checking for accessibility
Works published in electronic formats should be checked to make sure they meet applicable accessibility requirements, including…”
“3.28: Alternative text and descriptions
To ensure accessibility in electronic publication formats for readers with print disabilities, publishers should include alternative text (‘alt text’) for any image that needs it….”
5.255: Making conscious choices
5.258: Common areas of biased language
5.261: Person-first versus identity-first
5.262: Ableism
11.135: Signed languages
11.138: Glosses in ASL
11.143: Transcriptions of signed sentences
“Bibliography of Additional Resources
1: Writing and Editing
Dreyer, Benjamin. Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style. Random House, 2019.” and many other references.

Global examples

CMOS is used in the US publishing industry and in many other countries and industries. As an editor working in Canada for clients around the world, I use it as one source while localizing works for American, UK, or Canadian audiences. And I use it as one source while editing global subjects for global, American, UK, or Canadian audiences, and in translated works.

I was glad to see examples about US and British English, and to see many more examples from around the world. Here are some highlights:

5.17: Plural-form proper nouns
5.18 Anomalies of the plural
5.35: Pronoun number and antecedent

6.9: Periods and commas in relation to closing quotation marks
6.89: En dash as em dash

7.1: Recommended dictionaries

8.34: Honorifics
8.63: Legislative and deliberative bodies
8.68: Adherents of unofficial political groups and movements
8.113: Armies, battalions, and such

9.23: Non-US currencies using the dollar symbol
9.24: British currency
9.25: Other currencies

9.57: The decimal marker
9.59: Telephone numbers

10.17: Abbreviations for military titles

10.75: US abbreviations for weight and capacity

11: Languages other than English
11.49: Additional resources for Indigenous languages
11.50: Indigenous writing systems
11.52: Indigenous language authorities

14.137: Citing Indigenous sources of knowledge directly
14.195: Canadian legal cases
14.196: Canadian statutes

Geography and maps

8.46: Continents, countries, cities, oceans, and such
8.201: Maps
14.135: Citing maps

Artificial intelligence (AI)
4.5: Original Expression
”Copyright protects the original expression contained in a work.… The requirement that a human author has created the expression has become significant as the use of generative AI (artificial intelligence) has become significant. If an AI creates expression in response to human prompts, that is not enough to support a copyright. The human in charge must contribute something that by itself will support a copyright, and the copyright will be limited to what that human author contributes.”

3: Illustrations and Tables, 3.38: Crediting Adapted Material
“… If the illustration was created by or with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), that fact should be noted in the credit.”

14.112: Citing AI-Generated Content
“Authors who have relied on content generated by a chatbot or similar AI tool must make it clear how the tool has been used …. Any specific content, whether quoted or paraphrased, should be cited where it occurs, either in the text or in a note.”

And still more…

5.43: Identification of personal pronouns
5.51: Generic singular “they”
5.263: Gender-neutral nouns
5.265: Options for gender neutrality in pronoun use
5.266: Uses of singular “they”

6.119: Slashes for pronunciations
11.24: International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

9.18: Numbers with abbreviations and symbols
9.22: Words versus monetary symbols and numerals

9.27: Currency with dates
10.46: Abbreviations for times of day
10.55: Miscellaneous technical abbreviations

Editors and Machine Translations into English

I posted this on LinkedIn on August 22, 2024, in three parts, and I have made some minor additions.

How best can editors work on text that has been machine translated into English? While some of my clients do use machine translations, some of my clients do not and advise against using machine translations.

When a client uses machine translations into English before hiring me as an editor for the English publication, I find that editing often goes beyond the usual scope for a copyedit (as defined by Editors Canada), and I need to understand the potential benefits and pitfalls of machine translations to do my edit well.

Here are 9 practices I recommend for editors facing the same situation:

1.   Check out what machine translation involves, possible applications, and risks. Here are some sources.
·     Government of Canada’s “Using new language technologies and machine translation,” subsection “To use or not to use machine translation, that is the question” <https://lnkd.in/eBjCuEtP>
·     Slate article “Death by Machine Translation?” https://lnkd.in/ecbcBm6k
·     “5 Risks of Machine Translation” < https://lnkd.in/eJqibMqg>

2.   Ask what post-machine translation process the text has gone through before it lands on your desk. For example, after the machine translation, was there a post-machine translation edit of the text by a human translator? Or did the multilingual authors and subject experts review the text to identify errors in the translation and address those errors before the text was sent to the English editor?

3.   Consider the client’s style guide, other references, and process. Does the client answer questions about many publications, refer to precedents, and refer other questions to the author team?

4.   Consider multiple Englishes. Likely the machine translation defaults to US or UK English, but what does the intended audience know and prefer? What does the client require? What national, regional, and local considerations are factors?

5.   Use high-value resources and use them well–e.g., a specialist glossary of terms in English for the subject, a wealth of online and hard copy dictionaries (Oxford, Merriam-Webster Collegiate 11th edition, Collins, the online Oxford English Dictionary, and the online Oxford Reference).

6.   Consider the process for the edit in English. Will the edit go through at least two rounds of edits: first, an edit with tracked changes and queries or comments to authors; then the authors’ careful review of the text to check the edit and answer all questions; and then at least a second edit round to resolve all text changes and clean up the text?

7.   Review for key words and phrases, concepts, and terms of art that are used and expected in the subject area. Are there areas of text that are vague or might lack nuance? Does the text use many different words or phrases for the same thing? Does the text seem to oversimplify a term of art because of a limited vocabulary in machine translation?

8.   Keep a style sheet and query the subject expert/author team about specific wordings and patterns of language. Does the text use words and phrases that will be familiar to the audience and explain those that are unfamiliar but necessary in the context? Does it use those words and phrases clearly, consistently, and with precision? Does the text vary language in a way that might be unhelpful for the target audience; does it look like the writers dug into a thesaurus too many times? This might result from machine translation translating each word and phrase separately and without regard for the context and consistency. For example, I have often queried early in a manuscript that three similar phrases are used repeatedly but in a way that is not clear and distinct to me, so what distinctions are being made and are the uses clear and appropriate in each case?

9.   Review for tone and style. What tone is wanted for the intended audience? Is the tone and style consistently formal and academic, consistently informal, or a combination? Is the language vague? What style is clear, correct, and precise for the intended audience?

Writers, editors, translators, publishers, and other organizations communicating in multiple languages, please share what you have learned in your work and about machine translations. Thanks!