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/>

Grammar Resources: What and Why

The word “grammar” excites some and bores or repels others. Why is the question considered later in this blog. Another question is What? What resources can help a writer or editor dust off or build up grammar skills? Here are some suggestions, including both recent and older resources:

Oxford Canadian A-Z of Grammar, Spelling, & Punctuation—is a very handy, slim book that presents solutions to common problems. This is made for fast, easy reference and might best suit someone who needs some tips, reminders, and corrections, but already has a solid understanding.
Practical Grammar: A Canadian Writer’s Resource by Maxine Ruvinsky—is a strong book for learning or reviewing the basics and testing yourself with exercises.
Grammatically Correct: The Writer’s Essential Guide to Punctuation, Spelling, Style, Usage and Grammar by Anne Stilman—is good for both editors and writers; it includes some exercises.
A Writer’s Reference by Diana Hacker—the “Grammatical Sentences” and “Effective Sentences” chapters are clear, focused, and concise.
The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed and The New Well-Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed by Karen Elizabeth Gordon—are quirky handbooks with fanciful examples, which help reduce the potential for boredom. If grammar is a subject that gives you the hives, but you want (or need) to bone up on it, these might be just the thing.
The Chicago Manual of Style, 16^th edition, chapter 5—within “Chicago” (the bible for many North American book editors) this chapter is a possibly overlooked gem.
Words into Type, 3rd edition, part V—within this old favourite, this 60-page part is a gold mine for editors.
The New York Public Library Writer’s Guide to Style and Usage, part two—focused on common problems, this is a handy resource for writers and editors; it wisely recognizes how language changes and notes some recurring questions.
Oxford Guide to Canadian English Usage, by Margery Fee and Janice McAlpine—another resource from Oxford University Press that is well-suited to editors; it is organized alphabetically and combines subject entries and word entries (e.g., on the same spread—”sentence, sentence fragment, run-on sentence, comma splice” and “separatist, sovereignist, …”)
Garner’s Modern American Usage, 3rd edition, by Bryan A. Garner—another resource from Oxford University Press and well-suited to editors; it has alphabetical entries and comments on current and historical usage.
some online sources, such as those in Purdue University’s OWL (Online Writing Lab) series—however, there are many online sources that seem informed by a very basic understanding of grammar and “the rules I was taught in grade 6”; use online sources with extreme care; language changes and there are various widely promoted “rules” that contradict usage past and present.
The Elements of Style—often known as “Strunk and White” (the authors’ names), this continues to be a favourite for many. It has to be said that Strunk and White was written first for college students in Mr. Strunk’s domain. While its “rules” don’t apply to every type of writing, they are well expressed. It covers a range of subjects: grammar, punctuation, and recommendations for structuring an undergraduate essay, for example.
The Elements of Grammar by Margaret Shertzer—written as a companion to The Elements of Style.
a grammar instruction book for beginners and including exercises, such as Grammar Step by Step 1 by Helen Kalkstein Fragiadakis and Ellen Rosenfield, from McGraw-Hill—for the grammar-resistant (see below) and others people who want to start with the basics, a step-by-guide to English for English as a second language (ESL) students and teachers might be the right solution.

Why grammar?

Many writers (and editors) who read widely develop an ear for good, clear writing, which allows them to make instinctive, effective choices in grammar most of the time. The result is that they can joyfully use (and strategically abuse) the rules of grammar as they need and want for clarity and impact. If you are one of these writers or editors, you might only want to use some of the books above to troubleshoot or to dust off your skills.

If you feel that you need to do some more work on grammar, need to defend your decisions, or have been told regularly that your writing is unclear or unpolished, then you need to dig deeper. Perhaps you need to brush up on your skills in English grammar to “naturalize” your English writing and to avoid importing constructions from other languages.

Another possibility is that you are rushing or imagine that a quickie grammar check with Microsoft Word will do the trick. (It won’t.) Here again you might want to brush up on your grammar skills. And it never hurts to read as much strong, clear writing as you can to develop that ear.

Maybe you know that your writing will go next to a copy-editor. Great; however, the more you attend to in your own writing, the easier it is for a copy-editor to edit your work well.

When a writer streamlines the work ahead in the publication process, this saves time and money. (See my blogs for more about types of editing and more about what editing costs and why.)
When a writer does not pay enough attention to clear expression (including grammar), then the writer risks a painful and costly (or stalled) publication process.

Maybe you resist grammar or dismiss it. If that’s the case, consider your goals and your readers. Can your readers understand your writing? Are you achieving your goals? Is your writing seeming to go unnoticed? Are you regularly asked for rewrites or clarifications? If your readers consider your writing to be unclear, unpolished, unprofessional, or embarrassing, then you have a big problem. Likely grammar is one source of that problem. If this is the case, think of grammar as just one support for the reader and one tool for you, the writer.

If you need to brush up on your grammar, read as much as you can, read as widely as you can, and then have a look at some of the resources listed above.