Alright, people. Tried something new today, this “English-only simple phrasing” thing. Needed to rewrite some tech notes for the team. Wanted ’em super clear.
Started simple. Looked at my first draft. Oh man. Sentences so long! Words like “facilitate” and “implementation” all over the place. Confusing mess.
Figured, okay. Find the core idea. Cut the rest. One action word per sentence, if possible.
Grabbed the first paragraph. Original: “The primary objective involves the facilitation of a comprehensive reassessment of the existing deployment methodologies.”
- Scratched head. What?
- Found the action: Needed to re-check how we deploy things.
- Rewrote: “Check how we deploy.”
Next sentence: “Subsequent to the aforementioned evaluation, it is anticipated that optimized procedures will be formulated.”
- “Find a better way.” That’s it.
Got tough later. Had a sentence about the results: “Data analysis revealed significant discrepancies…”
- Tried hard: “Check numbers.” Nah. Lost the point.
- Deeper: What happened? “Found wrong numbers.” Better. More true.
- Felt odd at first. Like writing for little kids. But then… boss glanced at it later and just nodded “Got it.” Faster than usual.
Whole afternoon spent chopping words. Key lessons learned hard way:
- Use strong verbs first: find, check, fix, show, add.
- Forget fancy words. “Use” beats “utilize”. “Start” over “commence”.
- If word feels stiff, it is stiff. Kill it.
- Read aloud. Sounds weird? Rewrite.
Honestly? Painful at first. Felt dumb dumbing it down. But results? Clearer notes. Faster understanding. Not pretty, but works. Try it next time you write docs.