Whether in government, academic, medical, technical, or business environments, we have all encountered “zombie prose”—opaque writing that fails to see the topic from the readers’ point of view.

Here are some suggestions to practice in your own writing:

✔ Be brief and clear.

Decrease the cognitive load for your readers; they will trust you more and respond better.

Readers appreciate white space and low visual complexity.

✔ Economy is one of the primary laws of language evolution.

Respect your readers’ time with precise and concise communication. You will accomplish more.

✔ Split longer blocks of text into short, focused paragraphs.

✔ Break up and reword long sentences.

✔ Cut vague and redundant words and phrases.

✔ Read your text aloud to yourself to improve the flow.

✔ Double-check names, numbers, addresses, facts, dates, and locations.

✔ Always use a serial comma for clarity.

✔ Consult online resources like Purdue Online Writing Lab.

✔ Use singular “they.”

It is widely accepted and inclusive of all gender identities.

 

About the author:

Tanya Mykhaylychenko is a professional resume writer with a background in content writing, university teaching, and IT staffing. She is a member of Editors Canada and Career Professionals of Canada. For more information, please visit https://tm-editorial.com/about/.