Before explaining what plain English editing is, it’s important to understand what plain English is. The Plain English Campaign describes plain English as:
‘… a message, written with the reader in mind and with the right tone of voice, that is clear and concise.’
And as the International Plain Language Federation explains:
‘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.’
There are lots of reasons for using plain English, whether you’re writing for specialists who need to read a lot of information and understand it quickly, people who may be reading in a second or third language, or people who find reading difficult.
Plain English editing translates complex, hard-to-understand text into language that is clear, concise and straight forward to read. It focuses on what your readers need to know and making that as easy for them to understand as possible. As well as making your writing more accessible, a plain English edit will review your language choices to make sure that they are inclusive and respectful of diversity.
What an editor does in a plain English edit
You can think of a plain English edit as a form of translation. When we write, we often think about what we want to say and use language that makes sense to us, rather than considering what our readers need to understand. A plain English editor translates your message – the thing(s) you need your readers to understand – into language that is meaningful and clear to them.
When they are working on your text, a plain English editor will:
reproduce the text in language that is appropriate for its readers and purpose
check the text for overly long sentences and rework them into shorter ones
review grammar and punctuation for clarity
address the use of jargon, technical terms and other specialist language that may be confusing to readers
provide suggestions for rewording of any language that is not inclusive
offer recommendations to improve the organisation and layout of the text
How plain English editing works
A plain English edit is a process of reworking existing documents into new ones that follow the principles of plain language. This can include restructuring the document, making design and layout changes, adding or removing figures or tables as well as rewriting the original text.
Plain English editing is usually done electronically, ideally in an editable document format such as Word. A plain English editor will mark your text using Track Changes. There can be a lot of changes in a plain English edit so, when the edit is complete, you will usually receive a file that shows all the changes as well as a ‘clean’ file where these have been accepted. This helps you review the final text more easily.
It is important that your original meaning isn’t lost during a plain English edit, so editors will produce a list of queries to help them translate your writing accurately.
What plain English editing isn’t
A plain English is not producing text from scratch; it is translating or reproducing text from documents that already exist. A plain English edit doesn’t make your text accessible to everyone. People with lower levels of literacy and some disabilities, for example, may still be excluded. They have other needs that cannot be met by plain English alone.
After a plain English edit, your document may need copy-editing and it will require proofreading after design and layout have been applied before it is ready to be published.
A good editor is your partner and ally, here to make sure your words work. To find out how editorial support can help you, why not get in touch?