When writing, clarity is everything. That’s why we encourage the use of English writing software, in the first place. Every sentence should make sense, both on its own and as a part of the whole text. This becomes a bit tricky when presenting information that’s difficult to comprehend, such as a new information that your readers may find hard to grasp.
One of the best ways to accomplish this is to start with a “big picture” view of the idea. Throw in something that your readers are likely to already know, then relate it to the new information by using transitional devices. With the connections created in the readers’ minds, the new information will be much more easily digested, eventually becoming as familiar as the “big picture” idea you presented before it.
When discussing a new technology, for instance, this technique works very well. If I merely write that, “She was spectacular in the movie,” then there’s a good chance it can be misinterpreted. Does it mean she was good? How good? Does it mean she was less than magnificent? It can lead to confusion.
However, if I state that “Compared to many debuts from today’s young stars, her performance was spectacular,” then you have an actual basis for comparison. You have something tangible to link it to – movies you’ve previously seen from other young stars. The picture formed is more complete. Her level of being spectacular was relative to today’s young actresses, instead of those who won an Academy Award.
Did you see how that worked? Use the old information to give context to the new, and your writing will be clearer than ever.
Tags: clarity, clear sentences, new information
