Oxford Guide to Plain English

The book is clear and concise. I learnt a lot, and the content is clearly applicable to more than English. But probably the crowning touch is that Mr. Cutts managed to write a book that is quite funny to read. Anybody having to write occasionally should have a copy.

In everyday life, many a person may happen to come across documents that are written in an illegible and almost undecipherable form as a consequence of an incorrect choice of words, a misplaced punctuation and a disorganisation of the ideas by which the writer had intended to express himself or herself. The answer to such a troublesome matter is given by Plain English. According to the illustrious author of this reference book, Plain English is the means by which a writer conveys the reader a chance of understanding his writing at first reading, adding essential and concise information to his work.

Martin Cutts' `Guide to Plain English' consists of twenty-one chapters that provide guidelines on how to write documents in a language that is accessible to mainstream readers. In this reference book, there are tips on how to use terms that will allow writers to avoid writing documents that might be perceived as pompous and prolix. To help readers achieve such a goal, there is an all-embracing section of `Official-sounding' terms with their corresponding plain English equivalent. Furthermore, there are comprehensive guidelines about the usage of punctuation within a text, providing several examples on how to place marks within the flow of a sentence to understand its construction at first reading. In addition to that, there is a section dedicated to a correct organisation of ideas when writing e-mails, including a lexicon of abbreviations and a advice on adding personal comments in the e-mail text.

I would recommend this excellent reference book to customers who come across troublesome documents, devoid of proper punctuation and filled with terms that may result hard to comprehend for general readers. On the other hand, customers who attend writing courses may not find this booklet useful because the provided guidelines do not fix much attention on stylistic considerations such as the five-paragraph essay and the layout of academic papers and texts.

I have been running writing courses for over a decade and have looked through many books on clear writing. Overall, I think this is the most helpful. I recommend it to attendees.

It even has a section on how to manage colleagues' writing. Many people who come on a writing course want their boss to attend too; to learn the real 'rules'!