Look for techniques to make writing more clear, effective

Because so many Americans seem to struggle to comunicate effectively through writing, here are several more tips to continue the advice I offered in previous columns.

No Parenthetical Numerals

 Especially irritating is the practice of spelling out numbers and then attaching parenthetical numerals - a habit learned when scribes used quill pens to copy documents. The real reason for this was to prevent fraud by making it difficult to alter documents. But our laser printers are unlikely to print four instead of seven.

Lawyers are the worst at this. They commonly write, "There are four (4) plaintiffs and six (6) defendants, all claiming the ten thousand dollars ($10,000). But only three (3) of the four (4) plaintiffs are entitled to recover from one (1) defendant."

The reader automatically repeats the numbers. It is extremely hard to read and looks silly. Unless you are writing your document in longhand - and you believe someone will alter your numbers - skip this aggravating habit.

Headings are Signposts

As part of the "container" you are building in the reader's mind, have headings that tell the reader what is coming. Headings should convey information. "Facts" is better than no heading, but it conveys no information. "The Problem with Widgets" tells the reader the nature of the facts that are coming. "Conclusion" is better that nothing, but "We can save $560,000" conveys information - and grabs the reader's attention.

Headings are signposts that guide the reader. If your document is one page, you might not need to break it up; but if it is longer, separate it into numbered headings. And why not use the headings to inform or persuade?

Headings do not just give context; they also signal the reader when to safely take a break.

The reader needs breaks in digesting complex material. Separate the parts - and subparts - into headings.

How many should there be? There is no set rule, but I wouldn't go more than two pages of double-spaced type or one page of single-spaced.

Write Short Paragraphs

Short paragraphs give the reader a chance to pause and digest what has gone before. Just like headings and short sentences, short paragraphs provide a break. Long paragraphs are daunting. Here is an example:

The general aim of this conference, if I understand its theme correctly, is to explore the relationship of philosophy and its history. There are two fundamental positions that have been adopted with respect to this issue by philosophers. The first denies that there is or that there should be any relation between them. Those who favor this perspective point out that whatever philosophers do and/or accomplish is irrelevant to what historians do and/or accomplish, and vice versa. For example, they ask: What could what Thales thought about the basic stuff of which the world is made have to do with current questions of philosophy? Indeed, arguing from analogy, they note that no serious astronomer today pays any attention to what Ptolemy thought about the heavens, so why should a contemporary philosopher pay attention to Thales or Aristotle? According to this point of view, there is nothing relevant that the history of philosophy can contribute to philosophy. Something similar could be said concerning the contribution of philosophy to its history. For, so the argument goes, how could contemporarily developed concepts and ideas help in the proper understanding of concepts and ideas developed in a different age and context? Historians of philosophy, then, have no need for philosophy as such.

Breaking this up would allow much better communication. The writing is not terrible, but the reader's eyes glaze over.

There is no rule on how many sentences should be in a paragraph. Usually three or four is enough. A paragraph is supposed to be one thought. But you can break the thoughts into smaller pieces.

And you can have a one-sentence paragraph - for emphasis.

Remember, each new piece of information should build on the old. You might have seen paragraphs diagrammed so that each sentence refers back to something in the last sentence. That is called building on context - building on prior knowledge.

Put a topic sentence first in each paragraph. This is another form of putting context before detail.

Tell the reader what the paragraph is about before adding details. And some people skim by reading only the first sentence of each paragraph - if they do, they will still get the important points.

Painter has served as a judge on the Ohio First District Court of Appeals for 12 years, after 13 years on the Hamilton County Municipal Court. He is the author of 350 nationally published decisions, 105 articles and five books, including "The Legal Writer: 40 Rules for the Art of Legal Writing." To contact him, visit www.judgepainter.org.