Why won't it just tell me what it's about? There are no bullet points, no highlighted parts. I've looked everywhere—there's nothing here but words. Ow!
So said said Boston resident Charlyne Thomson, according to the satirical newspaper, The Onion, as she was bombarded with the overwhelming mass of black text late Monday afternoon.
The amusing article continues, quoting other supposed victims of poorly written, unclear documents--in reality, a serious problem for readers of corporate, government, legal, medical and other materials in the United States and around the world.
The Onion reports:
Some have speculated that the never-ending flood of sentences may be a news article, medical study, urgent product recall notice, letter, user agreement, or even a binding contract of some kind. But until the news does a segment in which they take sections of the text and read them aloud in a slow, calm voice while highlighting those same words on the screen, no one can say for sure.
For more useful information on clear, concise writing, check out Garbl's Plain English Writing Guide and Garbl's Plain Language Resources.
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