Chapter 1
WHAT IS GOOD WRITING?
Chapter overview
This brief chapter introduces Plain English and shows that it isn’t a simplistic, third-grade style
of writing. Instead, it’s the way most professionals — in and out of business — write. And it’s
the style of writing almost all of us prefer to read.
Brief outline of the chapter
I. An example of Plain English. This section shows some bureaucratic writing from a
government regulation and a Plain English rewrite.
II. So…what is good writing? This section makes the case for Plain English.
General comments
I begin my classes as my book does: by telling my students that there is no standard today for
business writing. That usually surprises them, because most of them have learned that good
writing equals the old-style formal writing of the past. So I say the fact that there’s no standard is
a good thing. It means the old-style formal writing of the past is no longer the standard, that Plain
English is becoming the new standard.
I like doing a couple early lessons online—having students post their drafts, critique each other,
and then receive critiques by me. I explain this exercise at the end of Chapter 2. It has these
advantages:
•They’ll be less defensive. By showing their drafts, students are less likely to become
defensive about their writing. They know they’re not getting a grade with what they post
online. And the suggestions we make on their drafts will help them get better grades on
their final versions. Also, from my point of view, our suggestions will help them
understand how to write better papers.
•As reviewers of the drafts, they express their dislike of overly formal writing. Some of
their classmates, for the first paper, will still write their drafts using the old, overly formal
style. Classmates reviewing the drafts usually rebel against the old style because they
don’t like reading it.
•They see some good examples of Plain English. Students see some good writing in Plain
English from their classmates. They see a variety of tones and writing that’s easy to read.
Additional exercise
I teach both undergraduate and graduate business students. For my undergraduate classes, I start
Ungraded Writing Exercise
I want to get a sample of your writing so I can tell you early in the course what your writing needs
Basically, I want words on paper, and I want to learn about you!