Principles of Clear Writing for Effective Communication

What is this page about?

A guide to the principles of clear writing, explaining why clarity is hard (the curse of knowledge, the reader's limited cognitive budget) and why brevity is not the same as clarity, with Warren Buffett's plain-English shareholder letters as a model. It lays out core principles (one idea per sentence, active voice with clear subjects, concrete nouns, front-loading critical information, cutting unnecessary words), how to write for your audience and across cultures, common clarity killers and fixes, applying the principles across emails, documentation, and reports, and building a revision practice.

What has been corrected on this page?

Every accepted correction to this page is recorded with the exact change, so readers can see how the page improved over time.

1. 11 July 2026 · corrected by Emir Baycan

   3 corrections applied: SEC's 'A Plain English Handbook' was published in 1998 (as the article's own reference list cites), not 2004 | Original list duplicated the long-word rule and omitted Orwell's metaphor/cliché rule and his 'break any rule rather than say anything barbarous' rule | The Flesch Reading Ease formula was introduced in 1948 ('A New Readability Yardstick'), not in a 1952 book titled 'How to Write Better'

   Before

   In 2004, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released a plain-language handbook; duplicated long-word rule, omitted Orwell's metaphor/cliche rule; In 1952, Rudolf Flesch published How to Write Better

   After

   In 1998, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released a plain-language handbook; never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech...break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous; In 1948, Rudolf Flesch introduced the Flesch Reading Ease formula

   Why: Verified all 3 corrections already correctly present on the live site (body content and bibliography). None of the unverified dates/book title appear in faq, excerpt, or meta_description. No further action needed.

   View the full record →

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