Writing for Future of Children Readers Authors Conference

Writing for Future of Children Readers Authors Conference “Policies to Promote Child Health” Future of Children 25, no. 1 April 10– 11, 2014

WHAT WE WRITE • Long, complex sentences WHAT READERS WANT TO READ • Shorter, simpler sentences

83 words 14 words In this era of rapid technological change, it is the goal of the Library to address the information needs of each group among its diverse set of users — faculty, undergraduates, graduate students, staff and the general public. With this goal in mind, the Library endeavors to continually review and update its collections and resources to ensure that it is providing access to those tools and materials — both in print and electronically — that best meet the University’s evolving mission of scholarship. The Library strives to give all its users the tools and materials they need.

WHAT WE WRITE WHAT READERS WANT TO READ • Long, complex sentences • Shorter, simpler sentences • Action expressed with nouns, adjectives and prepositional phrases • Action expressed with verbs

Where are the verbs? The addition of this point came in response to a question from our colleagues.

Where are the verbs? The addition of this point came in response to a question from our colleagues.

Where are the verbs? The addition of this point came in response to a question from our colleagues.

Where are the verbs? The addition of this point came in response to a question from our colleagues. This intervention is reflective of the findings about brain development and responsive to changes in the curriculum. We added this point to respond to a question from our colleagues.

Where are the verbs? The addition of this point came in response to a question from our colleagues. This intervention is reflective of the findings about brain development and responsive to changes in the curriculum. We added this point to respond to a question from our colleagues.

Where are the verbs? The addition of this point came in response to a question from our colleagues. We added this point to respond to a question from our colleagues. This intervention is reflective of the findings about brain development and responsive to changes in the curriculum. This intervention reflects the findings about brain development and responds to changes in the curriculum.

WHAT WE WRITE WHAT READERS WANT TO READ • Long, complex sentences • Shorter, simpler sentences • Action expressed with nouns, adjectives and prepositional phrases • Action expressed with verbs • Passive voice, impersonal • Active voice, personal

The passive voice is a weasel Given the high incidence of postpartum depression in this population, it was deemed advisable to add a measure of depressive symptoms to the survey. Given the high incidence of postpartum depression in this population, I decided to add a measure of depressive symptoms to the survey.

WHAT WE WRITE WHAT READERS WANT TO READ • Long, complex sentences • Shorter, simpler sentences • Action expressed with nouns, adjectives and prepositional phrases • Action expressed with verbs • Passive voice, impersonal • Active voice, personal • Technical terms not defined • Technical terms defined

WORDS TO EXPLAIN Longitudinal study “A study that follows a group of people over time”

WHAT WE WRITE WHAT READERS WANT TO READ • Long, complex sentences • Shorter, simpler sentences • Action expressed with nouns, adjectives and prepositional phrases • Action expressed with verbs • Passive voice, impersonal • Active voice, personal • Technical terms not defined • Technical terms defined • Long, complex, or unusual words; jargon • Short, simple, ordinary words; no jargon

WORDS TO AVOID “The literature” Research; studies; evidence Researchers; scholars; epidemiologists; etc.

A growing body of literature

WORDS TO AVOID Morbidity and morbidity mortality Mortality and Illness and death

WORDS TO AVOID Negatively impact Harm; hurt Utilize Use

A word about contractions It’s OK to use contractions in formal writing. “Most types of writing benefit from the use of contractions. If used thoughtfully, contractions in prose sound natural and relaxed and make reading more enjoyable. ” —CMS 16, 5. 103

Tables and figures should be able to stand alone. An intelligent person who is not in your field should be able to understand a table or figure immediately without referring to the text.

Alas, a Future of Children page is … 8. 5 5. 75 inches wide inches tall … we can’t use type smaller than 10 points.

Alas, Future of Children is in … Black and white

Jon Wallace jdw 5@princeton. edu (609) 258 -0340