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| There should be no misunderstanding between writer and reader. (Source: Peanuts by Charles Shultz) |
It's one thing for you, as a writer, to understand what you're trying to say, and another for your reader to make sense of your words and ideas.
From Beginnings of Rhetoric and Composition, by Adams Hill:
Importance of clarity
If you wish your readers to understand what you say, you should make your sentences mean to them what they mean to you.
Constantly bear in mind:
1. It is important to have clear ideas and to express them in language that is clear to yourself.
2. It is no less important to express ideas in language that is clear to others. Make your meaning so plain that it can be caught at once.
3. Remember that few persons have either time or inclination to become acquainted with unfamiliar words, to supply omissions, to remove obscurities, or to unravel tangled thoughts.
Therefore:
4. Choose words that express your meaning exactly.
5. Use as many words as are needed to convey your meaning but not one word that does not help to convey it.
6. Arrange words, phrases, and clauses in the order in which they may be readily understood.
Aim at clarity in both substance and form.
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