Well-written sentences create a fine reading experience

Create a fine reading experience for your readers by transforming your sentences into plain language | Photo by Delightin Dee on Unsplash

Melissa Wardell shares her thoughts on the award for Best Plain Language Sentence Transformation. Melissa is one of the judges for the category in 2022.

Communication is all about words. Words on their own are limited in how much meaning they can convey to the audience. How do we bring them together to carry more complex thoughts and ideas? By writing sentences, of course!

When words are combined into a well-written sentence, they inform and influence the reader. Sentences provide a stage for words to shine. That’s why the award for Best Plain Language Sentence Transformation is so revealing. The best sentence transformations show us what is possible at an easily digestible level.

Offer poorly written sentences a second chance

Not all sentences achieve their intended goal at first. But even clunky sentences deserve a second chance!

The Best Plain Language Sentence Transformation category offers you the opportunity to take the ingredients of a complex or clumsy sentence and remix them into something beautiful. To create a fine reading experience from what was a flop.

Have a look at an example of how to transform a sentence here (video by sponsor Write Limited)

Shine the light on your transformed sentences

The Best Plain Language Sentence Transformation recognises the best plain language rewrite of an ‘unplain’ sentence by a New Zealand or Australian organisation. Entries are judged against internationally accepted principles of plain language.

The Best Sentences know how to impress the judges in this category. In 2021, one of the judges said:

The original statement shows how authorities sometimes, without meaning to, create a sense of ‘us and them’. The new version’s writer saw potential to relate to readers as their equals. The rewritten sentences are short and use many everyday words. They apply several plain English principles.