5 strategies for writing simply: Focusing on ideas firstWriters new to English begin by learning very simple
sentence structures. These structures are used to express
ideas in straightforward ways, but do not allow for muchcomplexity. Because of this, they are often regarded as“low-level” English.
In school, native and non-native speakers of English areencouraged to use more “sophisticated” written English
to reflect their growing proficiency in the language.
Sophisticated language is especially important to use
when trying to pass standardized tests of English. Using
only “simple” sentence structures will result in a low score.
This situation encourages the idea that more complicatedgrammar is evidence of more elevated thought. At
universities around the world, students are taught to writewith “powerful” words and “complex” grammatical structures.
Of course, using more complex, sophisticated English is not a bad thing in itself, but it can make complex ideas moredifficult for less proficient readers to understand. This is particularly important to consider when we are writing up ourresearch, because we often need to express complex ideas and arguments clearly. Writing in a simple way lets us
distinguish between complexity of expression and complexity of meaning.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the ways to write simply but still with authority in your field.
It is easy to write simple things simply. It is a bit harder to write simple things in complicated ways, but there are many
courses that teach students how to do this. And, of course, most complex subjects will be written about in complicatedand complex ways. Why? Because it is very difficult to write about complex subjects simply.
There are, however, some writing strategies to make your writing simpler without sacrificing your ideas.
We discuss 5 writing strategies below. We’ll return with more strategies in later articles.

5 strategies for writing simply but authoritatively
1) Use simpler words and phrases2) Minimize the number of negatives in a sentence3) Write shorter sentences, but avoid choppiness
4) Use important key terms consistently5) Balance the use of simple and sophisticated language

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1. Use simpler words and phrases
It’s obvious that using simpler words while keeping the same sentence structure results in simpler writing. What’s not
obvious is that the more complicated words and phrases can sometimes mean something different than what they seemto mean.
The following table gives some examples. Each row of the table shows two words or phrases, one “high-level” and one“low-level”, that can be found in the academic literature and notes any differences in use or meaning.

High-level word/phrase

Low-level word/phrase

Utilize/utilization: To utilize a thing is to derive utility (orvalue) from it. The utilization of a vehicle is a measure of
how much value the vehicle provides, and how.

Use: To use a thing is to derive some use (or capability)from it. The use of a vehicle allows traveling to places thatmight otherwise be inaccessible.

Heretofore: Until the 1980s, “heretofore” was actuallymore common than “until now”, and “until” was 150 times
as common as “heretofore”.

Until now: One advantage of using “until now” is that it
becomes easier to create parallel structure by writing, forexample, “until 20 years ago…, until 5 years ago…, untilnow….”

A great number ofMany

Not only A but also B

A and B

2. Minimize the number of negatives in a sentence
Sometimes, we need to write about what is not possible. However, whenever a negative form (not, un-, im-) is used,
the reader must mentally “flip” the meaning of the statement as they read along. Although this is quite easy when only
one or perhaps two negatives are used, any more than this increases the cognitive load on the reader and makes thesentence more difficult to understand. Consider the following example.
A statistical test did not reject the null hypothesis, and so the hypothesis that students cannot perform as wellwhen they do not have less expensive sporting equipment was not supported.
The phrase “did not reject the null hypothesis” is a standard statistical phrase, but it is only the first of several negative
statements. In many cases, pairs of negative statements can cancel each other out to form a positive statement: “wasnot impossible” can become “was possible”, “stopped being impermeable” can become “became permeable”, and so on.
Eliminating negative phrases in this way improves clarity:
A statistical test did not reject the null hypothesis, and so it is unclear whether student performance is improvedby using more expensive sporting equipment.
The second part of the sentence now has only one negative phrase, making it easier to read without sacrificing
meaning.

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3. Write shorter sentences, but avoid choppiness
Shorter sentences are usually easier to read. However, when taken to extremes, writing shorter sentences leads to very
choppy writing. Ideally, the sentences used should be a mix of long and short. The best balance differs between fields,
but an interesting and novel idea written in short, simple sentences is more readable than the same idea written in longsentences. Err on the side of brevity.
Here are some examples of when shorter sentences are clearer.

Long sentence

Shorter sentences

We heated the sample to 100 °C, after which we kept it atthat temperature for 2 h and then cooled it for 1 h before
assessing crystallization.

We heated the sample to 100 °C and kept it at thattemperature for 2 h. We then cooled it for 1 h andassessed crystallization.

Because substitute teachers often work with students
without knowing what those students actually know
as they have not been teaching them throughout theyear, they are likely to be worse at assessing student
performance.

Substitute teachers often work with students without
knowing what those students actually know. This isbecause the substitute teachers do not teach the students
throughout the year. Because of this, they are likely to beworse at assessing student performance.

Compact cars and commercial delivery trucks are smaller
and larger than average-sized vehicles and therefore
require less and more resources, respectively.

Compact cars are smaller than average-sized vehicles
and therefore require less resources. In contrast,
commercial delivery trucks are larger than average andrequire more resources.

But, as we’ve said before, balance is key! Too many short sentences in succession creates choppiness in your writing
and can make the writing seem too simple.
As a rule of thumb, limit the number of new ideas in a sentence to one or two. Using two ideas in a sentence creates asense of rhythm and progression that can be lacking when using only one idea per sentence. One simple way to spot
areas that can be smoothed is to look for sentences that have the same grammatical subject.
Here are some examples of successive short sentences that can be improved by combining them.

Short sentenceLonger sentences

We heated the sample to 100 °C. We kept it at thattemperature for 2 h. We cooled it for 1 h. We assessed
crystallization.

We heated the sample to 100 °C and kept it at thattemperature for 2 h. We then cooled it for 1 h andassessed crystallization.

Substitute teachers often work with students they havenot been teaching throughout the year. Substituteteachers often do not know what the students know.
Substitute teachers are likely to be worse at assessing
student performance.

Substitute teachers often work with students without
knowing what those students actually know. This isbecause the substitute teachers do not teach the students
throughout the year. Because of this, they are likely to beworse at assessing student performance.

Compact cars are smaller than average-sized vehicles.
Commercial delivery trucks are larger than averagesized vehicles. Compact cars require less resources
than average-sized vehicles. Commercial delivery trucks
require more resources than average-sized vehicles.

Compact cars are smaller than average-sized vehicles
and therefore require less resources. In contrast,
commercial delivery trucks are larger than average andrequire more resources.

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4. Use key terms consistently
Generally, fluent speakers of a language have more words available to them, and they often know many different ways
to express the same idea. Especially in literary writing, such as in fiction, writers are encouraged to vary their prose byusing many close synonyms, instead of repeating the same word many times.
However, research papers should be written with the primary aim of conveying the content, rather than showing off
writing ability. Because the standard assumption in research papers is that technical terms will be used consistently, it
can create confusion when the same idea is referred to with inconsistent terminology.
For example, “solar cells” and “photovoltaic cells” have the same meaning, but if you switch between them, you may
unintentionally imply that they are different things. Especially when making a contrast—for example, “Increasing theefficiency of solar cells is an ongoing challenge. However, photovoltaic cells are a rapidly growing technology”—
probably the reader will assume you are making a distinction between the two terms.
To avoid possible confusion, choose one word or phrase for each of the key concepts of your paper and use that wordeach time, rather than cycling among synonyms.
If more than one word/phrase is commonly used in your field, you canspecify which one you are choosing where it first appears and list the otherparenthetically on the first mention. Writing “Increasing the efficiency ofsolar cells (also known as photovoltaic cells) is…” will clarify that you will beusing “solar cells” throughout, but also presents the alternative term clearly
to readers. It also has the added benefit of keeping the alternative term inyour paper for the purpose of text searches and web indexing.

By writing simply—focusing on
ideas first and language only
secondarily—authors at varying
levels of skill can produce strong,clear, coherent papers. Simple
writing can make the process ofwriting easier and improve thereadability of the paper.

5. Balance the use of simple and sophisticated language
A simple way to use some sophisticated language in your writing while also keeping your concepts and arguments easy
to understand is to use more complex connectors and transition words appropriate to your field. For example, “Because
X occurred…” can become “Given that X occurred...”Here, more “sophisticated” synonyms of connectors and transitions—but not of key technical terms—can be used inyour writing. The key to their effective use is balancing clarity with authority so that your specialist readers, with different
levels of English proficiency, can still understand your message quickly and clearly.
You can read more about this strategy in our article “How to write authoritatively in your field from the outset.”

Summary
Learning any language can be a daunting task. Even for native speakers, there is always more to learn. However, bywriting simply—focusing on ideas first and language only secondarily—authors at varying levels of skill can produce
strong, clear, coherent papers. Simple writing can make the process of writing easier and improve the readability of thepaper.
At ThinkSCIENCE we strive to make research writing as clear as possible when we edit or translate your manuscript,
without sacrificing your ideas or your authority as a specialist author. Because we know that some people enjoy
explanations of the changes made during editing, we offer our EditingPLUS service. With EditingPLUS, we explain thereasoning behind wording changes made, suggest ways you can improve your writing immediately, and give you thechance to ask specific questions about the editing.
If you have any comments or questions about the writing strategies we mention above, please contact us (in English orJapanese) and our specialist editors will get back to you.

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