By Dana P Skopal, PhD

Being back in the workplace (or back studying) often means writing lengthy documents. As a writer we understand our subject matter and may create lengthy descriptions of what we want to explain. The description is telling the reader about the ‘what’ – with descriptive words around a noun (nominal group).

However, if the ‘what’ or topic that you are writing about is not clear, your reader may not be able to understand your sentence/message. Our research showed that the length of the noun group (nominal group) describing the ‘what’ in each sentence was just as important as sentence length.

A reader wants to know ‘what’ you are talking about, so learn to check the length of the noun groups. Nouns generally describe the ‘what’, ‘who’ or ‘where’. In English, we can use dependent clauses to add more information, but some writers tend to add too much information.

An example of a noun group describing a ‘process’ is: auditing processes for verifying safety systems. The length is six words, which it what our researched showed was an appropriate length.

Here is a lengthy noun group describing ‘changes’: the changes in the intended land use by the property owner or local council area (15 words).

Ask yourself if the ‘what’ is easy to understand after one reading? Did you have to re-read this nominal group? Maybe make the action clearer by telling who can do ‘what’ (active voice): the property owner or local council can apply to change the land use.

When thinking about your reader, check the length of your noun groups – or check the length of your descriptions. Your reader wants to be able to understand the ‘what’ or sentence topic that you are writing about. Don’t hide your message in lengthy complex noun groups.

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