Jim Katen Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 For the record, I never advocated using the passive voice. Just the opposite, in fact. But I think we are doing our clients a disservice if we deliberately use a small word which imprecisely describes something when a better one exists. Even if it has another syllable. I agree. But in many cases, maybe even most cases, the smaller word is the better one. From what I've seen in most home inspection reports, inspectors tend to choose their words poorly because they're trying to appear "professional" and they could benefit from making a conscious effort to use simpler words. Maybe it's just me, but being clear (as it applies to an entire report) entails more than simply using simple words. It means adequately describing a problem so that it can be understood by ALL those who need to, and dealt with properly. Sometimes the person who needs to understand exactly what the problem is isn't the buyer; it's the contractor there to give an estimate or perform the repair. In those cases the buyer needs only to understand that there is a problem with whatever system or component. Sometimes doing that accurately requires using words that the average client doesn't know. Agreed. Particularly with electrical issues. However, there's no reason why you can't strive for simpler and clearer language that everyone can understand. Do you want your doctor to simply tell you that you have cooties and thrust a prescription at you, or would you prefer an accurate diagnosis even if it means that you have to ask what an unfamiliar word means? You're talking about jargon. There's no avoiding technical terms when they're needed. It's easy enough to define them when you need to use them. I'm talking about the everyday sentences in our reports. Crap like this: "Environmental conditions during the inspection were unfavorable." (The inspector was very proud of the sentence and thought it was *very* professional. When I asked him what he meant, he said, "It was raining.") "Vegetation is in contact with the exterior cladding surface of the residence." (Branches touch the siding.) "Evidence of water penetration was observed at the dining room window" (The window leaked.) (And, by the way, the dining room had 4 windows. All those syllables and he couldn't manage to convey which window was leaking.) I'll admit that I didn't run any of my report writing through the magic website earlier. But I just did, and it came back as 10.84. I'm not sure that means anything relevant since I think the methodology is decidedly goofy. It doesn't mean anything if you don't want it to. But it might be interesting to run some paragraphs through, tweak them, and run them again - not with the goal of making silly sounding sentences that get low scores, but with the goal of streamlining your writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kibbel Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 If anyone here wants to improve their report writing (and it doesn't matter how well you THINK you already write), listen to anything Jim K. shares on the topic. It's one of the top reasons TIJ is such a valuable resource for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 It's a free resource. If you guys have never looked at it, we've got a whole topic area dedicated to free stuff you can find on the web to help improve yourselves or your business. Check it out! The nice thing about this is that Jimmy took the time to post a free link to a tool that he thought some of you would appreciate. I don't think he expected everyone to want to use it but he probably thought that some folks wouild appreciate it and some could use it. So, check it out and use it if you think it will help you do what you do better and if not, don't. Nobody here is twisting your arm and nobody is judging you; so, if you don't/won't use it, why spend a lot of time arguing here about why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 Agreed. HI's have a knee jerk push off reaction to anything that might be construed as a critique of their writing (or really, just about anything). I mean, has anyone ever taken a writing class, or any creative class wherein folks get together and critique each other's work? It's just a little tool offering a viewpoint. It's not telling you what to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 Kenney, you're quite skilled in the use of English and everyone has their own values but after 2 years on this forum, I still hunt down any posts by Jim K, and a few others. I always avoid Les. Your posts are good too but I gotta work at it to understand them sometimes. I don't mind doing that on this forum, but if I were paying someone to write something I'd want it written in a way that doesn't put me to work and you well know that Jim's content isn't the least dulled or compromised by his simple style. Simple can do the job. But there again, each to his own. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erby Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 There will always be those who: Write simple, easy to understand, declarative sentences Use big words because they think the words make them sound smart Who can't use big or simple words in the manner intended. Who still hand write their reports on yellow legal tablets. Ad Infinitum Fortunately, we each get to choose which we are and we can change, when we want to. Differences exist for a reason. Market them. It pays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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