Writing Learning Moments for Regular Folks

Writing for Learning Moments
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Writing Learning Moments for The Common People “Regular Folks”

Yeap, the title kind of says it all. You can see from my strikethrough words in the title, that everything counts when we want to tell a story. You might think we’re creating technical information, however, we’re really telling stories. People relate to stories. Our job is to weave knowledge into stories that people will read.

You’re here reading this because you’re part of a great experiment. You’ve decided to write an article for Learning Moments that will provide literacy of knowledge for patients and family. Possible, there is no greater calling.

Writing is kind of like an art. It certainly has its own challenges. There are rules. Grammar, syntax, “style”, tone, using certain words, writing in 1^st person verse 3^rd person, etc. It’s enough to make most people throw up their hands and go looking for something less challenging, like nuclear physics.

Right here is where I need to tell you how important your contribution is. We just can’t get it done without you. It’s amazing how many of you already contribute to Learning Moments. We all can appreciate that what we deliver has to be 1^st class. Therein lays the dilemma. It means what you write will get examined and edited.

I know from my own perspective that when I write, I’m attached to my words and ideas. Most writers are and rightly so. After all, I spend a lot of time working on what I think are the perfect words and phrases. In other words, sometimes my feelings get bent when someone criticizes “suggests improvements to” my work.

The very most vital point in this piece is that everything you produce is important. We work as a team. It’s amazing when one of us produces something that Learning Moments can build on. No matter how the writing you produce ends up, it builds on the combined work of our entire team. Our self-esteem can be delicate. Therefore, I’m asking that each of us remembers that edits will happen. It’s part of producing 1^st class literacy content just as the certainty of the sun rising and setting each day 😊

Let's get into some tips for helping you deliver great writing, especially in terms of the Literacy Project.

Writing Tips

First off, Learning Moments is about delivering content that is easy to understand by patients and family. Did you know that more than 50% ¹ of patients don’t understand what a doctor tells them in doctor/patient consultations? Think about that for a second — That’s the challenge for us. We’re dealing with complex subjects. Success for us is measured by how many people can understand what we deliver.

Here are some key points to help you write the best you can to meet our goals.

Basics:

·       Medical and technical terms need references. This document demos that. A reference starts with a superscript number. That number links to a line number in the Reference area at the end of this piece. Reference sources must always come from a legitimate medical/science source.

·       Where possible, introduce a complex word or technical term with a simple equivalent and then use the simple term for the rest of the document

·       Avoid jargon, technical terms, use active language and try and write in 1^st person. Check out “Writing for Lay Audiences – A Challenge for Scientists ^1”

·       Keep sentences to no more than 12 – 14 words. Most writer resources websites recommend 24 to 27 words. I found if I try for 12 to 14, I stay less than 27. Remember, these are guidelines, not absolute rules 😊 One thing I’ve discovered over the years. Any rule for writing can and will be broken in the right circumstances.

·       Break up text with lots of paragraphs – This really helps the reader. Unconsciously, readers will feel intimidated when faced with many lines of unbroken text.

·       Most of the info we’re producing should be not more than 500 to 600 words. Consider breaking larger pieces into separate pieces. More articles with specific titles so the reader can find the information they need will usually work better.

·      What’s a lexicon? — It’s using the language your audience understands. For us, that’s probably around grade 6 to grade 8. Error on simpler if you have a choice. Check out “12 Tips for Scientists Writing For The General Public ^2”

·      Here are some other great links to web articles that give tips on writing:

o   Writing The Lay Summary — Basics ³

o   Top Tips for Writing A Lay Article ⁴

o   8 Incredibly Simple Ways to Get More People to Read Your Content ⁵

Formatting:

·         Most people use Microsoft Word or Pages, Apple. Use spell-check set to Canadian

·         Use a grammar checker – Grammarly ⁷ is probably the best. There is a free version

·       Set font to Arial, Helvetica, (Serif Fonts ⁶) or Times New Roman (San Serif Font ⁶) These three fonts are the most website friendly and most available fonts in the world. I use Arial as my default font.

·         Set font size to 12

·         No headers or footers. The final document, usually formatted for a web page will not use headers or footers

·     Use one space between the period at the end of a sentence and the beginning of the next sentence. Old typists who learned on a typewriter use two – The web’s standard is one. This was set in the very beginning of the internet when every additional character slowed down the download of web pages. Not so important anymore, but it is the new standard, especially for documents destined for web pages.

·         Don’t use colour

·       Use two soft carriage returns between paragraphs (Shift Key – Enter Key) rather than the traditional hard carriage return (Enter Key). This is very important because of the way Web Browsers interpret line spacing and how the browser will display your document to your readers.

Hard carriage returns only get used when creating a bullet or number list

Well, there you have it. A short set of tips to guide Learning Moment writings. Hopefully, it helps. Of course, this only touches on the subject. There is so much more, however, don’t be scared off. Writers write, pure and simple. Every piece makes them better. Enjoy the journey!

References:

1.Writing for Lay Audiences – A Challenge for Scientists
https://journal.emwa.org/writing-for-lay-audiences/writing-for-lay-audiences-a-challenge-for-scientists/article/2257/2047480615z2e000000000320.pdf

2. 12 Tips for Scientists Writing For The General Public
https://www.americanscientist.org/blog/from-the-staff/12-tips-for-scientists-writing-for-the-general-public

3. Writing The Lay Summary — Basics
https://cimvhr.ca/forum/resources/WritingTheLaySummaryBasics.pdf

4. Top Tips for Writing A Lay Article
https://acmedsci.ac.uk/more/news/10-tips-for-writing-a-lay-summary

5. 8 Incredibly Simple Ways to Get More People to Read Your Content
https://copyblogger.com/scannable-content/

6. Serif Verses San Serif Fonts
https://www.canva.com/learn/serif-vs-sans-serif-fonts/

7. Grammarly
https://www.grammarly.com/

Author: Ron Merk – Ron is a family member with lived experience. He advocates for family and people with substance and mental illness. He also a writer and the editor of Learning Moments.

You can submit articles for Learning Moments by sending them to: albernihelp@gmail.com 

Learning Moments is an initiative of the Port Alberni Community Action Team. We send out “Learning Moment” articles regularly to help folks understand substance illness. Knowledge is vital in understanding the illness of our family members. You may copy, distribute or share our articles as long as you retain the attribution. You can be added to our distribution list by dropping us a note at: albernihelp@gmail.com