CAG's Advice on Good Writing - Style Guide 2013
CAG does things other than finding fault with departments of the Government - it has released a Style Guide 2013 developed mainly in the context of the English language used in the Audit Reports. However, these are equally relevant to other official reports and communications in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, including the Inspection Reports.
The Style Guide consists of advice on good writing, guidance on drafting, list of conventions, common errors and care in use of words and phrases. The provisions in the Style Guide are aimed at securing corporate consistency in the reports and at obviating the need for repeated redrafting, quite often guided by the individual styles.
General advice on good writing :
1. Clear writing depends on clear thinking. To draft well a writer must know just what meaning he wishes to convey.
2. You can usually say what you want in short everyday words. This is especially important if you are writing about a complex subject. Readers will need all their attention to grasp what they are being told. They don't want to spend time grappling with obscure language as well.
3. Never use a long word when a short word will do; if it is possible to cut out a word, always cut it out;
4. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of a straightforward English equivalent. Use the language of everyday speech, not that of accountants, computer experts, bureaucrats and lawyers;
5. Avoid a desire to impress. Your job is to help readers understand you readily and precisely and not to show them how clever you are;
6. Do your best to be lucid. Simple sentences and short paragraphs help to break down slabs of text into manageable chunks. Avoid complicated constructions and gimmicks.
7. For writers, long sentences are difficult to construct well. The longer they get the more risk there is of ideas becoming confused. For readers, long sentences are hard work.
The Style Guide contains chapters on Drafting reports, The IA&AD style of report writing, IA&AD conventions, A to Z of common errors and weaknesses, Words and phrases to be used with care, Correct spellings of words that are commonly mis-spelt, ‘Official words' and alternatives worth considering, and many tips on good writing.
What I liked best were:
Write 'officer concerned'/'department concerned' instead of 'concerned officer' 'concerned department'.
Disinterested - Means impartial and not uninterested. 'Uninterested' means unconcerned or indifferent.
Does it mean the concerned officers of CAG will remain uninterested while reporting objections?
Perhaps the Revenue Department should also publish such a guide for its officers.