Via Grammar Girl

“I believe we may need civic clarity more deeply than we have in my lifetime. Civic clarity means not just gathering facts, checking out facts, making facts available to the public. It requires taking responsibility for what readers and viewers and listeners know and understand about the world.”

— Why Writing with ‘Civic Clarity’ Is So Important, with Roy Peter Clark (2020), at 5:03

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Roy Peter Clark, a veteran writing coach, argues that journalists and public officials must ensure facts are accessible to the public, especially during crisis. He frames this as a profound duty: “[It] requires taking responsibility for what readers and viewers and listeners know and understand about the world.”

Clarity requires deliberate technique. Complex or critical information—pandemic data, policy changes, public health guidance—need shorter sentences and clear structure to land with impact.

• Use short sentences for complex truths. Brief, direct sentences cut through difficulty and deliver hard facts without distraction. From the pandemic: “Even the dead have to wait.”
• Treat periods as stop signs. Full stops slow the reader down through complicated concepts. A measured pace prevents the audience from rushing past crucial details: “You’ve heard about flattening the curve. Here’s how it works.”
• Maximize emphatic word order. Place the most important word or phrase at the end of the sentence or paragraph. Key terms next to the white space of a period hit harder. Shakespeare knew this: “The queen, my lord, is dead”—not “The queen is dead, my lord.”
• Treat headlines as the full story. Many readers never go beyond the headline or Tweet. These short forms are often the only chance to communicate the essential truth.

Clarity in civic matters is an ethical act. Roy Peter Clark urges journalists, public officials, and writers to strip away everything that doesn’t support the central focus. Tell the truth in a way that people can understand.