How to Achieve Clarity in Writing with Generative AI

Why clarity in writing matters for AI-powered content creation

Being clear and concise is vital for reader comprehension. Yet it’s arguably the most challenging aspect of writing. How do you compress complex ideas or instructions into a few simple sentences? Or how do you avoid confusing readers by writing in the passive voice? And nowadays, you have to add generative AI into the mix too. Meaning there’s even more content than ever that needs to prioritize clarity.

Everyone’s had a play with a generative AI tool. And although it’s quick to generate the content, it’s often long and convoluted — taking a lot of words to say very little. Unless your initial prompt is perfectly phrased, chances are you’ll have to trim down the generated copy and edit it for clarity.

Taking all of that into account, this blog sets out to do two things. Firstly, explain how to write with clarity. And secondly, show you how to use generative AI in a way that helps — instead of hinders — your ability to produce clear and concise writing.

How to write clearly: actionable steps

Clarity and conciseness go hand in hand when it comes to effective writing. 

Conciseness is the ratio of ideas to words. The fewer words you use to convey an idea, the more concise you are. Practically speaking, to be concise is always better. Getting to the point quickly saves time, and inevitably money too. If conciseness is the ratio of words to ideas, clarity is the degree to which your readers understand your words and ideas. 

For a business, writing with clarity has many benefits:

• Customer experience is better thanks to easy to understand writing.
• Translation and localization are easier and cheaper as source content is straightforward.
• The principles of plain language writing are more likely to be upheld as clear writing doesn’t assume all people have the same literacy levels, any prior knowledge on the topic, and makes information accessible to neurodiverse readers.

How do you do it? Well, start off by eliminating unnecessary words wherever and whenever possible. Learn to write using active sentences and avoid the passive voice. Get to the point and get there quickly. Prioritize using verbs instead of adjectives. And most importantly, don’t be afraid to be direct — your readers will thank you for it. After all, the more direct and to the point you are, the more time you’re saving them.

The next step is to think about how this translates into content guidelines for your company, so your writers know what writing with clarity means in action. 

1. Use short, simple words

Reader comprehension increases when using short words, as it maximizes the accessibility of your writing. Short words tend to be simple and direct, which makes the likelihood of a reader understanding your message much higher. But it’s vital not to sacrifice understanding at the altar of brevity. If a longer word is the right word don’t be afraid to use it — especially if it saves you from using three words instead of one.

2. Write short sentences

If you’re looking for a more concise style, use shorter sentences. No matter what you’re trying to communicate, you should be able to read a whole sentence out loud in a single breath. Why? Because ultimately you want your writing to be accessible and easy to understand — otherwise you’ll confuse your customers and cause them to have a negative experience.

Don’t just take our word for it. An American Press Institute report found a correlation between shorter sentences and improved reading comprehension. For sentences that were:

• 8 words or less, readers understood 100 percent of the information.
• 14 words long, readers understood 90 percent of the information.
• 43 words or longer, comprehension dropped to less than 10 percent.

It’s evident that shorter sentence length leads to increased comprehension, so consider enterprise content guidance that encourages writers to keep their sentences short and sweet.

3. Use active voice

We’ve already mentioned it in this blog, but it’s worth reiterating. Choosing the active voice over the passive voice makes the meaning of your writing clearer for readers. It also helps keep sentences from becoming too complicated, wordy, and long. In essence, an active voice removes ambiguity from your writing, meaning that your reader is never left feeling confused. 

4. Manage jargon thoughtfully

Jargon refers to specialized language used within a specific field. It can be used in two ways. Used badly it deceives, confuses, or even bamboozles the reader, leading to poor customer interactions. Conversely, used well it indicates belonging to a group and efficiently communicating ideas. It serves as a shortcut to convey information within a community in a concise way.

Either way, be mindful about using jargon as ultimately you’re gambling on whether or not your audience will understand what you’re saying. Terminology councils are a great way to manage what jargon you encourage the use of. You can create a list of accepted jargon terms that you think will help enhance audience understanding. And you can also blocklist any terms or words that might alienate readers. 

Translate guidelines into action with generative AI

AI-powered tools are revolutionizing how writers follow clarity guidelines, making producing high-quality, concise content easier. Here’s how to use AI to write effectively:

• Real-time feedback: Generative AI tools provide instant suggestions to refine your writing, such as shortening sentences, avoiding jargon, and using active voice.
• Content customization: AI can tailor its recommendations to align with your organization’s specific clarity standards, ensuring consistency across all content.
• Efficient editing: With a single click, generative AI can rewrite convoluted passages, making them clear and concise while maintaining the intended message.
• Consistency across teams: AI makes sure that writers across your organization follow the same content clarity guidelines, creating a unified brand voice.

Clarity in writing with generative AI tools

Defining your company’s writing guidelines—covering word length, sentence length, voice, and jargon—is just the first step. To truly enhance clarity, these guidelines must be seamlessly integrated into your content creation process, making them easily accessible to every writer across your organization.

Outlining a writing style guide in a PDF or email isn’t enough. This is where AI-powered content governance tools like Acrolinx come into play.

Imagine your guidelines embedded directly within your writers’ authoring environments. With tools like the Acrolinx Sidebar, writers receive real-time prompts, such as terminology suggestions or reminders to use active voice, ensuring they meet your clarity standards effortlessly.

Generative AI for content creation takes this a step further. If your writing needs refinement, the generative AI feature in Acrolinx can instantly rewrite content to align with your clarity guidelines. This one-click solution not only simplifies editing but also makes sure every piece of content is easy to understand—delivering a consistent, clear, and concise message.

Additionally, Acrolinx acts as a quality checkpoint for entirely AI-generated content. It evaluates your content against brand standards, flagging convoluted sentences, overused adjectives, or unclear language. This process ensures that only polished, reader-friendly writing represents your organization.

By leveraging generative AI for content creation, you empower teams across different locations to produce content with consistent terminology and a unified brand voice. The result? A streamlined content creation process, improved efficiency, and messaging that resonates with your audience.

Ready to transform the way you write? Let’s talk today to ensure your content meets the clarity standards your customers expect and deserve.