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Plain language

Clarity - campaigning for plain legal language

Plain English Campaign - this commercial venture offers some resources for free.

Plain Language Association International
There's a set of plain language resources, some rules for writing plain English, a links list of websites for writers and much else that's useful on this site.

Strunk & White - Elements of Style
Strunk & White's thesis is that good writing is plain writing: use the active voice, omit needless words, and all that. There's also a quick overview of elementary rules of usage that are frequently broken: 'do not join independent clauses by a comma' is one that I see violated daily on the Internet.

Some good advice on writing in general: The Economist Style Guide

An essay from Orwell on writing English.

Simplified English

Simplified English (SE) is widely used in the aircraft industry, for purposes such as manuals and maintenance. The intention with SE is to avoid ambiguity in language (for example, by limiting each word to one part of speech) and to keep syntax simple, thus helping non-native speakers of English. SE also helps the language translation process.

AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) simplified English website has more information, including the latest specification.

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