{"id":6005,"date":"2013-07-23T09:35:11","date_gmt":"2013-07-22T23:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordconstructions.com.au\/blog\/?p=6005"},"modified":"2016-02-23T16:19:25","modified_gmt":"2016-02-23T05:19:25","slug":"context-clear-messages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wordconstructions.com.au\/blog\/2013\/07\/context-clear-messages\/","title":{"rendered":"Without context, messages get lost"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an article about Australian Standards\u00a0on what I thought a national-focus site, \u00a0the following section stood out…<\/p>\n

The retrofitting of automatic sprinkler systems became a mandatory requirement for existing aged care facilities in January 2013. Similar requirements also exist in Victoria and Queensland.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Fire<\/a>

Does a national law only cover one state?<\/p><\/div>\n

So two states have similar laws to the national laws? Why are the national laws not, well, national?<\/p>\n

Or is the author just assuming everyone knows he is writing about a particular state because it is so important and somehow obvious?<\/p>\n

Or was something edited out that made it clearer\u00a0in the draft?<\/p>\n

Fire safety<\/a> is important – but so is clarity so people understand your message<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Clarify your context…<\/h2>\n

When proof reading and editing<\/a>, always make sure you read\u00a0your writing from start to finish to check the correct context is in place.<\/p>\n

A better way to write the above sentence (and I’m guessing which state is the assumed one!) would be…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In January 2013, the retrofitting of automatic sprinkler systems became a mandatory requirement for existing aged care facilities in Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland.<\/em><\/p>\n

I think it would also be nice to add another sentence along the lines of “The other states are reviewing their laws” or “Currently the other states have this as a voluntary measure”. I prefer to get the whole picture, but that could just be me!<\/p>\n

If you want to avoid similar errors, let me know\u00a0– I offer proof-reading<\/a> and editing services as well as writing \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an article about Australian Standards\u00a0on what I thought a national-focus site, \u00a0the following section stood out… The retrofitting of automatic sprinkler systems became a mandatory requirement for existing aged care facilities in January 2013. Similar requirements also exist in Victoria and Queensland. So two states have similar laws to the national laws? Why are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,53],"tags":[449,647,1654,1653],"class_list":["post-6005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bad-writing-examples","category-business-info-tools","tag-context","tag-name","tag-national","tag-state"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t