Writing effective interpretation

Writing interpretive text is a skill that requires thought and practice. The best text tells a story and uses a range of creative techniques to bring a site or object to life.

In general, a 'reading age' of 9-12 is a good level at which to write interpretive text. This does not mean that all your visitors are 9-12 years old - it's simply a standardised term for reading level. The reading age of tabloid newspapers is around 9-12. Their writing uses very few technical or scientific terms, and is easily understood by the great majority of older children and adults.  

One of the key things that differentiates interpretation from visitor information is that the text relates to the audience. There are a number of writing techniques that will help your text relate to your audience:

Writing techniques to consider...

1. Address the reader in the first person

This mean referring to them as 'you', for example: 'You can see the lichen clinging to the trees, taking in water and nutrients from the air'.

2. Use active rather than passive verbs

This makes the text sound more natural and lively. For example, 'we manage' is far better than 'this site is managed by'

3. Use metaphors, analogies and comparisons

These help people relate what you're telling them to something else they know about. For example: 'Loch Ness is so deep it could fit in 100 Nelson's Columns, one on top of the other' and 'Jays are a bit like us. When we're hungry, we pop to the fridge for some food we bought earlier. When Jays are hungry, they dig up an acorn they buried earlier'.

4. Use humour

Humour can be a very effective way of relating to and engaging your audience, but be careful: not everyone finds the same thing funny. Use humour, but with care. 

5. Ask questions and engage your audience's imagination

Your text can ask specific questions and get your audience to imagine things. For example: 'What famous drink comes from this innocent looking bush?' and 'Can you imagine living here during the Clearances when your whole village was thrown off its land?'

6. Use first person narrative

It can be very effective to adopt a character to narrate your story. This means your interpretive text is written in the first person. 

7. Write in short sentences and paragraphs

Long sentences and paragraphs that go on and on are so off putting that most people won't even bother to begin reading them or will be so bored halfway through they will find something more interesting to do instead. Keep it short and simple!

8. Avoid jargon and technical terms

Jargon and technical terms will confuse or alienate the reader. Please use plain English. Pictures are often far better at communicating than words. For example, how would you describe an ammonite? Well, it's a fossil cephalopod of the order Ammonidea with a flat spiral shell! Don't be silly! It's far better to draw one.

9. Only use one idea per sentence.

If you have two ideas, use two sentences. Vary the length of a sentence for better rhythm. Read your sentence and if you're in doubt, punctuate it. When you're happy with your punctuation, don't use more.

10. Look out for potentially loaded words.

These show bias and can make the reader take a contrary stance on principle. For example, 'people' and 'we' is far better than 'man', 'woman', 'him' or 'her'. Remember clichés make people switch off.

11. Rewrite, edit ruthlessly and rewrite again.

Always end up with fewer words than you started with.

12. Always keep your audience in mind.

Write in simple and clear conversational language. Above all don't just communicate facts and figures - let your writing tell a story.