Then I suggest that to further build on the success of plain language, we need to help key decision-makers in business and government to see plain language in a new light.

Although my plain language experience has largely been with legal and related documents, the themes in this paper apply equally to all documents used in business, in government, and for consumers.

2. Making a living: supporting the cause

I’m not suggesting there’s anything wrong with people making a living out of plain language: quite the contrary. Indeed, my plain-language activities have been feeding my family these last 10 years. I’m not alone:

• there are people teaching plain-language legal writing in law schools;

• there are people rewriting documents for paying clients; and

• there are people working in, or as consultants to, law firms, businesses, and government bodies to help those organizations develop plain-language precedents, documents, and skills, and to develop cultures that value and deliver clear communication.⁵

Many of these people are passionate about their work. That most of them believe in, and are motivated by, the cause is made clear in the discussion on PLAIN's Plain Language list service.⁶ Many of the contributors to that list seem to work in the plain-language field, and their discussions are often about pushing the cause, about winning converts, about spreading the word.

This passion for the cause is also shown in the articles in the legal journal Clarity which regularly present the social and economic benefits of plain language. By the way, the organization Clarity describes itself as "A movement to simplify legal language".⁷ There's that word "movement" again.