John Locke once said that knowing who your target audience is and writing what they want is the most important aspect of successful writing. At SimpleTense, your primary audience is the client and ST admins, but you must also recognize that professors and assistants will review and grade. ST clients are Chinese international students, with varying levels of English competencies and ST admins are responsible for quality assurance.

Success on the platform comes from refining your skills and adhering to expectations. We encourage you to claim and earn, but also expect writers to meet ST standards. One of the most important ways to find success, limit revisions and keep clients and ST admins happy, is to learn how to write in plain English.

Plain English is clear, straightforward communication that avoids obscurity, inflated vocabulary, and convoluted sentence construction. It is a reader-centered writing style that is easy-to-follow.

Some of the most important plain English strategies are as follows:

• Make defensible claims and stick to your topic
• State your major points first
• Use clear topic sentences to start each paragraph
• Limit each paragraph to one main idea
• Use clear subjects without complex modifiers
• Keep subjects and active verbs close together in sentences
• Write in active voice and use passive voice sparingly
• Use everyday vocabulary and explain technical terms
• Omit all unnecessary words
• Avoid phrasal verbs, idioms, and colloquialisms
• Do not assume conceptual understanding or cultural knowledge
• Explain abstract concepts using examples

Good writing lends to effortless reading. It is concise, organized, logical and exhibits clear thinking. You need to communicate your expertise to clients in language that they understand, showing strong academic ability and coherent writing.