ACES 2015

Government writers tend to be serious, data-driven folk. Their first allegiance is to facts and their reports are often written from well down in the weeds. When multiple authors contribute to one report, the result can be a tangled, overgrown mess. An editor's task is to shed light on the important ground they cover, and LUCIA (Learning, Understanding, Clarifying, Illustrating and Amending) can help. Get tips for learning enough about a topic to understand its highlights, knowing which questions to ask for clarification, illustrating government work in interesting ways, and finally editing and amending drafts into something readers — including legislators, lay people and reporters — can understand.