Richard Lanham’s Official Writing Style

Richard Lanham, a well-known scholar and professor of writing, gave his name to the style of writing found in many formal documents, such as those used in the government, military, legal, financial, and other similar fields. He calls it “The Official Style,” a way of writing based on “the dominance of nouns and the atrophy of verbs.”

What writing style do you often use? If you’ve ever read lab reports, military documents, or financial forecasts, you’ll probably notice one thing: They’re ridiculously hard to understand. Marked by an adherence to strict grammar (probably with the help of formal writing software) and colorless prose, they’re not only unforgivably dull, but also hard to read. Actually, that’s all part of the charm, as they’ve been intentionally forged that way.

Especially prevalent in bureaucratic structures, The Official Style is necessary to a certain extent. What situations justify them?

• When you intentionally want to obfuscate a message. Read the speeches of politicians and you’ll find their evasive statements buried under The Official Style of Writing.
• When you want to sound impersonal and impartial.
• When you want to sound professional. For some reason, people identify this baloney as professional, mostly a conditioned response, since so much of our laws and procedures are written this way.
• When you want to sound smart. Once again, everything is perception. Because lawyers, bankers, and high-ranking officials have traditionally written this way, people assume you have a worthy title when you write this way.