This document provides guidance on writing concise yet impactful text for interpretive signs and exhibits. It discusses choosing the right words, crafting short summaries, using active verbs and varying sentence structures. Guidelines recommend considering the audience and location, balancing key details with brevity, and testing text before installation. Poetry and wordplay are presented as ways to engage viewers through memorable language.

1. Words that sing and dance

4. We are craftspeople, meeting the
needs of our clients

6. … a picture is often worth
a thousand words

7. but … words can often
conjure up a thousand pictures

8. long words
short words
boring words
lively words
ugly words
pretty words
rude words
good words
my words
your words
many words
few words

9. But they must be the right ones

10. And that’s the challenge

11. The choice of words
is crucial

12. Words make patterns
in front of you

13. You can hear them
talking to you

14. They go round and
round in your head

15. They make patterns on
your mind and memory

16. You need to create a
little piece of drama…

17. …to provoke a reaction
accuracy essence mystery revelation
challenge focus narrative rhyme
clarity gravity personality rhythm
connectivity humour poetry sense-of-place
contemplation imagination probity sensitivity
creativity inspiration prose serendipity
economy integrity reflection simplicity
emotion language(s) repetition storytelling
empathy metaphor resonance whimsy

18. What is QuiteWrite?
Poetry and prose for
people at places

19. Speak with a local accent
Use the economy of words in poetry
Maintain the same discipline in text

20. An exhibition panel using 100 words

21. ?
A wayside sign using 40 words

22. A museum panel using 25 words

23. A ‘for sale’ panel using just one word

24. Nature reserve – words by Sorley MacLean

25. Park bench – words by Tom Clark

26. Handrail on a Highland bridge
Watching •
timewatching • waterwatching •
timewatching • rockwatching •
timewatching • icewatching •
timewatching • firewatching •
timewatching • lifewatching •
lifetime • watching • time
Michael Hamish Glen

27. Handrail on a Highland bridge
River • river walk • river talk •
river rush • river hush •
river sing • river ring •
river spate • river fate •
river prance • river dance •
river call • river fall •
river fun • river run •
river splash • river dash •
river slow • river flow •
river • forever
Michael Hamish Glen

28. Five panels at waterfalls
Michael Hamish Glen

29. Five panels at waterfalls
Toiling rivers turn mighty engines
Nerth afonydd yn troi peiriannau mawr
Captured currents grind daily bread
Ffrydiau caeth yn malu bara beunyddiol
Sudden torrents drown tumbling steps
Llifiannau sydyn yn boddi grisiau serth
Searching waters carve dark secrets
Dyfroedd chwilgar yn cerfio tywyllwch cêl
Seeping streams reach thirsty roots
Nentydd yn treiddio i wreiddiau sychion
Michael Hamish Glen

30. Six handrails on a new bridge
Languid Leven loch, lowered for working water
Snaking Leven river, replaced by working water
Sluice-curbed Leven cut, carved out for working water
Sturdy Leven bridge, braced over working water
Thirsty Leven mills, maintained by working water
Fertile Leven lands, left free from working water
Michael Hamish Glen

31. Twenty-five benches on a loch-side walk
The tumbles of lapwings and the gobbling of geese
echo the spirals of skylarks and the squabbling of ducks
Chimney stacks, linen flax, corn mills, whisky stills
snuff mills, paper mills, bleach fields, profit yields
Ducks dabble, geese gather, swans swoop,
ducks dive, geese gobble, swans swank
Michael Hamish Glen

32. Three stone seats on a loch-side walk
The fisherman’s friend is the flirty fly,
fickle food for fleeting fish
Sneaking snails, battling beetles,
dashing dragons, dancing damsels
Ablow yon auld an scrievit stanes
lirk Kinross toun’s respeckit banes
Michael Hamish Glen

33. Twelve ‘events’ in a forest
The tumbling of waters is the teeming of life
The felling of the timber is the making of the home
The face of the city is the heart of the mountain
The calling of the cuckoo is the other side of Spring
The harvest of the spruce is the start of letters home
Michael Hamish Glen

34. Twenty ‘Signal posts’ on a forest walk
Timber
cut by stone and untold energy,
to smelt a life of new horizons
from a fire-mouthed cave, and
axed by wintering traders,
once Norse invaders, hauled high
on a repairing shore.
Michael Hamish Glen

35. Strapline for a Welsh valley
Yr Avon Ystwyth
Cwm yr afon ystwyth sy’n syrthio tros graig,
heibio goedwig, trwy pentref a diwydiant coll, ar
draws rhyd, tan pont, i lawr ceunant o’r hafod ger
y bwa
Or, in abbreviated form:
Cwmafonystwythsy’nsyrthiotrosgraigheibio-
goedwig-pentrefdiwydiantcollrhydpont-
ceunanto’rhafodgerybwa
Michael Hamish Glen

36. Strapline for a Welsh valley
The Ystwyth Valley
The valley of the agile river that tumbles over
rock, past woodland, village and lost industry,
across the ford, under the bridge and down the
ravine from the upland farm near the arch
Or, in abbreviated form:
Thevalleyoftheagileriverthattumblesoverrock-
pastwoodlandvillagelostindustryfordbridge-
ravinefromtheuplandfarmnearthearch
Michael Hamish Glen

37. Prisoner’s poem for an Irish gaol
John Graham, Irish prisoner
There are many tales out of New South Wales
but there’s none so strange as now,
When you hear of John who was on the run;
just wait till I tell you how.
He stole some hemp, so was not exemp’
from a ship to Bot’ny Bay,
Just as any lad, he was not all bad
but the law got in his way.
Michael Hamish Glen

38. Forty verses for a canal interpretive map
I’m Vera Vole, I live in a hole,
Deep in the bank – I like it quite dank.
Rushes are good, we eat them for food
Then hide in the grass to let danger pass.
I’m Theo Dolite, I must get it right.
Choosing a route that’s going to suit
Owners of land and that merry band
Of boatmen at large, each one with a barge.
Michael Hamish Glen

39. Ten panels overlooking a sea loch
Ròn : Seal
Glistening seals
haul their awkward
sleekness from the easy
seas and then dream,
flippers high, of
fish suppers
Michael Hamish Glen

40. A few guidelines

41. Ten questions to consider
1 Why am I writing this text?
2 Is there an interpretive plan?
3 Where does this text fit into the plan?
4 Who is the primary audience?
5 Do I have to think of other audiences?
6 Where will the text be located?
7 Will the text relate to objects, places, ideas, events?
8 Who will approve the text?
9 Will the text be tested before use?
10 Will it be in more than one language?

42. Ten more questions
1 Will there be photographs, illustrations or maps?
2 How long or short should the text be?
3 What is the principal story?
4 Are there subsidiary stories to tell?
5 Is the basic information available?
6 Must the text be in conventional prose?
7 May I choose the style of language?
8 May I use poetry or contemplative text?
9 May I use humour?
10 May I ask questions or just give answers?

43. Ten rules
1 Create eye-catching – but accurate – headings
2 Use a hierarchy of text content (and size)
3 Start with a summary of key content
4 Use simple words and correct grammar
5 Use first / second person and write as you speak
6 Use concise sentences but vary them in length
7 Use active verbs unless the sense dictates otherwise
8 Insert cross-headings to break up the text
9 Remember who will read your text, and their age
10 Don’t describe what is illustrated

44. Another ten rules
1 Avoid lots of dates and unnecessary details
2 Avoid capitals, semi-colons; and exclamation marks!
3 Avoid Latin and other abbreviations
4 Explain technical terms where necessary
5 Provide contexts, comparisons and relationships
6 Consider using quotations and questions
7 Consider using local and / or dialect words
8 Consider using bullet points ()
9 Consider using the Ekarv Method
10 Remember designers can help with good layout

45. The Ekarv Method
1 Use simple language to express complex ideas
2 Write in short sentences
3 Use the word order of normal speech
4 Include one main idea only on each line
5 End lines at the natural end of phrases
6 Restrict lines to about 45 letters
7 Always align text to the left
8 Break text into paragraphs of four or five lines
9 Read your text aloud and note the natural pauses
10 Adjust wording and punctuation to reflect speech

46. Sourcing
Accuracy
Balance
Speed
Significance
25 words
Granny-friendly
Journalists’ rules

47. Sourcing
Accuracy
Balance
Clarity
Significance
50 words
Visitor-friendly
Interpreters’ rules

48. Michael’s rules
Make it short and simple
Make people want to read it
Make it fun to read
Make the words sing and dance
Make it memorable

49. My mentor: Ian Hamilton Finlay
Author of the one-word poem

50. CURFEW
Curlew

51. Maurilio’s challenge
Why are shadows always black?
Write a response – in 25 words –
that will satisfy children.

52. Darwin’s challenge
Why are flamingos always pink?
Write a response – in 50 words –
that will amuse families.

53. Rodin’s challenge
What is he thinking about?
Write a response – in 15 words –
that will make people think.

54. That’s all folks!
Prrr!
Miaow!
Happy writing!