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The classes I took gave us this sort of checklist for a birth plan. So instead of writing one out (paragraphs, etc), I had a laminated sheet with preferences to check off.
For example, I checked off "Would like to move around as much as possible" and "Would like to labour in water if possible". That way, it was easy for my doula and midwives to glance at the sheet, rather than reading through the whole thing.

@LovelyPlum: I hope my birth experience doesn't give you pause or make you afraid in any way - it was a TOTAL anomaly! What I will say is that my birth plan gave me a lot of comfort. It was like "Ok, X, Y, and Z went awry... but they're still doing all they can according to what we feel is best for our baby." My nurses absolutely rocked at making my postpartum experience feel redemptive.

Although the hospital staff looked at my birth plan in reality it could have been summed up as "unmedicated birth with doula" or "she brought a doula (eyeroll)" The hospital staff correctly gleaned all of my preferences from that.

I'll admit I didn't read all the responses, so if someone said this already I'm sorry.

I didn't write up my own birth plan. Our hospital gave us a check list, and we just checked/circled what we wanted at like our 30 week apointment and it was filed away in our file for when we were in labor. I saw it being pulled out when I was in labor. I thought that system was pretty good.