diff --git a/include/flamegpu/io/JSONRunPlanReader.h b/include/flamegpu/io/JSONRunPlanReader.h
index f19b76560..efd6aa45f 100644
--- a/include/flamegpu/io/JSONRunPlanReader.h
+++ b/include/flamegpu/io/JSONRunPlanReader.h
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ class JSONRunPlanReader {
     * @param input_filepath Path on disk to read the file from
     * @param model The model used to initialise the RunPlanVector
     */
-    static RunPlanVector load(const std::string &input_filepath, const ModelDescription& model);
+    static RunPlanVector load(const std::string &input_filepath, const ModelDescription &model);
 };
 }  // namespace io
 }  // namespace flamegpu
diff --git a/include/flamegpu/io/JSONRunPlanWriter.h b/include/flamegpu/io/JSONRunPlanWriter.h
index 0328b81ff..ce6a488f0 100644
--- a/include/flamegpu/io/JSONRunPlanWriter.h
+++ b/include/flamegpu/io/JSONRunPlanWriter.h
@@ -12,21 +12,29 @@ namespace io {
  * JSON format writer of RunPlanVector
  */
 class JSONRunPlanWriter {
+    /**
+     * Utility method for writing out the outer structure of a RunPlanVector
+     * @param writer An initialised RapidJSON writer.
+     * @param rpv RunPlanVector to be written
+     * @tparam T Should be rapidjson::Writer or rapidjson::PrettyWriter (one does not inherit the other)
+     */
+    template <typename T>
+    static void writeCommon(std::unique_ptr<T> &writer, const RunPlanVector &rpv);
     /**
      * Utility method for writing out a single RunPlan
      * @param writer An initialised RapidJSON writer.
      * @param rp RunPlan to be writer
-     * @tparam T Should be rapidjson::Writer
+     * @tparam T Should be rapidjson::Writer or rapidjson::PrettyWriter (one does not inherit the other)
      */
     template <typename T>
-    static void writeRunPlan(std::unique_ptr<T>& writer, const RunPlan& rp);
+    static void writeRunPlan(std::unique_ptr<T> &writer, const RunPlan &rp);
 
  public:
     /**
     * Exports the provided RunPlanVector in JSON format to the specified output_filepath
     * @param rpv The RunPlanVector to be exported
     * @param output_filepath Location on disk to export the file
-    * @param pretty Whether the exported JSON is "prettified" or "minified"
+    * @param pretty Whether the exported JSON is "prettified" (true) or "minified" (false), defaults true.
     */
     static void save(const RunPlanVector &rpv, const std::string &output_filepath, bool pretty = true);
 };
diff --git a/src/flamegpu/io/JSONRunPlanWriter.cpp b/src/flamegpu/io/JSONRunPlanWriter.cpp
index 50af12c16..3a42cb670 100644
--- a/src/flamegpu/io/JSONRunPlanWriter.cpp
+++ b/src/flamegpu/io/JSONRunPlanWriter.cpp
@@ -8,40 +8,22 @@
 
 namespace flamegpu {
 namespace io {
-
 // Typedef for the writer used, as the full template specification is way too long
 typedef rapidjson::Writer<rapidjson::StringBuffer, rapidjson::UTF8<>, rapidjson::UTF8<>, rapidjson::CrtAllocator, rapidjson::kWriteNanAndInfFlag> GenericJSONWriter;
+typedef rapidjson::PrettyWriter<rapidjson::StringBuffer, rapidjson::UTF8<>, rapidjson::UTF8<>, rapidjson::CrtAllocator, rapidjson::kWriteNanAndInfFlag> PrettyJSONWriter;
 
-void JSONRunPlanWriter::save(const RunPlanVector& rpv, const std::string& output_filepath, const bool pretty_print) {
-    // Init writer
-    auto buffer = rapidjson::StringBuffer();
-    std::unique_ptr<GenericJSONWriter> writer;
-    if (pretty_print) {
-        auto t_writer = std::make_unique<rapidjson::PrettyWriter<rapidjson::StringBuffer, rapidjson::UTF8<>, rapidjson::UTF8<>, rapidjson::CrtAllocator, rapidjson::kWriteNanAndInfFlag>>(buffer);
-        t_writer->SetIndent('\t', 1);
-        writer = std::move(t_writer);
-    } else {
-        writer = std::make_unique<rapidjson::Writer<rapidjson::StringBuffer, rapidjson::UTF8<>, rapidjson::UTF8<>, rapidjson::CrtAllocator, rapidjson::kWriteNanAndInfFlag>>(buffer);
-    }
+template <typename T>
+void JSONRunPlanWriter::writeCommon(std::unique_ptr<T> &writer, const RunPlanVector &rpv) {
     writer->StartObject();
     writer->Key("RunPlanVector");
     writer->StartArray();
     // Write out RunPlan records
-    for (const auto &rp : rpv) {
+    for (const auto& rp : rpv) {
         writeRunPlan(writer, rp);
     }
     // Finalise and dump to file
     writer->EndArray();
     writer->EndObject();
-    std::ofstream out(output_filepath, std::ofstream::trunc);
-    if (!out.is_open()) {
-        THROW exception::InvalidFilePath("Unable to open '%s' for writing, in JSONRunPlanWriter::save().", output_filepath.c_str());
-    }
-    out << buffer.GetString();
-    out.close();
-    // Cleanup (redundant in a static method)
-    writer.reset();
-    buffer.Clear();
 }
 
 template <typename T>
@@ -104,6 +86,25 @@ void JSONRunPlanWriter::writeRunPlan(std::unique_ptr<T> &writer, const RunPlan &
     writer->EndObject();
     writer->EndObject();
 }
-template void JSONRunPlanWriter::writeRunPlan(std::unique_ptr<GenericJSONWriter>& writer, const RunPlan& rp);
+void JSONRunPlanWriter::save(const RunPlanVector &rpv, const std::string &output_filepath, const bool pretty_print) {
+    // Init writer
+    auto buffer = rapidjson::StringBuffer();
+    if (pretty_print) {
+        std::unique_ptr<PrettyJSONWriter> writer = std::make_unique<PrettyJSONWriter>(buffer);
+        writer->SetIndent('\t', 1);
+        writeCommon(writer, rpv);
+    } else {
+        std::unique_ptr<GenericJSONWriter> writer = std::make_unique<GenericJSONWriter>(buffer);
+        writeCommon(writer, rpv);
+    }
+    std::ofstream out(output_filepath, std::ofstream::trunc);
+    if (!out.is_open()) {
+        THROW exception::InvalidFilePath("Unable to open '%s' for writing, in JSONRunPlanWriter::save().", output_filepath.c_str());
+    }
+    out << buffer.GetString();
+    // Redundant cleanup
+    out.close();
+    buffer.Clear();
+}
 }  // namespace io
 }  // namespace flamegpu