Archive for the ‘Writing Tips’ Category
10 More Ways to Improve Your Writing
If you liked 10 Ways to Improve Your Writing, here are 10 more ways:
11. Don’t be a perfectionist, at least not every time. It’s great to know how to create a perfect document, but doing it every time is a lot of work. Not everything you write NEEDS to be perfect. The main thing is to make sure it’s good enough to achieve your purpose and meet the needs of your reader. Of course, it’s also important to know you CAN make it perfect for the times when you need to.
12. Show the bones of your writing. Your writing is clear when readers can see the shape of your message. There are many ways to reveal this shape—getting to the point, creating a hierarchical structure, writing talking headers, using layout to show how sections relate to each other, and using transitional markers to connect ideas. The more you use these tools to reveal the bones of your message, the easier it is for the reader to grasp your message quickly and easily.
13. Show the muscle of your writing. If bringing the bones to the surface clarifies your message, bringing the muscles to the surface improves the style and readability. Muscular writing is concise, uses strong verbs, is positive, conversational and active. Muscular writing energizes readers and propels them to act.
14. Be transparent. Try not to let anything distract your reader from your message. Distractions can be big things, such as a rambling structure or an offensive tone. It can be little things, such as an ill-chosen font, too many big words, sloppy spacing, and bad grammar or spelling. Transparent writing doesn’t draw attention to itself and lets the reader absorb your message effortlessly.
15. Be precise and concrete. The details make your writing memorable and vivid. Here’s one of my favourite examples from Strunk and White. First, the vague version: “In proportion as the manners, customs, and amusements of a nation are cruel and barbarous, the regulations of its penal code will be severe.” And the vivid example: “In proportion as men delight in battles, bullfights and combats of gladiators, will they punish by hanging, burning and the rack.”
16. Use a conversational tone, but don’t be conversational. A conversational tone is warm and personal. It captures the sound of your voice. You don’t want to replicate your actual conversation, because that would capture all the ums, ahs, redundancies and hesitations. The best way to create the warmth of your voice is by reading your writing out loud. If you know you’d never say the words in speech, you shouldn’t write them either. Worried you’ll be too chatty? Remember who you are writing to and use the degree of formality you’d use if you were speaking to that person. You’ll find that way you can easily balance warmth, formality and respect.
17. Assume ignorance but not stupidity. Many writers assume too much prior knowledge on the part of the reader. And when they write to a large group of readers, they alienate readers who are unfamiliar with the subject matter. It’s best to assume your readers are ignorant, but not stupid. The readers who are knowledgeable aren’t likely as close to the content as you are, and they appreciate a quick refresher. Readers who know nothing are not alienated and can get up to speed quickly.
18. Make sure important information stands out. Decide what’s most important and help the reader see it by using boldface, isolating it in white space, or using headings, visuals, lists or colour. Just don’t use all these devices at once. Remember that if you try to emphasize everything, you emphasize nothing.
19. Use a style guide. In a pinch, make it up, but be consistent. Readers love consistency. Style guides are a great way to be consistent, because they define usage. If your company has, or recommends, a style guide, great! Use it. If you don’t have one, or don’t have time to consult one, make it up. Just be consistent. Not sure if you should spell out numbers from 1 to 10 or 1 to 20? Make an executive decision, be consistent. You’ll fool 90% of your readers. (Okay, I made up that statistic, but it feels right.)
20. Keep your layout simple and elegant. Less is more. Only use as many text elements as you need. If you’re writing a complex document, like technical documentation, start by considering what kinds of information you need. Assign a look to each element and be consistent in how you treat it. For example, the title of every visual should be the same. Every bulleted list should look the same, and every Level 3 Heading should look the same. This gives the reader confidence that text that looks alike functions alike.
Any suggestions to add?
Top 10 Words for Things You Didn’t Know You Had
This is from the Merriam Webster site, where there are lots of fun top 10 lists. I only knew one word on this particular list: muntin. And that’s only because I once bought windows with muntin bars. I only remember the word because it’s fun to say.
Philtrum: the vertical groove on the median line of the upper lip
Example Sentence: His chiseled features even included a well-defined philtrum.
Ferrule: the protective point or knob on the far end of an umbrella
Example Sentence: He used his umbrella as a cane, and with every step planted its ferrule in the ground.
Origin: Ferrule comes from the Latin viriola, meaning “small bracelet.” This makes more sense when you consider that ferrule is also the term for the metal band at the end of a table leg (or similar object) that strengthens it or prevents it from splitting.
Aglet: the tag covering the ends of a lace or point – e.g., the reinforcement at the end of a shoelace
Example Sentence: A missing aglet can make lacing one’s shoes a challenge.
Origin: Aglet indirectly comes from the Latin acus, “needle” – as does the word acute.
Punt: an indentation at the bottom of a molded glass bottle
Example Sentence: Pouring the champagne, she held the bottle with her thumb in its punt.
Note: Although it remains a matter of debate, explanations for the function of the punt include strengthening the bottle and also reducing its holding capacity. The alternative name for the punt is kick.
Lunule: a crescent-shaped body part or marking (such as the whitish mark at the base of a fingernail)
Example Sentence: He folded his hands together to give an impression of calm, but the ragged skin below his lunules told another story.
Origin: This mark got its name because of its shape: lunule comes from the Latin luna, meaning “moon.”
Tittle: the dot over i or j
Example Sentence: In a handwritten business note, it’s best to avoid smiley-face tittles.
Origin: Tittle comes from the Latin titulus, which originally meant “title.” Titulus came to refer to marks such as the abbreviated form of n written over a vowel (like the Spanish tilde, which indirectly got its name from titulus), and then to any mark above a letter.
Glabella: the smooth prominence of the forehead between the eyebrows
Example Sentence: If you don’t wish to look people in the eyes, you can make a similar impression by focusing on their glabellae.
Origin: Glabella derives from the Latin glaber, “bald” or “smooth.
Muntin: a strip separating panes of glass in a window sash
Example Sentence: I thought the ball would smash a window, but fortunately it hit a muntin.
Origin: Named for the way it sticks up from the window, muntin comes from the French monter, “to rise.”
Lemniscate: the infinity symbol (or more precisely, “a figure-eight shaped curve whose equation in polar coordinates is ρ2=a2 cos 2θ or ρ2=a2 sin 2θ“)
Example Sentence: Not surprisingly, a certain brand of automobile uses a modified lemniscate in its logo.
Origin: Lemniscate comes from a Latin word that means “with hanging ribbons” – an origin that’s reflected in the symbol’s graceful shape.
Fourchette: the strip or shaped piece used for the sides of the fingers of a glove
Example Sentence: A fine pair of gloves includes well-fitted fourchettes.
Origin: The French word fourchette (pronounced “foor-SHET”) means “fork.” It was applied to this item presumably because of the forking pattern of the fingers.
Can or May I Have a Cookie?
My sort of sister-in-law Jane speaks English as a foreign language. She’s just finished a course that taught her business skills—she learned how to interview for a job, write a resume, give a presentation and speak better English. (Really, there’s nothing wrong with her English.) She told me her instructor advised the class to, “NEVER use the word can. Instead,” she said, “use may.”
Hmmm. Never is an awfully long time and to me always (also a long time!) raises a red flag. The instructor appears to be like one of those annoying grade school teachers we’ve all had, who, when you asked “Can I please go to the washroom?” would say condescendingly, “I don’t know if you can, but you may.” We learned quickly that the fastest way to get permission to go without being humiliated was to say “May I please go to the washroom?”
Traditionally, may is used to ask permission. Can is used to express ability.
May I have a cookie? Yes, you may.
Can you do a push up? Yes! I can do 20 push ups! (We wouldn’t say May you do a push up?)
But in everyday speech, we use can to make a request. We are understood when we say, “Can I have a cookie?” In fact, the meanings of these words do overlap. We use can to indicate ability, possibility, permission and a request. May indicates permission, probability and a request.
According to the Merriam Webster site, “Can and may are most frequently interchangeable in senses denoting possibility; because the possibility of one’s doing something may depend on another’s acquiescence, they have also become interchangeable in the sense denoting permission. The use of can to ask or grant permission has been common since the 19th century and is well established, although some commentators feel may is more appropriate in formal contexts. May is relatively rare in negative constructions (mayn’t is not common); cannot and can’t are usual in such contexts.”
Okay okay, if you’re writing to a stickler prescriptivist, use may when asking permission. After all, if you want something from them it’s best not to annoy them, even if they annoy you. And if I’m in a super formal situation, I might be inclined to prefer may to can when asking permission. But unless I find myself talking to the queen, it’s hard to imagine a situation that formal.
The Lexicographer’s Dilemma
If you’re even a little interested in language, you’ll love The Lexicographer’s Dilemma: The Evolution of “Proper English” from Shakespeare to South Park by Jack Lynch. Here’s an excerpt.
Lynch asks “What is proper English?” and “Who gets to define it?” Turns out the earliest grammar guides coincide with the rise of the middle class in the early 18th century. They weren’t written by aristocrats, but by “middle class writers who wanted to sound like their social superiors….” And it’s not that upper class speech is better—then or now—but that the upper classes hold social and economic power—then and now. If you want to share or influence that power, you need to use the language properly.
His story describes the rise of standard English, and the push and pull between the prescriptivists and the descriptivists. Prescriptivists tout rules. They are the grammar police who pounce on grammar, spelling and pronunciation mistakes. But the thing is, as Lynch points out, these so-called rules are not carved in stone, but are more like “rules of etiquette, made by fallible people, useful only in certain situations, and subject to change.”
Descriptivists are more interested in how language is used and how it changes. And change it does. Consider the influences of technology and globalization on English. Descriptivists remind us that many of the standard rules are not rules at all, but matters of taste and indicators of class. Rules change with time, usage and fashion.
Two things are inevitable: first, that language is a living, breathing thing. Like it or not, it will change. Second, the world that controls social and economic power uses standard English and if you want to have influence in that world, learn to use the rules, whether you agree with them or not.
The best position to be in is to know the rules of standard English and decide whether or not to use them, to be able to fit the language to the purpose and audience. I wouldn’t break a rule, even if I know it’s bunk, when my reader believes it to be true. For example, if I work for Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and I’m writing a letter to a retired teacher, I’m not going to risk splitting any infinitives or beginning sentences with and or but, even though I KNOW these aren’t valid rules. I’d only risk alienating my reader and I’d come out the loser. Similarly, it would be goofy to use perfect spelling and standard usage in an IM conversation or spell every word out in an SMS message.
This book made me think about how stuck people can get about the rules. Often, when people learn what I do, they bemoan the state of the language—Kids today don’t know how to spell any more—all they do is text message. Isn’t it terrible? Nobody knows how to write! And everyone seems to have grammatical pet peeves. People are always confessing their intolerances. I just smile and nod. I know most of the time these pet peeves are matters of taste—we object to what seems tasteless to us.
I confess that I like change in language—I’m a descriptivist by nature. I’m fascinated by ingenuity, and by how technology and globalization refresh and enrich English. I’m always amazed by how flexible language is. Still, I have an inner prescriptivist, and I have my pet peeves:
Should You Have Any Questions
Why I Hate the Semicolon
What’s Wrong With Comic Sans?
What about you? What are the things that drive you crazy about language?
10 Ways to Improve Your Writing
Here are ten ideas that will help you become a better business writer. These are some of the things I find myself saying over and over in my courses. They’re not in any special order.
1. Send sensitive emails to yourself first. If it matters to your career, your relationships or your reputation, send it to yourself first. Open it and read it—you’ll be surprised how much different it looks when you put yourself in the place of the intended reader.
2. Respect the process. Much as you’d like to get that report off your to-do list, you need to take the time to think it through. That means planning, reviewing the data, analyzing it, checking your purpose, thinking, rethinking and revising your drafts until you get it right. Don’t have the time? Start earlier, remembering that much of writing happens in your subconscious.
3. Complete the To field last. Even though email readers prompt you to complete the To field first, resist. You’ll agree with the wisdom of this if you’ve ever sent an important email before it was completed.Next you’ll be tempted to complete the subject line. Again, resist doing this. You won’t be able to write a really good, informative subject line until you’ve had a chance to polish the body text. Instead, start by drafting the body text of your message. Revise it by putting the bottom line first, remembering that readers need to know the main point first. Once you’ve clarified your point, write your subject line. And then you’re ready to complete the To field.
4. Check your ego. Remember you will impress more readers if you put their needs before your own. Avoid writing to impress or intimidate. Instead, write to communicate and make it easy for your reader.
5. Learn how to use MS Word, or whichever word processor you use. For that matter, learn how to use Outlook or Excel, or whichever software you use. Take a course. Above all, learn about the things your software can do for you. Once you know what it can do, the doing itself is easy. Your computer is more than a typewriter—use it to improve your productivity and effectiveness.
6. Learn one grammar rule a month. It’s important to know the rules of grammar, punctuation and usage. But don’t try to learn it all in one gulp. Take on one rule a month. It’s not too much and you’ll find it more interesting than you expected.
7. Read as much as possible. Reading more is a surefire way to writing better. Most importantly, read critically. Ask yourself why you like—or dislike—what you read. Read any good books lately? I’m looking for suggestions.
8. Give thoughtful feedback whenever you can. One of the best ways to become a better writer is to give feedback to others. It’s easy to see mistakes in someone else’s work because you have objectivity. Give them three kinds of feedback—first tell them what you like about their writing. Then give them global comments to do with strategy and structure, and finally give them local level comments to do with style and technicalities such as grammar and punctuation. That means you’ll have to read their document twice, because the first things you’ll notice are local the last things are global.
9. Give yourself permission to write a terrible first draft. Remember you don’t ever have to show it to anyone. The best first drafts are a dump of what’s in your head. You’ll feel less pressure if you know your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect and you’ll have something to edit.
10. Imagine an ideal reader. This is especially helpful when you don’t know your reader personally OR if you are writing to a large number of readers. If you can imagine one person and “talk” directly to that person, your draft will flow better and the end product will be more clear, conversational and personal. You’ll connect with all your readers on a personal level.
What are some of your best writing tips?
Bullets Kill–Death by PowerPoint
Like many corporate cultures, The U.S. Army lives by PowerPoint. And if you don’t think that’s threatening, have a look at this slide, which communicates the complexities of the American military strategy. Good luck trying to understand it.
In this NY Times article Gen. James Mattis says “PowerPoint makes us stupid.” It forces us to simplify complexities into hierarchical bullet points and creates the illusion of control. Not everything can or should be simplified this way.
On the other hand, some things are simple and follow a logical, linear line. Still, most PowerPoint presentations are painful to read. They are mostly written as close caption speaking notes for the presenter with as much packed onto a screen as possible. I’ve seen PowerPoint slides so dense that even when they’re spread onto four slides they’re still too dense.
Presenters, like writers, need to consider the needs of their audience. No one wants to follow your speech word for word on a screen. Instead, write two presentations. One that is a handout with all the details, and one stripped down to just the key words.
This means presenters need to know their content well enough to speak off-the-cuff. It also means there’s a better chance the audience will stay awake.
Online Writing Resources
A recent grad asked for a list of online writing resources, and here’s my preliminary list. I’ll keep adding to this list and maybe give it permanent page status on this site.
Jack Lynch’s Guide to Grammar and Style is a thorough glossary of all kinds of terms. He’s an English professor at Rutgers. I’ve got a copy of his latest book, The Lexicographer’s Dilemma: The Evolution of ‘Proper’ English, from Shakespeare to South Park, on my night stand and hope to crack it soon.
An annotated collection of grammar and writing resources from around the web from the University of Chicago Writing Program.
Richard Nordquist’s Grammar and Composition blog on About.com. I enjoyed a recent entry called Twenty Editing Tips from the Old Copy Desk, which lists early 20th century writing advice that is still solid today. Actually, there’s so much interesting stuff to read on this site you might find it addictive.
Check out the list of Grammar Myths at Grammarphobia, written by Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman. Yes, people, you can split an infinitive!
The Classic style guide by Strunk and White is available online. While the grammar advice is suspect, Chapter 3 has some timeless advice about style.
For word fun, you can also check out The Visual Thesaurus. Enter a word and see how it maps into its related words. Also, there are some interesting articles. Some of the content is free, but if you pay the nominal membership fee you have full access. I like the word of the day (Today’s Dirty Rat word of the day is perfidious.)
Is there anything you suggest adding?
What We’re Reading
Reading and writing are two sides of one coin. Improve your skill at one and you automatically improve your skill at the other. Here’s what we’ve been reading:
The stand-out book I’ve read most recently is not fiction. It’s Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William Ury and focuses on four principles for effective negotiation. It can be applied to professional or personal situations.
I loved this book because of its practical approaches to negotiating conflict that help readers focus more on shared interest and less on individual positions. I like it also because I can apply it to any kind of negotiation, whether these are at home, in the workplace, or at the mall.
I recently finished reading The Bear and the Dragon by Tom Clancy. This book is part of a series of books that follow the main character, John (Jack) Patrick Ryan over many years. I highly recommend starting at the beginning of the series and reading each book in sequence. I find the series interesting for three main reasons.
First, I am drawn to this type of genre and the books are entertaining. Tom Clancy is a good story teller and knows how to work in the right details. A log falling into the water in the beginning of the book becomes significant by the end of the book. I find myself reading slowly just so I can absorb all the details.
Second, I enjoy how Clancy develops his characters over the course of several books. Clancy’s books span decades and his characters all grow and progress in their careers. Having read the series, I see that Clancy believes in the goodness of people and how they’ll get their eventual rewards. Jack Ryan has a strong commitment to honesty, integrity and doing what is right. He does what he believes is right no matter the consequences. Although it sometimes gets him in trouble, he ends up being right and characters with similar attitudes helps him in his career. Clancy certainly advocates the idea that the “good guy” finishes first; it just takes a while and a bit of difficulty.
Finally, I am amazed at the level of detail. When I started reading his books, I assumed Tom Clancy was in the navy and had served on a submarine because the level of detail. I later learned that Tom Clancy worked for an insurance company instead. I am amazed at the level of research and details he puts into his book especially for someone who never served in the military. It adds to the realism of his books.
If you like espionage genre, then you’ll enjoy Tom Clancy’s books.
I’d happily recommend Michael Crummey’s Galore. It’s A Hundred Years of Solitude in rural Newfoundland. I loved this book for many reasons, but Crummey’s gift for rendering the local patois is the forerunner. He’s also a dab hand at magic realism, as this homage to Márquez demonstrates.
In nonfiction, I’d recommend Six Months in Sudan by James Maskalyk, a Médecins Sans Frontières doctor. Deeply atmospheric and affecting, the book chronicles his post in Abyei, Sudan with emotional honesty, startling poeticism, and humanity.
Standing Naked in the Wings compiled and edited by Lynda Mason Green and Tedde Moore. It’s a funny, and sometimes moving, collection of stories by Canadian actors.
I’m currently reading What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. It’s a series of his essays that were published in the New Yorker. I like it because Gladwell finds amazing stories in everyday items and situations.
I read Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières during a rainy week at a cottage this summer. I found the beginning annoying—too many big words that got in the way, too many big words I didn’t know. In fact, this month’s quiz is a list of some of those words. But by the time I got to the end, I couldn’t put it down. I cried uncontrollably for the last 30 or 40 pages. Deliciously romantic but not too sugary.
More recently, I just finished Scar Tissue, the memoir of Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer Anthony Kiedis. It’s 460 pages of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Especially drugs. Not something I would normally choose, but it was recommended by my 18 year old son. He’s not a big reader, and I read it to encourage and validate him. I enjoyed the book because it’s a story of personal triumph over addiction and I love being able to discuss it with my son.
How about you? Anything interesting you’d like to recommend?
How I Learned to Convey Enthusiasm in Writing
I spent a lot of years in school. I loved that period in my life and spent many happy hours immersed in ideas, books and libraries. I wrote a lot of essays too. In my first year in grad school especially, I remember being super charged with passion for what I was reading, thinking and writing, but I never felt my essays conveyed that passion. They always felt flat to me and I didn’t know why.
Looking for the key to expressing my enthusiasm, I went to the Centre for Academic Writing (where I later worked). There I learned how to tighten my structure and provide a roadmap for my reader. I learned how to clarify my thinking, but my tutor didn’t have a suggestion for how to add life to my essays.
It wasn’t until I did the research for my first business writing course that I learned the secret: be concise, use strong verbs, prefer the active voice, and use plain but vivid language.
Looking back at some of early writing in my old, academic style I found quite a few bloated sentences. Here’s how I’d write them today:
Revisions
The following brief sketch of the history of the NFB is largely drawn from C. Rodney James’s Film as a National Art and from D. B. Jones’s Movies and Memoranda. The medium of Film was first used by the Canadian government as a national instrument to promote trade.
McLean’s report urged that changes be made in the activities of the Bureau, and concluded with the recommendation recommended inviting that Grierson be invited to Canada to make a survey of the situation and to prepare a report including make more specific recommendations.
Grierson’s 1939 report, prepared in 1938, essentially criticized the MPB’s lack of centralized power and purpose.
I think they’re better–more muscular and vigorous. How about you. Do you have any sentences you can cut down to size?
The Secret to Writing Success: Know Your Reader
I spent a day recently doing some coaching for one of my favourite clients. I had appointments with eight people. It was a diverse group–from finance to IT, and from junior to senior. Some write reports to the executive team, and some write brief emails to each other. Some are technical writers, some write letters. Every person I met brought in a sample of their writing, and even though their writing was so different, I found myself saying the same things to each one of them: “Consider your reader—what information will they need? How will they want to see it presented? Why does your reader need this information? How can you present your message in a way that makes it easy for them to take their next step?”
Examples of what I saw at the follow-up session, and how these questions affected their revisions:
An email to a consultant asking a series of questions about a technical process. The first draft was a casual, rambling stream of consciousness, in which the writer asked a question, then adds a couple more that come to mind while he is writing. The fix: revise the opening of the message to explain you have 3 questions about the ABC process, number the questions clearly, and then update the subject line (maybe “Three questions about ABC”) to let the reader know what to expect. The reader then can easily embed the answers into the original message. It takes only a few minutes for the writer to revise, and saves the reader time and frustration.
An email to a supplier about coordinating an event. The email contains three small questions, and confirms another piece of information. Instead of one email to the reader containing everything, write four separate emails. Why? If you separate the different questions, requests and information into separate emails, the reader can respond quickly where possible. If you don’t have ready answers to every question in a multi-issue email, it’s easy to sit on it until you have everything you need. Better to answer what you can quickly. It’s also easier to file and retrieve information that is clearly labeled and not buried in an email with a useless subject line, like “Information” or “Follow up.”
A technical report recommending a change of software to manage a vital business process. The original document is well organized with all the key information a decision maker would need in the Executive Summary. The only problem is it’s very technical and studded with acronyms. The decision makers are the Board Members, who are unfamiliar with your jargon. The solution: assume your readers are ignorant, but not stupid. Avoid using technical language they might not understand, especially acronyms. Using acronyms might save you a few keystrokes and buy you credibility with your colleagues, but they frustrate readers who aren’t familiar with them. The solution: use the acronyms in your draft, then use the Find/Replace function in MS Word to spell them out. Even better, instead of an acronym, use a descriptive term, like the Agreement, or the Enterprise System.
A letter to a lawyer describing your analysis of a problem and the next steps you will take. This writer (a charming guy) had abandoned his earlier legalese style (yay!) but had rebounded to extremely spare prose, thinking the opposite of a legalese style is one that was condensed to the point where it felt dehydrated. The solution: relax, use a conversational style and tell the reader a story—what you did, what you found, and what you have done as a result. Unpack it, expand it, be conversational. The letter is a record, part of a file, and needs to tell its chapter of the story clearly.
Documentation of a change to proprietary software. The changes were listed on the page in separate paragraphs. What was missing was any context—the document needed a title and an introduction, so a reader who picks it up now or in the future knows why and when the changes were made. It also would help to number the changes themselves so they could be scanned quickly and referenced easily.
What impressed me about the day was how different each of the documents I reviewed was from each other. The revisions were different too. What was the same was the thinking process and questions that helped my learners see ways to improve their writing.
Take a look at something you wrote recently. Now put yourself in the place of your reader. Consider for a moment what their prior knowledge is, why they need to read your message, what they will do with it, and how you can best present it to make their job easier. What changes would you make?