Here at Bruner Business Communication we are all Word Nerds (i.e. the kind of people who sit around debating which rocks the most—a semi-colon or a dash?). Yes, it’s true, we can’t help but edit signs, menus and the daily paper. But, you know, it wasn’t always this way. We had to learn these obsessions…err, I mean skills.

When I was a nervous, tongue-tied journalism student at Ryerson University, for example, we were forced to read a book called “On Writing Well” by William Zinsser. It’s a good thing, because that book changed my life. Over the course of one year I went from being a mediocre writer to a good writer—good enough to win the top writing award for a graduating student. I believe Zinsser deserves a good chunk of the credit, and I also believe that his advice will help anyone in any writing situation (yes, that means you!).

Here are the three most important things he taught me:

1. Clear thinking becomes clear writing.

2. Writers must constantly ask: what am I trying to say?

3. Get rid of clutter. After writing a draft, go through it and ask: “Is every word doing new work? Can any thought be expressed with more economy? Is anything pompous or pretentious or faddish? Are you hanging onto something just because you think it’s beautiful?”

Even if you aren’t a Word Nerd like all of us here on the Bruner team, if you follow Zinsser’s advice I think you’ll be amazed at how quickly your writing will improve and how powerful your communication skills will become.

Let us know how you make out! Email us your communication experiences/stories.