Writing Resources: Ten Plus One Tips

Ten Plus One Tips For Better Business Writing

1. Think before you write. List the questions that you need to answer for your reader in the letter or e-mail. Then you will know what to put in and what to leave out.
2. Just because it’s easy to do ... DON’T send your e-mail messages to everyone in the organization.
3. Start every document by connecting with your reader. Alert him/her to your topic and any NECESSARY background. “As you will recall from our June meeting, we decided to change the objectives of the Fall meeting.”
4. Clarify your purpose in the first paragraph. Be as specific as possible. “I am writing to ask for your suggestions on the XYZ project....”
5. Be aware of your tone. Be sure to choose words that are courteous, positive and constructive. Remember that angry people might comply ... but they will rarely cooperate.
6. Use ACTIVE verbs instead of passive whenever possible. Readers can read active text 14-17% more quickly than text written in passive.
7. Use “I”, “We” and “You” when appropriate. Then your documents will sound as if they were written by a human being ... not a robot.
8. Use jargon carefully and sparingly. Be sure not to confuse your readers with buzz words that have meaning only to people within your area of specialization.
9. Stay away from “legalese”. Phrases such as “Pursuant to ...”, “herein ... ” and “please be advised ...” are not the stuff that good relationships are built upon.
10. Get some training. If you have had no training in writing since your high school English class, you may need a refresher course. Like most other skills, writing can be learned, practiced and improved.

PLUS ONE: Writing is not something you do to paper or a screen; it’s something you do to people. So remember the golden rule: “Write as you would like to be written to!”

Ten Plus One Tips For Better Report Writing

1. Think before you write. List the questions that you need to answer for your reader in the report and sequence those questions in the order the reader would want them answered. Then you will know what information to include and in what order.
2. Make sure that - when you craft your questions - you keep the needs of your principal reader in mind.
3. Start every document by connecting with your reader. Alert him/her to your topic and any NECESSARY background. “Since the landlord is raising our rent by 30%, you asked our team to search for new office space...”
4. Clarify your purpose in the first paragraph. Be as specific as possible. “After investigating three different options, we recommend that ABC Company should move its location to...”
5. Answer your reader’s questions in the body of your report. Be sure to keep your tone positive.
6. Use ACTIVE verbs instead of passive whenever possible. Readers can read active text 14-17% more quickly than text written in passive.
7. Use “I”, “We” and “You” when appropriate. Then your documents will sound as if they were written by a human being ... not a robot.
8. Use jargon carefully and sparingly. Be sure not to confuse your readers with buzz words that have meaning only to people within your area of specialization.
9. Stay away from “legalese”. Phrases such as “Pursuant to ...”, “herein ...” and “please be advised ...” are not the stuff that good relationships are built upon.
10. Close your report by restating your purpose and clarifying the next steps.

PLUS ONE: Writing is not something you do to paper or a screen; it’s something you do to people. So remember the golden rule: “Write as you would like to be written to!”

Ten Plus One Tips For Editing Other People’s Writing

1. Read the document the “first time” and focus on the “big picture” only. Does the document send the right message and highlight the key points?
2. Read the document a second time and focus on clarity. Does the document express points and ideas clearly and concisely?
3. Write your comments/questions on a separate piece of paper, or in pencil in the margin of the document. Never use a red pen to edit someone else’s document!
4. Whenever possible, give your feedback to the writer in person. You and the writer can then explain why you did what you did.
5. Focus on “important” issues of content, or serious problems of style. Does the document answer the questions the “readers” will have? Is the information presented in the order the “readers” will want it?  Is the document free of acronyms or jargon the “readers” may not understand?
6. Don’t quibble over “your word” versus “my word” when either word will suffice.
7. Don’t be too picky about punctuation. Unless the punctuation used changes the intended message, leave it alone.
8. Don’t rewrite someone else’s document yourself. Provide your feedback and allow the original author to do the rewrite.
9. Be sure to point out what you like about the document in addition to your suggested changes.
10. Look at the document one last time for appearance. Does the document “look” inviting to read? Enough white space?  Wide enough margins?  An easy-to-read font?

PLUS ONE: Use every editing task as an opportunity to coach the writer and to help him/her walk the path of continuous improvement.

Ten Plus One Tips For Effective E-mail

1. Keep your message short. If your readers have to scroll more than two pages down to read your message, they will lose interest. Send long messages as attachments, but be sure that your reader has the software needed to open the attachment.
2. Keep your paragraphs to four sentences or fewer. Readers should be able to read an entire paragraph without scrolling.
3. Keep your lines to 70 characters or less. Many software programs do not wrap long lines. If you limit your line length to approximately 70 characters, you can avoid most line-length problems.
4. Stick to plain text and avoid using bold, italics or color. These options may be displayed on your reader’s screen as control sequences or symbols which can be confusing and make your message more difficult to read.
5. Send a positive image of your corporation (and yourself) by writing in a courteous and constructive tone. Because your readers can’t see or hear you, the tone of your writing is extremely important.
6. Proofread your message. Watch out for typos, misused words or poor grammar. Most readers will forgive the occasional error, but if your e-mail is consistently sloppy, readers could interpret your sloppiness as incompetence or lack of professionalism.
7. Use acronyms sparingly. E-mail writers have developed their own code, such as BTW for “by the way”, or LOL for “laugh out loud”. But, using too many acronyms or too much jargon is dangerous.
8. Resist the temptation to send your e-mail messages to every single person who might have an interest in the topic. Try to respect your readers’ time and their needs for information.
9. Don’t use e-mail to send highly sensitive or confidential information. Remember: Nothing is truly confidential in cyberspace.
10. Give your readers alternative ways to reach you, such as your telephone or fax number.

PLUS ONE : Don’t hide behind e-mail. Sometimes a phone call or a face-to-face meeting is the better choice. Consider your purpose in communicating and choose the most appropriate medium to deliver your message.

Ten Plus One Tips For Proofreading Your Document

1. Good proofreading practices - as well as knowing what to look for - will increase your hit rate at spotting errors in your documents. Here are a few tips to help you write error-free.Put time between writing and proofreading. 24-hours is best; but if time is pressing, a walk around the block or a coffee break is better than nothing.
2. Run spell and grammar checks as your first line of defence – but DO NOT RELY ON THEM. Not only can they miss errors, they can give you bad advice.
3. Print a hard copy, enlarge it and sit down under a good light with a highlighter in your hand. It’s old fashioned but it works. Read your document front-to-back and back-to-front. Proofreading on screen is not your best option for catching typos and inconsistencies.
4. Read your document aloud. You’ll be surprised at how the audio element will highlight errors as well as sentences that don’t convey the right meaning.
5. Check page numbers. Make sure they are consecutive. And make sure that they agree with your Table of Contents. Also, check that everything you promise in your Table of Contents is included in your document.
6. Look for nonsense sentences. Yes, we all write them – sometimes because we forget to erase stuff that we thought we had edited out. And sometimes – in the heat of the moment - we just write nonsense!
7. Check EVERYTHING for consistency: headers, footers, heading hierarchy, margins, alignment, indents, spaces between paragraphs (and words), proper names, fonts, etc.
8. Check characters that come in pairs. Make sure you have opened and closed your parentheses, quotation marks, etc.
9. Watch out for words that sound the same but are not the same, for example, your/you’re, their/there, too/to, hear/here. (In case you wanted to know, these are called “homonyms” - but that’s not important. Just make sure you use the right word in your document!)
10. Verify your data. Check that all numbers, tables, graphs and cross-references are accurate.

PLUS ONE: Get help from a buddy. Proofreading is the most exacting part of writing a professional document. Having slaved over a report, for example, for hours, a writer simply can’t see typos and obvious errors. A fresh set of eyes can ALWAYS pick out errors that, as authors, we miss.