Your word choice matters in business writing In business communications, you’re not trying to impress people by dazzling metaphors or extensive vocabulary. Rather, you want your words to serve your content so readers can understand what you’re saying in a single reading. That means using words your readers will understand and relate to. Sounds obvious, […]
Structure is key to good writing, but once you’re happy with your structure, it’s time to refine your sentences. Here are some techniques to consider when examining your own sentences. 1. Grab attention and set the tone with your first sentence Too often, first sentences are throat-clearing sentences and tell us little about what’s to […]
Tone matters in emails When we’re writing emails in a hurry, we often don’t think much about the tone, but if the email is important to you, it’s a good idea to examine it and see how you come across. It is easier to be careless with emails than with other media. For instance, with […]
Writing elements that create tone In business writing, tone has a spectrum ranging from extremely casual (abbreviations, emoticons) to overly official. Most business writers use neither extreme – your emails are likely to be conversational, yet professional, and your reports will be formal without being overly bureaucratic. Most of us know intuitively when we’re using […]
Does adding extra information in the middle of a sentence work? Why do we find it hard to resist adding extra information in the middle of a sentence? Does it add colour? Is it something we really want the reader to know? Sometimes adding extra information is effective. Take the following two examples. But if […]
Business writing tips In January 2019, Harvard linguist Steven Pinker wrote 13 tweets on writing. I decided to do the same for business writing. Why write? What do you want to achieve and is writing the best way? Would a phone call or meeting be better? Think of your audience. Imagine writing as a conversation. […]
Seven tips to kick-start your writing ‘Simple English is no one’s mother tongue. It has to be worked for.’ Jacques Barzun, French-American historian From time to time, we need to stand back and re-assess our writing skills to make sure our writing is clear, concise and engaging. 1. Just write It’s a truism that the more […]
Use while, which, however, this, it is, there is with caution Problems arise when writers overuse or misuse while, which, however, this, it is and there is. These words per se are not a problem – it’s just how they are used or overused. If you’re a person who overuses any of these words, I suggest you […]
Use nominalisations with caution Last month I wrote about verbing (turning nouns into verbs) and an e-newsletter reader pointed out that we also turn verbs and adjectives into nouns. The process of turning verbs and adjectives into nouns is known as nominalisation (nominalization if you use American spelling!). It’s also sometimes called ‘nouning’. There are […]
Use modifiers to write long sentences well Joseph M. Williams (Style: Toward Clarity and Grace) says: ‘Every competent writer has to know how to write a concise sentence and how to prune a long one to readable length. But a competent writer must also know how to manage a long sentence gracefully, how to make […]