Business Writing and Technical Writing

Having taken a few business writing courses and technical writing courses as part of my degree requirement, I can tell you that business writing is something that everyone takes for granted or under-emphasizes. Believe me, it's a lot harder than you think... If you're a writer, you would definitely know what I'm saying. Or maybe you just have The Gift and you don't need to pay attention to the writing, I don't know. In any case, all University students at least should be able to benefit from this post, as I'll give you some tips on how to write more effectively for a business/formal setting.

Improving your writing is a huge life improvement, especially if you're a scholar or a business person. Good writing will give you a distinct edge no matter what occupation or workplace you are in. Not only that, it reforms the way your brain thinks, thus allowing you to communicate clearly and persuasively (raises and promotions? resumes and cover letters?). Here are some things you can do to improve your executive writing:


1) Read.
This is huge. Read complex books. And by that I mean not friggn Harry Potter, please. Read newspaper, magazines, novels, poems, plays... anything that has a higher vocabulary. Orthodox business writing courses will suggest you read anything you can get your hands on, but I disagree. If you're going to read something, it won't improve your grammaticals and vocabulary unless it's at a higher level than you already are. Stay conscious and critical of the author's style of writing.

2) Know your grammar.
For my business courses, I used Checkmate, which is literally the grammar bible. Now, this is by no means the be all end all; there are tons of so called grammar bibles out there. I just happened to be assigned this one by one of my professors so I like this one. I read it inside out and upside down. The English language is a funny thing in that there are about a million different rules to know, and about 50 million exceptions to those rules. Know your punctuation, grammar, spelling. Online sources will help too.

3) Prepare.
Before you start writing, set the tone of your environment. My tips on setting the right studying environment in my cramming tips post would definitely be applicable here. Eliminate all distractions, get yourself some brain food, and make sure you're hydrated. Get everything off your mind and all your other priorities settled before attempting to write. Now, for the actual writing, you need to set the stage for your piece. The main points here is to know your audience (who are you writing for? How do they read/decipher?), determine a thesis (what is the KEY MAIN IDEA of your piece?), and make an outline (what do you want to talk about? how will you organize it?).

4) KISS it. (Keep It Simple, Stupid!)
Use clear words. Don't use a big word if there is a shorter, more concise word that will work just as well (there's a famous quote about this that slipped my mind at the moment). Big words don't make you sound smart if it clutters your writing and confuses the reader. Intersperse your long sentences with short sentences. Don't be wordy; go over your work and try to cut 20-30% of the words in each sentence either by removing words or rewriting.

5) Use active voice.
No, the ball was not kicked... I KICKED IT! Pronoun verb, pronoun verb, pronoun verb. Don't use passive, which looks like: Object was Verbed by Subject. SUBJECT VERB OBJECT! "I hit the ball", not "the ball was hit by me". It will make your writing stronger, more persuasive, more confident. However, there are some situations where passive voice is definitely necessary for a sentence. Also, use strong verbs! He didn't just fly, he soared...! This ties into writing vividly. Was the boat big... or was it massive? And don't just throw in synonyms out of the thesaurus. Writing vividly doesn't have to mean using big words, it can mean using figures of speech, descriptors, showing instead of telling, etc etc.

6) Make your writing flow.
I ate the eggs. I got up and pushed my chair in. I carried the plate to the sink. The sink was full. Oh god....Vary the sentence length and structure a bit! Use connecting words: and, then, thus, so, also, furthermore. Use modifiers. Use terse and drawn sentences. Play with it, be creative here.

7) Edit.
Edit edit edit. Then edit some more. In fact, more time should be spent on the revision than the first writing, otherwise you're doing it wrong. No one wants to read a brilliant piece of work riddled with small speeling and gramatical erorrs. Makes you sound like a three year old doesn't it? So proofread it! Some tips for the review process is to wait a day before rereading it, read it aloud, let someone else read it.

8) Write your heart out!
Write your heart out. Shakespeare didn't just stop at one play, he wrote dozens and dozens of plays and sonnets. Practise makes perfect. Be willing to put the time in and work at it.

As a special offer, I will be accepting short writing pieces to be revised and edited! A short snippet from your work will appear on one of my upcoming posts which will guide you through a detailed revision process and ideas on how you can change your writing. If you don't believe my credentials, then let me mention that I have done several business writing courses and technical writing seminars, hosted creative writing workshops, and helped students with thesis writing as well. Anyway, I will be picking and choosing 5 submissions to review. Send your pieces in a word document to ankmanpro@gmail.com