Greetings yet again. In case you didn’t know, I’m from Maine. It’s been a fine and lovely place to live for reasons that have nothing to do with this newsletter on business communications (it’s also a bit of a hassle because by far most of my communications training business is outside Maine). For our purposes here, it’s the home of Stephen King, who’s given some thought to what it takes to write well.
One of his key points goes something like this, paraphrasing from memory: “To be a good writer, you have to write a lot and you have to read a lot.”
That says it all. Writing, particularly business writing, is not a finite body of knowledge that you can learn from a “sage on the stage” who passes out nuggets of grammar and organizational expertise. Work at it, submit what you write to critical self-editing – editing by others is even better – and read, read, read. Consuming everything from newspaper journalism to novels to biographies to the spare word usage in good poetry is sure to sharpen your writing skills, if only by osmosis. The goal is straightforward: Clarity in your business communications.
(I’d rather not discuss what “texting” is doing to the younger generation’s grasp of our native tongue, but I’m sure it concerns most of us.)
King also said this, displaying the link between brevity and clarity: “The adverb is not your friend.” In other words, why “walk slowly” when you can “amble” or “stroll” or “saunter?” Why “run fast” when you can “dart,” “dash,“ “sprint,” “scurry” or even “flit?” Simply put, the heart and soul of the language is the active verb.
Dave Griffiths, former national security correspondent for Business Week, does freelance writing and freelance editing, as well as media training and instruction in marketing messages, business writing, communications skills, presentation skills and business communication. His website is http://www.davegriffithscommunications.com
