6 Steps to Better Writing

This article first appeared in The Straits Times on 15 July 2006.

Suppose you arrive at your desk in the morning and find that your personal computer is down. You can neither read any e-mails, letters and reports, nor can you write them. How will it affect your work?

If your work is affected in a big way, then you can probably appreciate the importance of written communication in business. E-mails, letters, faxes and reports move the work forward. They are the lifeblood of any business.

The skills to communicate well in writing are important both for you and your organisation.

If you write well, others can understand you better. It gives you a competitive advantage over others.

In the words of renowned writing coach William Zinsser: “Countless careers rise or fall on the ability or the inability of the employees to state a set of facts, summarise a meeting or present an idea coherently.”

On the organisational level, how well people communicate in writing has a direct impact on the overall productivity. Also, the quality of written communication affects a company’s corporate image.

Here are some tips to help you communicate well in writing.

Write with a purpose: Think what you hope to achieve with your e-mail, letter or report? Most of the time, you either want to give something (information, instruction, decision, data, suggestion, confirmation, etc.), or you want to get something (clarification, confirmation, information, etc.). There is always a purpose behind any written document.

So before writing, ask: What is my purpose? What do I want to give and/or take? Whatever it is, stick to the purpose.

Give a human touch: Though business is done by organisations, there are always human beings on either side of any business transaction.

Banish the old school of thought that business writing needs to be impersonal and formal. Give a human touch to your writing. Be conversational and warm. Use active voice instead of passive voice.

Where possible, address your correspondence to people with specific names, not to Sir/Madam or departments or companies. Use words like “I”, “you”, “us”, “we” more often.

Write complete and specific messages: Have you ever received incomplete or vague e-mails and then you’ve to ask the senders for clarification? How frustrating and what a waste of time.

Before writing, ask: What information is required or may be required by the reader? Then collect all the required information and write.

Don’t say: “I will come back to you soon.” How soon? Be as specific as possible and include figures where needed.

Write for easy understanding: In business, good writing is something which the reader can understand easily. Others will understand you easily if you:

Write in proper tone: Written words have the power to make people feel positive, negative, angry or pleased. It depends on the tone you use.

Avoid rude, stern, threatening, unprofessional, authoritative or unhelpful tones. Always write in courteous, positive, friendly, constructive and cooperative tones.

For example, feel the difference in the tone of the following two sentences:

- If you don’t improve your writing skills, you will not go too far in your career.
- If you improve your writing skills, it will help you reach greater heights in your career.

Write, leave it and rewrite: The secret of good writing is rewriting. The quality your writing will improve if you follow this simple technique: write, leave it and rewrite.

After writing an important e-mail, letter or report, put it aside. Do something else. Come back to your original draft after some time and review it. You will find many areas of improvement. Revise is accordingly and then send it.

Learning to write well is a never-ending journey. But one needs to begin the journey somewhere.

Copyright © Atul Mathur, 2006

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