‘I hate writing!’
Every day, I’m confronted with a client or contact who tells me they hate writing. It takes up about 50% of their day, regardless of their position, industry or area, but they despise it. Why? Take your pick: ‘I get writers’ block.’; ‘I can’t say what I mean.’; ‘My manager makes endless changes.’; ‘My spelling sucks.’; ‘It’s not my job.’
And I love these people, because I know I can help them. The solution is simple: if you can speak, you can write. All you have to do, and this isn’t rocket science, is…
…loosen up, in 5 easy steps.
1. Fake it, baby
Now, we know you’re not a professional writer (‘cos if you were, you wouldn’t hate it so much), but we’re all quasi-professional speakers, because we spend so much time speaking, talking, conversing, chatting, hearing and listening.
So, to start with, just pretend that the reader or recipient is sitting across the table from you (not at the coffee machine or outside on the smokers’ balcony), and write using the words you’d naturally choose if you were speaking directly to them.
2. The golden rule
If you’d feel like an utter twit using an expression in speaking, don’t use it in writing.
‘Read’ is preferable to ‘peruse’; ‘determine’ to ‘ascertain’; ‘happen’ to ‘transpire’; ‘obtain’ to ‘procure’; ‘help’ to ‘facilitate’; ‘use’ to ‘utilise’. Keep it simple.
You’d never say ‘hence’ or ‘forthwith’; you wouldn’t even say, ‘Attached hereto please find’ or ‘Should you have any enquiries, please do not hesitate’. So just leave them out of your writing.
3. Cut the calories
You shove empty calories into your writing when you needlessly repeat words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs or ideas; when you add nothing to what’s been said but you waste precious words instead – for ‘emphasis’.
Don’t kid yourself.
It’s far better, and more powerful, to avoid saying something in three weak ways, when you could have said it once, effectively. Have a look at these common ones (the waffle is bracketed):
- (a number of) examples
- (close) proximity
- dates (back) from
- eliminate (altogether)
- for (a period of)
- consensus (of opinion)
- during (the course of)
- (regular) monthly meetings
- short (space of) time
- join (together)
- (past) history
- crisis (situation)
- refer (back)
- (empty) space
- (basic) fundamentals
- important (essentials)
4. Don’t pad it out
There are little conversational fillers that we use to pad our sentences – and in speaking, you can get away with these. They disappear into the ether and are gone. But in writing, the fillers require too much attention and cost too much money to put on the page.
Here’s my hit list:
- along the lines of
- at this point in time
- by means of
- centre around
- due to the fact that
- final conclusion
- in actual fact
- in order to
- in accordance with
- to a large extent
- with a view to
- with respect to
5. Keep it specific
Human nature is such that, when we commit ourselves to a message on paper, we also try to distance ourselves from it. We say, ‘I’m a little upset’ when we mean, ‘I’m angry’; we say, ‘I feel somewhat/rather/quite/a bit disappointed’ instead of ‘I’ve been let down’.
In all writing, try to avoid vague or noncommittal language because it can seriously undermine your message. Instead, use language that is positive, definite, specific.
A sentence like, ‘She was not often on time’ is better stated as: ‘She was usually late.’ Or, ‘We do not charge high prices’ is better as, ‘We offer good deals’. In short, choose the specific over the general, the definite over the vague, the positive over the negative.
In addition, as a rule, it’s safer to leave out negative phrasing, even if you mean it positively: ‘don’t hesitate’, ‘our company boasts’, ‘take advantage’, etc.
Bottom line
Loosening up in business writing doesn’t undermine your professionalism, so don’t think you have to stick to the ‘businessy’ speak you’ve always felt comfortable with, to be taken seriously.
In fact, the opposite is true. When you keep it simple and natural, you sound more professional; more business-minded, because you aren’t trying too hard. In short, you’re writing to express, not to impress. And your readers can tell. Good luck.
