We’re still in January, so it’s not too late to think about how to improve your writing in 2016. I know, I know. You’re not a writer. You don’t like to write, and you avoid it at work if at all possible. Still, there are some things to consider. If you’re being asked to defend an idea or present one, it’s a good idea to write in support of it—even if you’re the only person who sees what you wrote. Good writers, typically, are good thinkers. They’re clear and succinct, and they tie up all loose ends. That doesn’t necessarily mean that bad writers are bad thinkers. It may just mean that they need a little more coaching and practice.
Here are good ideas from Summer Luu’s June 2015 post on Ragan, a site I recommend to writers and editors and those who want to know more about writing of all types.
- Listen to yourself. Read what you’ve written back to yourself or ask someone else to do it. This is a great way to isolate the stilted phrase, the odd sequencing, or something else that just doesn’t sound right. Ms. Luu recommends using the software ReaderPal lite if you don’t like reading out loud. Sidenote: reading out loud is a great way to get in practice for reading to children, a wonderful thing to do.
- Check for repetitiveness. Reading what you’ve written aloud is very helpful. Ms. Luu recommends a using thesaurus. (Try dictionary.com, which has a built-in one.) And think about your audience’s reading level. (I once read that The Wall Street Journal is 10th grade level to help its smart, well-educated audience read and absorb its ideas faster.) It’s probably ok to use the same word a couple of times in a paragraph, but maybe not in a sentence.
- Use a dictionary. Every good writer I know has one and uses it.
- Use the active voice. Not only is your copy shorter when you abandon the passive voice, it’s also a lot easier to read and snappier, too. Someone once told me that engineers use the passive voice because they think it sounds politer. Mostly, though, I think it sounds stilted.
- Steer clear of the gender-specific. Here, I think it’s a matter of taste and how it sounds when spoken. Calling your waiter or waitress a server sounds ok. So does calling the mailman a mail carrier. Calling a male or female sculptor sounds fine. “Sculptress” sounds weird, but “actress” doesn’t. Hmmm.
- Count your words. You’d be amazed at how effective brevity is. Recently, I created new content for a huge enterprise website. The project manager gave all us writers a template with strict character counts. What a great exercise in removing fluff.
- Use online tools. Or at least give them a try. In my client work, I make regular use of grammar and spell-checking in Word as well as the readability scoring option. I’m about ready to buy the Hemingway App, which purports to “make your writing bold and clear.”
These are all good—though perhaps deceptively simple—ideas. What makes them work is continual practice. Some folks just aren’t up for it. (In fact, a couple of people I was once asked to coach basically said, “I’m not interested. Please bug off.”) I guarantee that if you do put in the time, it will pay off in better, clearer writing—and thinking.
Photo credit: loganban — www.rtf.com
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