Fifty resources
At Job Profiles, Christina Laun has published "50 Awesome Open Source Resources for Online Writers." They're worth a long look.
In this knowledge economy, writing is the chief value-producing activity. But you may not be writing as well as you could. That may be because you think writing requires a special talent.
In fact, writing is a process that can be managed, like any other business process. If you can manage people, money, or time—then you can manage your writing.
And you can profit from the result.
—Kenneth W. Davis
Dr. Ken Davis is professor and former chair of English at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and president of Komei, Inc., a global training and consulting firm. His clients have included the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, the Republic of Botswana, IBM, and the International Monetary fund.
With more than 30 years experience as a business writer, editor, and trainer, Ken has served as director at large of the Association for Business Communication and is immediate past president of the Association of Professional Communication Consultants. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and business partner, Bette Davis.
Through speaking, training, and executive coaching, Ken helps people and organizations improve their chief value-producing activity: writing. Thousands of knowledge workers have profited from Ken's unique Manage Your Writing® method. This method is the basis for Ken's latest book, The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course in Business Writing and Communication.
Manage Your Writing, 8910 Purdue Road, Suite 480, Indianapolis, IN 46268, USA
Phone:1.317.616.1810; Toll-free: 1.866.887.3397; Fax: 1.317.616.1811
Manage Your Writing® is a program of Komei, Inc.
Copyright © 2006 by Komei, Inc.
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At Job Profiles, Christina Laun has published "50 Awesome Open Source Resources for Online Writers." They're worth a long look.
Historian Paul Fussell once confessed:
Crappy work I do twice, good work I do three times.
This week, just as an experiment, don't just "do" each piece of work twice (drafting and revising), but take a minute or two to revise again. See if that third time pays off for you.
In his book The Invisible Touch, marketing expert Harry Beckwith writes:
Skip the balderdash, the puffing, the filler. Tell me. Tell me the same way novelist Elmore Leonard (Get Shorty) writes books. Asked to explain why his books were so popular and so easy to read, Leonard answered: "Simple. I just leave out the parts that readers skip."
This week, as you revise your messages, put yourself in your reader's position and ask yourself what, as that reader, you would skip over. Leave that out.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has led the U.S. government in pushing for plain language. SEC guidelines advise:
Surround complex ideas with short, common words. For example, use end instead of terminate, explain rather than elucidate, and use instead of utilize. When a shorter, simpler synonym exists, use it.
For example, the SEC recommends revising
No consideration or surrender of Beco Stock will be required of shareholders of Beco in return for the shares of Unis Common Stock issued pursuant to the Distribution.
into
You will not have to turn in your shares of Beco stock or pay any money to receive your shares of Unis Common Stock from the spin-off.
This week, as you revise, look for ways to replace long, uncommon words with short, common ones.
The ending of your letters and e-mail messages may be the last thing your reader reads, so you'll want it to leave a good impression. Avoid flowery, "rubber stamp" endings like "Thank you in advance" and "Begging to remain yours truly." Such endings only sound stilted and insincere.
The best endings are focused and personal. If you know your reader well enough to close with a personal reference, by all means do so:
Thanks for your help with the Oswald project, Carmen; I'm glad we're working together again on this one.
Otherwise, a simple "Thanks" or "Thank you" is usually better than a longer, more formal close.
This week, as you revise, give special attention to how your messages end. Make sure they end effectively.
An amazing fact about modern business is that some of the same people who like to think of themselves as on the cutting edge of technology still write the way people talked 200 years ago. They choose words that people haven't said to each other since they stopped wearing powdered wigs. When was the last time you heard a coworker say, "Pursuant to your recent inquiry"?
Malcolm Forbes called it as he saw it:
Business jargon too often is cold, stiff, unnatural. Suppose I came up to you and said, "I acknowledge receipt of your letter, and I beg to thank you." You'd think, "Huh?"
This week, as you revise, ask yourself, "Is this something people would actually say to each other?" If not, lose the powdered wig and bring your writing up to date.
I spent this past weekend in the Chicago area, at a meeting of the board of directors of the Association of Professional Communication Consultants. Among those present was my long-time friend Lee Clark Johns, Tulsa-based communication consultant and author of The Writing Coach (you can find it toward the bottom of the right column of this blog).
So I'm reminded of one of my favorite observations from Lee: "People often say, 'I don't have time to plan.'" "But," says Lee, "if you want to become a reader-friendly writer, you don't have time not to plan."
This week, as you write, take time to plan. A few minutes spent planning each piece of writing will pay off big-time.
A number of "readability" formulas, both manual and computer-based, have been developed to measure the difficulty of written text. Perhaps the most widely used is part of the grammar checker built into Microsoft Word. It and some others claim to report the number of years of schooling required to read a document.
The U.S. Securities Exchange Commission is a leader in calling for plain, easy-to-read language in government documents. So it's worthwhile to listen to what the SEC says about readability formulas:
You should be aware of a major flaw in every readability formula. No formula takes into account the content of the document being evaluated. In other words, no formula can tell you if you have conveyed the information clearly.
This week, if you have a readability checker available, give it a try. If it gives your draft a high grade-level score, take that score somewhat seriously, and look for ways to simplify. But don't automatically take the checker's specific advice. As the SEC says about readability formulas,
Take their suggestions as just that--suggestions. The final test of whether any piece of writing meets its goal of communicating information comes when humans read it.
When we first learned to write, we had to learn a lot of rules. So we sometimes believe that writing consists entirely of following rules. If we learn the rules, we'll be better writers.
Actually, writing has few rules, and we know and use almost all of them already. We know, for example, the rule that says that sentences must begin with capital letters. We know, in almost every case, the rule that singular subjects must have singular verbs.
To grow as writers, we don't need more rules. What we need are tools. And we need them most when we revise our messages.
This week, randomly pick one of the posts on this blog that have been tagged "revising." (This post is the 159th, so you'll have lots to choose from.) Almost all these posts are tools, not rules, but if you choose one that you're sure is a rule, pick another. As you revise this week, think of that tool as if it's a physical tool in a toolbox. Look for opportunities to pick it up and use it.
Bill Jensen, in his book Simplicity, writes:
When people are in need of communication, they want others to take the time to listen, and then to take the time to create meaning, clarity, and connections between ideas. But when they have to do the communicating, saving time becomes a priority . . . .
When it comes to communication, business is facing major discipline and accountability problems. It's like the line about change: Taking the time to create clarity is important--as long as it's the other guy who has to do it.
Don't fall into this trap. This week, look at the writing you receive, and ask "What do I wish this writer had spent more time on?" Then, when you write, be sure to take the time you need to communicate effectively.
Manage Your Writing® training and coaching has been delivered on three continents, and to thousands of people in hundreds of organizations large and small.
To explore how Manage Your Writing® speaking, training, or coaching can help you, contact Kenneth W. Davis, ken@ManageYourWriting.com
We subscribe to the Standards of Ethical Conduct of the Association of Professional Communication Consultants.
Kenneth W. Davis: The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course in Business Writing and Communication
Winner of the 2005 Excellence in Writing Award of the Association of Professional Communication Consultants. Recently translated into Mandarin Chinese.
The e-book Manage Your Writing can help you become a more efficient and effective business writer.
PalmPower Magazine Enterprise Edition named it an Enterprise Book of the Month.
Please help yourself to a free copy, for your computer or PDA:
Please also help yourself to the PowerPoint show (3.3 Mb) and handout (11.2 Mb) designed to supplement The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course in Business Writing and Communication.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning
Several recent popular books stress the growing importance of communication in business. Among the best are these. In this book, the psychologist who gave us the
"flow" model, discussed in Chapter 5 of the McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course, applies that model broadly to the leadership of organizations.
Richard Saul Wurman: Information Anxiety 2
The father of "information architecture" beautifully displays specific strategies for fighting the war against info-glut.
Terry Pearce: Leading Out Loud: Inspiring Change Through Authentic Communications
A leading executive coach presents a remarkably deep and broad discussion of leading through communicating with integrity.
Mark H. McCormack: On Communicating
The famed sports marketer shares his street-smarts on effective business communication.
Tom Peters: The Brand You 50
This small book, one of a trilogy called Reinventing Work, offers fifty tools for becoming a "brand," whether as an entrepreneur or as an employee.
Levine, Locke, Searls, and Weinberger: The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual
Born on a Web site, this book signals what I predict will eventually be seen as the biggest change in the history of business communication—the change discussed, in connection with this book, in Appendix A of the McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course.
Sam Deep and Lyle Sussman: What to Say to Get What You Want
Almost all business communication guides give us the "how" of speaking and writing. This book gives us the "what," by portraying 44 types of bosses, employees, coworkers, and customers, and advising us on what to say to each.
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
Be careful when you choose a dictionary: small paperbacks generally aren’t complete enough for business writers, and many hardback dictionaries are out of date or badly edited—even many that carry the name Webster’s, which isn’t a trademark. Fortunately, several reliable hardback “desk” dictionaries are available. I recommend these two. This first is the most attractive and readable of the major dictionaries, with particular strengths in word histories and usage.
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition with CD-ROM and Online Subscription
The most widely used desk dictionary.
American Heritage College Thesaurus
Using a thesaurus is risky. It can help you find a word you know but have forgotten. However, it can hurt you by suggesting a word that isn’t appropriate or effective for your specific need. These two are my favorites.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage
Usage guides cover the etiquette of language, from when you can split infinitives to whether you can say "prioritize." Of the many usage guides available, I recommend this one.
Alred, Brusaw, and Oliu: Business Writer's Handbook
This A-Z reference book can answer lots of specific questions at each step in the writing process.
Blake and Bly: Elements of Business Writing
This book lists 67 principles of good writing, with about two pages each of details and examples.
Richard Lanham: Revising Business Prose
Taking the same basic approach to revision as I do, this book has gained wide recognition for its "paramedic method" of revising.
Joseph M. Williams: Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace
Although it doesn’t focus on business writing, Williams’s book is another excellent resource for revision.
Lee Clark Johns: The Writing Coach
This large-format book, by a leading writing consultant, is dedicated "to everyone who 'writes for a living'—which means almost all working adults."
David Allen: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Two other books, though not directly focused on writing, present two of the most useful sets of tools I use as a business writer. As I discuss in the Introduction to the McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Guide, this first book has been invaluable in helping me learn to manage my writing—and much of the rest of my life.
Tony Buzan: The Mind Map Book
Written by the great popularizer of mind-mapping, this beautifully illustrated book is still the best introduction to the subject.