Manage Your Writing

This week: Avoid empty subjects

As we draft, we often write sentences in which the grammatical subject is empty, with the real subject hidden later in the sentence. For example, look at this sentence:

It is difficult to control costs.

The grammatical subject is it, but that word is empty of any meaning. The real subject is costs, or perhaps control, both hidden later in the sentence. The sentence can be improved by making the hidden, real subject also the grammatical subject. So consider revising the sentence to

Costs are difficult to control.

or

Controlling costs is difficult.

This week, as you revise your drafts, look for empty subjects you can replace with real subjects.

Spiff up your résumé

Chanpory, at LifeClever, has posted a simple, yet amazingly effective, set of instructions on how to improve the look of your résumé.

I've helped people write résumés for forty years, and I've learned maybe six great new tricks from this article.

(Thanks to Lifehacker for the lead.)

Q&A

Q: What great format for business writing isn't used nearly enough?

A: Question-and-answer format.

Q: Wow! How can I find out more?

A: Check out Robert F. Abbot's article at Info-Articles.

This week: Find facts first

Executive Donald Walton, in his book Are You Communicating, says,

The biggest mistake you can make in a report, letter, proposal, or other important message (and it's made all the time) is to write without first getting and correctly analyzing all the facts. It's the one unforgivable mistake. Your boss or customer can overlook a slip in grammar, but not bad advice that results when factual preparation is sloppy and incomplete.

This week, pay special attention to getting your facts together before you start drafting.

This week: Pay attention to results

"There is one thing worse than not communicating," said educational theorist Edgar Dale. "It is thinking you have communicated when you have not."

This week, pay special attention to the results of your speaking and writing. Notice when you're understood and when you're not. Identify at least one communication strategy that works especially well for you.

This week: Read and listen more broadly

This week, make it a point to read or listen to at least one piece of communication from a culture other than your own. Pick up an issue of an unfamiliar magazine. Spend a few minutes with a cable channel from another culture or subculture.

With each exposure, you'll expand your repertoire of communication techniques. Not only will you be a better writer for broader audiences, you'll be a better writer, period.

Benvenuto!

Welcome to any Italian speakers who have found their way here from Scrivere l'impresa, "Business Writing."

And thanks to Gabril for posting a translated quote from this site. Her blog looks great, so now I have another reason for learning Italian—besides reading Dante in the original.

This week: Tell a story

Stories have always been important in forming communities and organizations. As The Cluetrain Manifesto reminds us, "Stories play a large part in the success of organizations. With stories, we teach, pass along knowledge of our craft to colleagues, and create a sense of shared mission."

This week find a place, somewhere in the writing you do, to tell a story.