Great writing leaves an impression

The 10 secret rules of business writing.

With love from a.

1

¶

¶

¶

¶

¶

¶

¶

¶

Start in the middle

Australian children’s author

Paul Jennings says,

‘Don’t start your story,

“I woke up, brushed my teeth,

had a wash and ate my breakfast.”

Start, “I did not eat your jeans.

Well, not on purpose anyway.”’

It’s the same in business.

You’ve got to get people hooked

from the start.

Or why would they bother reading on?

2

Don’t go on, please

Good writers don’t just ‘craft’ good words.

They ask, ‘What’s the story here?’ Find the story,

and ruthlessly cut everything else. Too often in

business we try to say everything. We put in all the

detail, so we look thorough or clever. But go on too long,

without really getting to the argument, talking without really

saying anything, on the one hand beating around the bush while at the

same time covering all the bases and you’ll find that pretty soon, your reader will just

U3 Stop writing up experiments

33

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

33

33

3

3

3

3

3

U Remember how you had to write up

experiments in science at school?

‘The beaker was filled and was subjected

to heat.’ That’s how organisations talk, too.

‘The strategy was implemented and subjected

to widespread consultation.’

It’s cold, inhuman.

Most of us don’t talk like that, thank goodness.

So write more like you speak.

4There are only two types of writing

Great short writing gets your attention,

tells you something,

and leaves an impression. Great long writing is lots

of great short writing

seamlessly stitched together.

(5 Bring your personality to work)

We trust people more than we trust

faceless organisations.

Sound like a person, and not a corporate

robot, and you are more likely to engage,

inspire, persuade, amuse, lead.

That’s why Wall Street’s most successful

float in years – Google’s – started with

a personal letter to investors:

‘Sergey and I founded Google because we

believed we could provide an important

service to the world—instantly.’

It’s also why Warren Buffett, one of the

USA’s richest businessmen, says:

‘Write with a specific person in mind.

When writing Berkshire Hathaway’s

annual report, I pretend that I’m talking

to my sisters… No siblings to write to?

Borrow mine:

Just begin with “Dear Doris and Bertie”.’

(5 Bring your personality to work)

6 Have an opinion!

Obvious one, this.

But it’s more interesting listening to someone

who’s got something to say,

isn’t it?

Even if you don’t agree.

And it will make you stand out from the crowd.

‘I’m getting a bit miffed

with these nanny-ish proclamations

about punctuation.

It’s not that the use of jargon is good

(obviously it isn’t).

Nor that the apostrophe should not be

wielded accurately (it should).

It’s the nagging that rankles.

I blame the idea that ‘plain’ English is

something to be aspired to in business.

Who wants to be plain in life?

No professional writer I know.’

Martin Hennessey,

our managing director,

in the Financial Times.

7 Thwack!

We all need a surprise every now and again.

And so does business writing.

It’s not enough just to talk.

What you say has got to ‘invite itself memorably

into people’s minds’,

stick in their heads

and nag at them on their way home from work.

We’ll tell you the other three when you ring us.

8910

a

is a consultancy

that does three things.

Writing.We write almost anything,

find specialist writers,

and manage writing projects.

Brand language.We help define brands,

develop their tone of voice,

and come up with names.

Training.We train people to become

more effective and creative

writers at work.

a

72 Borough High Street

London

SE1 1XF

T 020 7940 7540

F 020 7407 1320

E info@thewriter.co.uk

www.thewriter.co.uk