Make Writing Work For You
There are lots of ways to improve your writing so that your writing will eventually become an asset in your career.
Most of them take sustained attention over a period of time.
What can you do to improve the quality of your writing so that you start getting more of what you want today? Many people are intimidated by writing.
To "put it in writing" is to make a commitment, to take an idea and turn it into something that other people can reference and judge, now and in the future.
Such permanence is different than the flow of thought and interaction that marks most of our communication.
It is appropriate to be cautious about what you put in writing.
You are capable of knowing the difference between something you can consider and something you will stand behind or stand for.
You are capable of deciding whether something is true some of the time or all of the time.
You are capable of representing yourself with integrity.
You have the basic attitudes necessary to make writing work for you.
What does this mean when you sit down at your computer or pick up a pen to draft a piece of writing? You can think about what you will accomplish by writing.
Is writing necessary? If it is, what advantages does it offer you? When you know that you are writing because it is the right thing to move you toward a goal, you will write with a much tighter sense of what needs to be said.
Begin by knowing why you are writing.
Often you are writing so that someone else will have a particular response to what you have written.
Think about that person or those people.
If you were speaking to them face to face would you know how to get the response you want? What kinds of words and expressions would you use? How would you dress? Now write.
Write knowing that you will make changes later.
Make a list of your ideas.
Write in point form.
Write in sentences that are too long and full of errors.
Write whatever comes into your mind because writing is not like speaking.
You will not be stuck with the first thing you say.
You will have as many chances as you need to change and add and polish.
The important thing is to allow yourself to get started so that you can see what you have to say.
When you have a draft, take a good long look.
What do you need to change before your writing is in a form that will look good to the reader? Do you need to format? To change the length of sentences or paragraphs? Find a sample that looks the way you want your communication to look on paper.
Make what you have written match your sample.
Dress for success - in writing.
Now read what you have written out loud so that you can hear the voice that your readers will hear (internally) as they read what you have written.
How does it sound to you? Is it easy to read or do you get stuck halfway through sentences? When your readers look at your writing you want them to hear your voice as it sounds when you are at your very best.
Make more changes.
Choose words that you would actually say if you were face-to-face with your readers.
Choose sentences that make your point as clearly as you would make it in person.
Separate thoughts into paragraphs, just as you would separate a conversation into different points to give your listener a chance to respond or reflect.
Notice the information you have provided.
Is there enough detail or too much? What else do you need to say so that your readers will respond the way you want them to respond? Do you have the right mix of fact and personality? Every piece of writing must connect with whole human beings - human beings who make judgments using their senses and their emotions, their experience and their reasoning.
Have you treated your reader like a real human being? When you've said what you have to say and made it look and sound the way you would look and sound if you were face-to-face with your readers, take another look.
This time imagine that your boss (or your boss's boss) has stepped into the room with you and is listening to the conversation between you and your reader.
How will you change what you have said so that your boss realizes that you are representing yourself and your business well? Writing works for you when it represents you at your best.
It works for you when it looks professional and sounds like the way you talk when you are clear, focused, engaging and at your best.
Writing works for you when it represents you as you are on your best day: well-dressed, well- prepared, and well-liked.
There have been days when you have been well-dressed, well-prepared, and well-liked.
There have been times when you knew what to say to get the results you wanted.
There have been moments when you were absolutely clear about what you wanted to do.
Those days are your best guide to creating writing that works for you.
Most of them take sustained attention over a period of time.
What can you do to improve the quality of your writing so that you start getting more of what you want today? Many people are intimidated by writing.
To "put it in writing" is to make a commitment, to take an idea and turn it into something that other people can reference and judge, now and in the future.
Such permanence is different than the flow of thought and interaction that marks most of our communication.
It is appropriate to be cautious about what you put in writing.
You are capable of knowing the difference between something you can consider and something you will stand behind or stand for.
You are capable of deciding whether something is true some of the time or all of the time.
You are capable of representing yourself with integrity.
You have the basic attitudes necessary to make writing work for you.
What does this mean when you sit down at your computer or pick up a pen to draft a piece of writing? You can think about what you will accomplish by writing.
Is writing necessary? If it is, what advantages does it offer you? When you know that you are writing because it is the right thing to move you toward a goal, you will write with a much tighter sense of what needs to be said.
Begin by knowing why you are writing.
Often you are writing so that someone else will have a particular response to what you have written.
Think about that person or those people.
If you were speaking to them face to face would you know how to get the response you want? What kinds of words and expressions would you use? How would you dress? Now write.
Write knowing that you will make changes later.
Make a list of your ideas.
Write in point form.
Write in sentences that are too long and full of errors.
Write whatever comes into your mind because writing is not like speaking.
You will not be stuck with the first thing you say.
You will have as many chances as you need to change and add and polish.
The important thing is to allow yourself to get started so that you can see what you have to say.
When you have a draft, take a good long look.
What do you need to change before your writing is in a form that will look good to the reader? Do you need to format? To change the length of sentences or paragraphs? Find a sample that looks the way you want your communication to look on paper.
Make what you have written match your sample.
Dress for success - in writing.
Now read what you have written out loud so that you can hear the voice that your readers will hear (internally) as they read what you have written.
How does it sound to you? Is it easy to read or do you get stuck halfway through sentences? When your readers look at your writing you want them to hear your voice as it sounds when you are at your very best.
Make more changes.
Choose words that you would actually say if you were face-to-face with your readers.
Choose sentences that make your point as clearly as you would make it in person.
Separate thoughts into paragraphs, just as you would separate a conversation into different points to give your listener a chance to respond or reflect.
Notice the information you have provided.
Is there enough detail or too much? What else do you need to say so that your readers will respond the way you want them to respond? Do you have the right mix of fact and personality? Every piece of writing must connect with whole human beings - human beings who make judgments using their senses and their emotions, their experience and their reasoning.
Have you treated your reader like a real human being? When you've said what you have to say and made it look and sound the way you would look and sound if you were face-to-face with your readers, take another look.
This time imagine that your boss (or your boss's boss) has stepped into the room with you and is listening to the conversation between you and your reader.
How will you change what you have said so that your boss realizes that you are representing yourself and your business well? Writing works for you when it represents you at your best.
It works for you when it looks professional and sounds like the way you talk when you are clear, focused, engaging and at your best.
Writing works for you when it represents you as you are on your best day: well-dressed, well- prepared, and well-liked.
There have been days when you have been well-dressed, well-prepared, and well-liked.
There have been times when you knew what to say to get the results you wanted.
There have been moments when you were absolutely clear about what you wanted to do.
Those days are your best guide to creating writing that works for you.
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