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Hello, Welcome to Spring! I have certainly noticed an improvement in the weather and everyone seems to be a lot happier with the warmth and sunshine. How is it feeling at your place? Spring is traditionally the time for a clean up, so this may be a good time to review the content on your website, in your standard letters/emails and marketing documents. Sometimes, a small tweak is enough to make a drastic improvement - and hopefully, you have more knowledge about clear writing now than when you first wrote your materials! Recently, I have finished writing some information guides, an About us page and an editorial for Bears for Keeps, worked on an internet and policies for eosaver, reviewed some Real Mums letters, gave advice on a professional profile and some magazine articles. And this weekend I am attending and presenting at the Business Mums Conference in Melbourne. It's been a busy time, but I love the variety! This month's poor writing example is long (and could so easily have been longer!) but it has so many areas for improvement that I thought it was worth including. So only one article this month instead of two. Use your words wisely! Tash
PS My trip to New
Zealand was lovely - thank you for your well wishes. It was
interesting to note the similarities and differences between
Auckland and Australian cities. I enjoyed a harbour cruise and trips
to the west beaches and Mt Eden, so I got to see quite a bit in the
short time I had. It was also very successful business-wise.
Know your
audience When communicating with people for your business, it is important to know who you are talking to - that is, who is your audience? By understanding your audience, you can make your communications clear and relevant, which makes them more effective. Identifying your audience doesn't have to be hard - a lot of it is common sense - but it can save you a lot of time in answering questions that should have been answered in the original communication. Never mistake legibility for communication.
Book review -
How to write your own
life story How to Write your own life story by Lois Daniel, Chicago Review Press, 1997 My Grandmother is 96 years old so she has seen a lot of change in her life. My family and I have often said we should get a lot of stories taped or written down now before it is too late. One of my clients feels the same way about their Grandfather so they are getting his story written down. Would you like to write your story for yourself and/or your family? Perhaps you want to write about someone special in your life? Daniel's book is very easy to read and will help you prepare a life story for yourself or someone close to you. She includes a system for making notes and recording the information, and also gives your ideas and questions to inspire the stories that make up a life. Even if you never finish it as a book or get someone else to write it as a book later, this book will help you gather the ideas and stories that you want to record. It is also an interesting read as Daniel's includes many excerpts of life stories in the book. This book doesn't tell you how to write or what grammar to use. However, she does includes chapters on revising your work and pulling it all together and publishing your story. There is also a chapter on research - the bigger picture research of knowing who was Prime Minister the year you were born, the year your school opened, how many local young men went to war during your childhood and so on. I recommend this if you want to record a life story as a book, or even if you just want to explore your own story without making it into a book.
The classic Guide for the non-professional writer Poor examples Sometimes, the easiest way to learn the correct way to do something is to see it done poorly so in this section of my newsletter, I show you some real-life examples of writing that need a little help. This example if from an article about clear writing for entrepreneurs, which makes it so much worse than if it was just a general information piece. example: Issues with this example: Jargon - this article was for a general audience so an abbreviation like 'par' is jargon and hard to follow. The writer should have either written out 'paragraph' every time (a clearer option in my opinion) or defined 'par' at the first use. Clarity - 'write down your method' - method of what? Are we writing a procedure (method) or a template? Will one template work as a model for all written communications? (Think about the format of a report, an email, a procedure and a marketing flyer.) Grammar - 'ie' should be i.e. (it is an abbreviation of two Latin words and translates as 'that is'); 'keep it this' should be 'keep it' Content - a useful template would be in soft copy that you can just type into each time, which would also have the advantage of potentially using relevant text again without retyping it. If it is a guide ( a writing guide or a style guide), then that could be kept in a drawer (or in soft copy format on your desktop) and would be more flexible. Presumably as you improve your skills, you will not need a guide that tells you how to write four paragraphs - this is where a writing guide would be more useful. General - in a general writing article, it perhaps would have been better to replace that paragraph with something like "Templates and a writing guide may be useful aids to preparing clear documentation". Then, a separate article on how to prepare a template so that the reader can make use of this tool. A better version would be: (without changing the meaning) Prepare template of your documents to make them consistent and quick to produce. For instance, introduction (1st paragraph), main ideas (2 paragraphs) and conclusion (4th paragraph) for a memo. Remember to note where any critical data should be, such as a deadline for action in the final paragraph of the memo. This template can be adjusted as required over time. Keep a soft copy on your computer for easy access or a hard copy in a drawer. You are welcome to pass this newsletter on to anyone you think will be interested, but please send it as is without changes. If you were passed this email by a friend, you can subscribe here. This newsletter is only ever sent to my clients and people who request the monthly newsletter & writing tips found at www.wordconstructions.com. Your email details will never be given, lent or sold to any party whatsoever and you are free to leave this service at any time by unsubscribing here. Important: This email (including any attachments) is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender. Whilst Word Constructions has taken reasonable steps to ensure this email is virus free, it accepts no responsibility and makes no warranty. The recipient should take its own steps to ensure there is no virus. Word Constructions accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. |
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© 2007, Tash Hughes