Write for Business - Blog

Rambling is fun sometimes. It can be relaxing to spend a day ambling aimlessly over hill and dale. But when you let your writing ramble, you risk losing the reader - and business. Here are some ways to avoid rambling sentences that confuse or bore.

• Read your own writing. When you finish writing a piece, read it yourself - preferably out loud. If you have to take a breath in the middle of a sentence, the sentence is probably too long.
• Count the words. Yes, we mean actually count them. First scan the piece, and if you spy a sentence that is more than two lines long, count the words. If you have more than 20 words in a sentence, shorten it.
• Divide and conquer. As you read each sentence, ask yourself what the main point is. Each sentence should contain only one main point, and if you find more than one, divide the sentence accordingly.
• Chuck the conjunctions. If you have a plethora of conjunctions in a sentence, divide it. This includes coordinating conjunctions (and, or, but) and subordinating conjunctions (because, although, when, and so on). Be wary, too, of relative pronouns such as who, which, and that. These introduce clauses that can bloat a sentence if you're not careful.
• Pare down the phrases. Is your sentence a maze of commas separating a multitude of modifying phrases? Such intricacy may earn points in a literary contest, but in business writing your goal is to be clear and to the point. Cut, divide, and eliminate extraneous material to make each sentence clean and easily understandable.

You can learn more about sentences beginning on page 152 in in Write for Business: A Compact Guide to Writing and Communicating in the Workplace, just one of the many helpful business-writing materials from UpWrite Press.

- Joyce Lee

If you're like most people, English classes in middle school and high school were pretty much a drag. Time and again you were assigned to read some decades-old novel and write a report on its symbolism, and chances are your papers came back with nothing but red marks about grammar and punctuation errors. As a result, you learned to hate "Literature" and believe that writing is a loathsome chore. Heck, I have a degree in English, and I tend to feel that way about classroom writing.

Which is sad, because reading and writing are merely two facets of language, and language is a jewel that belongs to everyone.

So let's forget about literature and writing for a moment, and just consider language.

Each of us learns to speak quite naturally at an early age. Toddlers chatter away, all cheerful, without any self-consciousness. They quickly learn to adapt to exceptions to grammar rules ("You saw a doggy, Sal, not seen it."), without feeling chastised. Conversing is a pleasure.

Next, we encounter books. Children's books are such a joy! I still remember reading and rereading Go, Dog. Go! and If I Ran the Zoo as a child. There is an excitement in learning to write our names, too, and sending those first few letters to Grandma. Part of what makes this reading and writing so natural is that it's self-centered. Which is to say, we care about it. It matters to us.

Research shows that even as adults, we have much more success writing about something that matters to us. We're hoping to communicate something to someone else, which is exactly what language is all about. But remember, language is only a tool for the task of communication.

And this is where most of our English teachers "done us wrong" (to borrow a common Blues refrain). First, they tried to make the tool more important than the task. Second, they required us to write about things that mattered to them, not so much to us. And finally, they didn't even join us in writing: Their comments on our papers were perfunctory, and they certainly didn't provide the sort of interactive workshop common to other craft classes. Think about any art, music, or even woodworking classes you took, and how much more hands-on the instructor was - how little lecture occurred.

Our English teachers tried to steal our birthright, tried to rob us of our ownership of language. Ah, but we can settle that old score. How, you ask?

First, go read a book. Read even something difficult, and don't let the ghost of old English teachers lurk over your shoulder. Reading should be private time between just you and the author, having a chat, the author doing most of the talking, but you raising questions as you go, waiting for answers to be revealed. (If you remember, reading as a child was sometimes difficult, but the wonderful discoveries outweighed the unknown words, and you grew. Reading as an adult should be the same.)

Second, quit believing that you don't know how to write. Writing is really just speaking on paper. Even better, after a first draft you can go back and change what you say, which isn't possible with regular speech. And remember, spelling and grammar don't matter until the very end, like brushing the lint from a suit. Plus, it's fair to ask for help if these are not your forte. (I'm betting Donald Trump doesn't spell-check his own work.)

Our English teachers may have done us wrong, but that doesn't mean we can't move on and have a beautiful relationship with our language. Here's wishing you the best.

- Les

My workstation is a quiet place. As I type these words, all I hear is the dull hum of my computer monitor and the faint ticking of a clock behind me. These are suitable acoustics for a writer. Or at least I think so. But listening to the seconds' hand go tick and tock reminded me of a writing challenge a friend of mine recently encountered where the sound of time passing by wouldn't be so pleasing.

Smack in the middle of a job interview, my friend was given 30 minutes to respond to a writing prompt. She was interviewing for a job in retail pharmacy, a profession in which writing is not often thought of as a required skill set, so she was a bit caught off guard.

Apparently on-site writing tests are gaining popularity as an interview assessment tool for all fields of work, even for jobs that don't often deal with writing. In most cases, the objective of the test is not so much to assess your writing aptitude but to see how well you can communicate ideas, respond to deadline pressure, and deal with unanticipated workplace assignments.

My friend noted the last time she performed on-demand (timed) writing was for an AP English exam in high school. I'm sure many of you are in the same boat. Just as I'm sure the very thought of receiving a writing assignment during a job interview sounds as agreeable as a trip to the DMV or listening to a Lady Gaga album. Thankfully, there are simple strategies you can make use of to make on-demand writing less stressful and the writing product more successful.

Here are five easy steps for taking timed writing tests:

1. Consider how much time you have. Formulate your response based on the time limit. For example, if you have 30 minutes, you will need to budget less time on planning and revising than you would with a 60-minute time limit. For a 30-minute time limit, I suggest setting aside five minutes for planning, twenty minutes for writing, and five minutes for revising.
2. Analyze the prompt. What is the subject of the prompt? What is it asking of you? What audience will most likely read your response?
3. Develop a plan. Before you begin writing, take some time to plan your response. What is your main feeling or thesis regarding the subject? How can you support your view? Consider organizing your ideas and support in a quick outline or numbered list.
4. Relax and write. Focus on getting your ideas down in an organized manner rather than stressing over the perfect word or skillfully crafted sentence. Begin by stating your thesis or main idea. From there, develop body paragraphs based on ideas that support your thesis.
5. Revise for clarity and content. Save enough time to read over your work. Remember, your prompt will be evaluated on clarity and content. So don't sweat the small stuff. Do change any spelling or glaring grammar errors.

Fingers, up! Looks like my time is up for this blog post. Now I'll hand it over to you: Have any of you encountered a timed writing test at work or in a job interview? What strategies worked best for you? As always, comments are welcomed.

- Tim Kemper

Want your writing to not only present information but also make it sing (and sell)? Then strengthen your sentences. If they engage your reader, and keep your reader engaged, you can be assured your message will get across. Here are some tips for strengthening your sentences by varying their construction.

• Vary sentence length. Use short, punchy sentences to grab your reader's attention or make a quick point, while letting longer, more complex sentences carry the meat of your message.
• Vary sentence openings. Avoid the plain old "subject-verb" habit and enhance impact and interest by using modifying words, phrases, or clauses to open your sentences.
• Vary sentence types. Make your point with declarative sentences, but pique the reader's interest with questions, commands, and conditional statements. On occasion, pepper in a few fragments and exclamatory sentences to add impact.
• Vary sentence arrangements. Place your main point at different places within the sentence. Beginning with the main point gives it direct importance, while ending with it allows you to build up to it. Or, if you would rather cushion or elaborate the point, surround it with modifiers, tucking it somewhere in the middle of the sentence.

They say variety is the spice of life, and it can certainly invigorate your writing.

You can learn more about creating sentences beginning on page 255 in Write for Business: A Compact Guide to Writing and Communicating in the Workplace, just one of the many helpful business-writing materials from UpWrite Press.

- Joyce Lee

"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free."

- Michelangelo

When it comes right down to it, writing is a lot like marble sculpting. The sculptor starts by sketching, the writer by jotting down ideas and arranging an outline (at least a rough list). The sculptor turns the sketches into finished plans from various angles; the writer generates a first draft.

Now comes the real work. The sculptor tackles the marble itself, chipping away everything that doesn't match the drawings. During the process, properties of this particular block of stone may require adaptation - whether to avoid a flaw or take advantage of a previously undiscovered beauty. In some cases, a limb may have to be sculpted from a separate piece of stone and attached, to make the sculpture work. Similarly, the writer must evaluate the first draft, looking for weak spots and unpredicted strengths. Some parts may have to be trimmed, others added, to suit the unfolding sense of purpose and meet the audience's needs.

Once the overall shape of a sculpture or piece of writing has been finalized, the work of polishing can begin. Surface details such as the contour of tendons and veins can be brought out in the stone; specific sentence structures and word choices can be adapted in the writing to improve the voice. Finally, last bits of roughness are buffed from the statue, as a spell check and grammar check look for surface imperfections in the writing.

I'd only argue that Michelangelo should have said "an angel" rather than "the angel." An infinite number of angels could reside within any single block of stone, though the sculptor's work can reveal only one. In a like fashion, a piece of writing has nearly infinite possibilities when the writer starts, but each decision along the way - informed by the reader's needs - narrows the writing's focus, leading to a specific result.

What do you think? Has the angel in this essay been effectively revealed? Would you express the writing process differently? What metaphor might work better? I'd love to hear your comments.

- Lester Smith

Photo: Justus Hayes / Shoes on Wires / shoesonwires.com