I’ve been professionally writing nearly all my adult life. And in that time I reckon I have learned a thing or two about the subject.
I’ve also heard (and read) people who have made the subject of writing sound incredibly complex and difficult. You know – special workshops on writing emails, others on preparing reports, more on writing for the web, others on writing feature articles. (And yes, I’ve run a few of those myself!)
But when you boil it all down, there are only a few key steps in any type of writing. Here they are.
1. Who are you writing for?
It doesn’t matter if the audience for your writing is your boss, everyone in your organisation, the public or just your Mum. Your very first step when considering your writing is to think about your audience.
You need to identify the audience, and then carefully consider what it is they want in the piece of writing you are preparing.
Now that might sound rather an obvious starting position, but time and time again I have seen people starting from the other end. They think about the information they have and what they need to include. Then they segue into the structure of the writing (you know, what they’ll put first) and then how they’ll present it.
But none of that matters if you’re not writing for your audience! In fact, if you take the approach of starting with the content and not the audience, you’re most likely to be writing for yourself….
2. What’s important?
Any subject has more information available about it.
Any subject at all.
So by definition, you can never include everything about that subject in your written communication!
Instead, you need to decide which are the most important points to communicate.
Now said quickly that sounds easy, but you can also think of this another way. Before you can decide on the most important points to communicate, you must have sufficient knowledge of the topic to actually be in a position to make that decision. That’s why real experts in their area can communicate so clearly – they know what to leave out.
When considering what to write, ask yourself this question: do I really know what is important and what is not?
3. Which triangle?
In most written communications you can take one of two structural approaches: you can build up to your main points in a sequence of statements, or you can present your main points first and then use the rest of the communication to justify and support them.
A piece of writing that builds up the main points can be thought of as a flat-bottomed triangle – the content ‘meat’ is in the lower half.
On the other hand, if you present your main points first, the story is more like an inverted triangle – the meaty stuff is at the top.
One approach is not always better than the other; it depends on your audience and content.
So if you are writing an email suggesting that a certain procedure be adopted, you’re usually better off putting the suggestions first (“inverted triangle”). Emails are short communications; people who receive them want to quickly get to the nitty-gritty.
But if you’re writing longer material that is designed to communicate concepts that are new to the reader, putting the outcomes first will be confusing. This is because the reader will be lost as soon as they begin. In this case, you’re better off starting with ideas that the reader already understands and then building on that established base (that is, a triangle “up the right way”).
4. How formal?
The final major decision to make is in the degree of formality to use in the writing.
Some people have difficulty in recognising (and creating) writing in different styles but it’s easy if you think of spoken language. Every one of us speaks differently in different social situations – think of the language you’d use in a job interview, presenting to a meeting at work, saying hello to colleagues as you arrive Monday morning, talking to your partner in bed, and when you hit your thumb with a hammer!
In these situations not only are the words different, but so also is the tone and how the sentences are linked.
If you can talk in different styles, you can also write in different styles.
The degree of formality is the most difficult decision to make, but it is eased if you go back to point #1 – your audience. Read out loud in your head the words you’ve written and imagine the response of the audience. Would they feel at ease – or would there be shuffles of discomfort and frowns? Would the degree of formality be a turn-off? Is the degree of formality obscuring your message – the thing you’re actually trying to communicate?
And if in doubt about the degree of formality to use, ask as many people as is appropriate.
Conclusion
Considering your audience, picking what is important, deciding on the structure and picking the right degree of formality.
Yes, just four steps to improving your writing…. any type of writing!
One-day courses by Julian in writing are available through Acorn Training and Consulting.
Filed under: Articles on writing
