Tip One

Business people often think, “I can’t write.” But anyone can write, and business writing is easier than fiction – you will not be competing with Leo Tolstoy. Your task is simple: tell someone about something clearly and concisely.

ElectricSun will post writing tips from time to time, but the biggest difference in your writing can come from intuitive tools that do not require study. For example, if you have to write something, follow these steps:

  1. Brainstorm. Sit alone or with colleagues involved and make an outline or mind map of what you want to say, why, and how. This exercise will result in the DNA or blueprint of your masterpiece.
  2. Write. Now that your mind has a clear roadmap, start driving. Write without editing, but get all your points in.
  3. Edit. Condense, move things around, check your grammar, syntax, and wording, think of more original words or phrases than the clichés or jargon that may have slipped in, and generally tidy things up. Then put it aside for an hour or more.
  4. Edit Again. Your goal this round is to reduce the content to half its original words while giving it twice the punch. Eliminate most of your adjectives and adverbs – 90% of them are padding. Change expressions like, “at this point in time,” to “now.” Again, put it aside for an hour or more.
  5. Edit one Last Time. You’ll know just what to do this round.

Try it. You’ll find you have writing skills after all.

Writing is the most satisfying and useful of art forms because we communicate through words. The ability to express yourself clearly, to put concepts and abstractions - from love to economics - into words, gives you an advantage in every aspect of life. This includes public speaking. Sir Winston Churchill said that he learned to speak well by learning to write well.