Today I launch Purple Ink Writing web-site and this is my first article. I dedicate this site to accidental writers, those who:
- don’t have degrees in linguistics,
- would never refer to themselves as “writers”, and yet
- spend most of their working hours producing or reviewing documents: emails, reports, requirements specifications, proposals, project charters, marketing plans, presentation decks, methodologies, manuals, and the list goes on.
Most people with office jobs can proudly call themselves accidental writers. We did not sign up for it, and yet, here we are – typing away, reading, reviewing, and responding. We may love it, hate it, or have mixed feelings about it, but we can’t deny that writing plays an important role in our life.
In my years of working in consulting, I’ve written countless documents for, and with, many different people, been exposed to a wide variety of communication styles and requirements, and had the opportunity to see great communicators in action. Here are some things about writing I’ve observed:
- most people do not enjoy writing and try to spend as little time doing it as possible, often at the expense of quality;
- a lot of people don’t realize or are in denial of how their writing skills, or lack of those, affect their career and work relationships;
- there is a widespread (and false) belief that technical skills and knowledge can compensate for the lack of communication skills, including writing.
Yet, on the other hand:
- nobody likes to read a sloppily written document;
- people cringe at the sight of bad format, typos, grammar and spelling mistakes; and
- almost every job posting calls for “excellent written communication skills”.
As the basic laws of economics (and common sense) dictate, when demand is high and the supply is low, it’s the seller’s market and the product should be priced at a premium. The prevailing sentiments of fear and avoidance of writing combined with the great demand for clear, concise, and engaging communication create an opportunity for good writers. Unfortunately, this opportunity remains mostly unexplored – most of us would rather spend time and energy dreading writing or thinking of how we could delegate/outsource/avoid it, than write or learn about how we can write better. Why is that? Here are the top three reasons:
- many times, work writing is boring – when you write because you have to (and not because you want to), unless you really care about the topic, it is hard to get and stay excited;
- there is no “certified accidental writer” professional designation that the employers would look for on our resumes, which is why, when it comes to educational choices, most of us would rather take a course in accounting/finance/chemistry/law than spend time and money on learning about writing;
- it is hard to measure and quantify the benefits of having better communication skills – there are no writing tests to get a job, promotion or a salary increase.
So, given how unpopular business writing is, why did I choose to blog about it? The most important reason (drumroll, please!): I believe that written communication skills are important and do not get the attention they deserve.
If you share my belief in the importance of writing – hope the information on this site will keep you motivated and help you improve. If, on the other hand, you don’t think it really matters how you write – thank you for reading this far, and please hold that eyeroll just a bit longer, while I try to convince you that reading about business writing would be a good use of your time.
People form their opinions of you as a person, professional, and a colleague based on the many little impressions you make, and we make an impression every time we come in contact with others – verbally, over the phone, or in writing. So when someone reads a document you wrote, they will make conclusions about what you are like as a person. A poorly formatted document full of typos will be perceived as a sign that you lack attention to detail (or simply don’t care), and lack of logical structure may indicate to the readers that you can’t think clearly and/or don’t exactly know what you are saying.
You may say: “This is unfair! My writing skills have nothing to do with my character! I may not be a good writer, but I am still a great lawyer/accountant/banker/scientist! The readers should understand this and not make such conclusions about me.” And I agree. It is unfair and they shouldn’t. The problem is – they may not even realize they are judging you, since we can’t really control what’s happening in the back of our minds. If you count on your readers to be forgiving and think: “She is so nice, and really knows her stuff – it’s not a big deal that this document sucks, she was on a tight deadline and this was a really complicated assignment”, just think about the last time you had to read something that didn’t make much sense, and what you thought about the author.
The readers not only judge you, they also compare you with the other lawyers/accountants/bankers/scientists they know (or who report to them), who may not be better than you, but will look better if they write better than you.
The impact our writing has on our personal brand is amplified by the following two factors:
- writing lasts – people may forget things you say, but what you write may be around for a long time (in some cases, much longer than we would like);
- electronic documents can be quickly and easily distributed to a lot of people.
This is not a bad thing if you are a good writer, but may sound depressing if you know that your writing skills are not as good as they should be.
If you now think: “I will never make it because I hate writing and will never be good at it!” – do not despair! You don’t have to write like Hemingway, Shakespeare, or (insert the name of your favourite writer here) in order to be considered a good accidental writer. I want to help you become as good a writer as you need to be to achieve your career goals. If you hate doing something and can’t avoid it – get better at it. You will kill two birds with one stone:
- the more efficient you get, the less time and effort you will have to spend doing something you don’t enjoy;
- as you get better, you may discover that you don’t mind it as much, and may even begin to like it – as impossible as it may seem now, it could happen, and I speak from experience.
It feels great to see your name on the title page of a well-written document, and if you will be looking forward to putting your thoughts in writing, as opposed to dreading it, you just may like your job, and your life, even more.
| 2 Responses to "Why would anyone blog about business writing?????" |
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#1 | Ann | February 11, 2010 at 12:50
I hope you will post here some examples of successful reports and presentations. I am a business student and have read many books about writing, but would like to see "real" stuff. I am extremely scared of reporting to the management.
#2 | Judit Halin | February 13, 2010 at 09:37
Ann, thank you for your comment - it earned you a special place in Purple Ink Writing history as the first commenting visitor :) I am certainly planning to post generalized samples of various document types, including reports and presentations. Please continue to visit!