The Art of Business Writing

30 years of hurt: why Plain English isn't enough

The Plain English Campaign is 30 today. I dread to think how much turgid corporate prose they've had to wade through in that time. They've done a great job, and those of us helping organisations with language need all the allies we can find, but there's a problem.

Sure, there's a lot of rubbish still being written in the name of customer and employee communication, and no-one would expect the PEC to put everything right even in 30 years. It's the target, the aspiration that is troubling: plain english.

While the good fight is being fought against over-complication and obscure vocabulary there's a greater good we can all aim for. Why shouldn't the language of business be rich, entertaining and memorable? Clear is good; dull is not.

So, no apologies from me for coming back to a theme I've covered before. While some can only hope to be plain, do what you can to stick out from the crowd - use language that's alive.

Writing a good opening

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that writing in possession of a good message, must be in want of a strong opening.

OK, so it’s a clumsy version of one of the most famous opening lines in fiction*, but the intent is valid. It doesn’t matter how good a story you have to tell, how valuable your offers are, or how insightful your opinions, if your opening lines are poor the good things that follow may never get read.

Openings have three functions:

• grabbing attention. Readers, and particularly busy ones, are always asking themselves whether they are interested in reading on, whether they have better things to do. Anything you produce has to pass this test;

• setting up what comes later. It’s tempting to draw a reader in with something compelling or very topical … but completely unconnected with what follows. Don’t do it. At best it’s naff; at worst, it’s misleading and trust-breaking. Concentrate on making a bold statement or raising an intriguing question that a reader will want to see you support or resolve;

• first impressions. Like a handshake or that head-to-toe glance to take in what someone’s wearing, your opening creates a first impression that will colour your reader’s perception of what you say thereafter. Don’t be afraid to use a bit of personality to start building a relationship, and be interested in your reader if you want them to be interested in you. Remember you should be writing as if to a single reader, so what works in a social setting works in print.

The last thing I’ll say here about openings is that you don’t have to write them first. Get the bulk of the writing done then create the best opening you can. The greatest authors do it; so can you.

* It’s no accident that I picked the opening of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to illustrate the importance of how to begin a piece of writing. Austen makes a bold statement that “a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” No messing about there. The idea is the centrepiece of the whole book and isn’t just an attention-grabbing headline. We know quickly what we’re in for, in both style and substance, and what follows does not disappoint. We can all learn from the best.

Stephen Fry: Let it all hang out

If there is one person in the public eye who you'd have down as a language pedant, it would be His Wordship Stephen Fry. Classically educated and erudite, surely he would be first in line to smite apostrophe-abusers everywhere. Well, it turns out that's not the case, and everyone in business should listen to what he has to say.

In a recent podcast, Fry berates the punctuation-whingers and grammar-grumps for nit-picking their way into our attitudes to language. Instead of being intimidated by the fear of getting something wrong, he says, we should be embracing the richness of the english language. And there's no writing in more need of enrichment than business writing.

The unforgiveable wrong committed in most business communication is that all the life is squeezed out of this vast and colourful language we share. More importantly for business, it's commercially disastrous too.

If you use pity or boredom to underpin your sales pitch, doing the writing equivalent of standing quietly in the corner of the room or muttering business-like phrases to anyone passing, good luck to you. People are attracted to the interesting, the interested, those with personality and something different to say.

So build your business with language that entrances, excites and entertains, and remember:

• be clear to be understood

• be interesting to be remembered.

Writing with colour - will any hue do?

As Tom pointed out in an earlier comment, it's important to have colour in writing. Dullness just gives your reader another reason to go elsewhere, and few of us have the luxury of a tied reader.

But what is colour, and will any hue do?

The answer is no. Think decor and you will get the general idea of what is good and what isn't:

• colour should highlight and not obscure: the more people notice the colour, the less they notice your theme. Don't overdo it and you will attract the right kind of attention.
• choose well: a little bit of thought can bring out a phrase or description that's a good fit and says something about you. Pick up the obvious roll of woodchip or pot of magnolia and you'll do your writing a disservice.
• try not to mix your decoration too much: a bit of coordination between the images you use or the similes you employ can give nice balance to a piece's readability. Try it and see what happens.

So, no colouring by numbers. Look for opportunities to add something extra to what you write and you will make your writing your own.

Like pulling hen's teeth

On the radio this evening a guy was commenting on the difficulty of reaching consensus on some contentious industrial relations issue: "it's like pulling hen's teeth," he said.

Now being interviewed live on the radio is not an easy way to pass a few minutes, so I'm not criticising the interviewee for his slip. What's worth pointing out though is that similes and metaphors may seem attractive shortcuts to get your point across but they are easy to mess up.

In this case, "pulling teeth" is fine as a way of conveying something that's difficult to make happen. It's a bit old-fashioned now, not least because pulling teeth is anything but difficult.

"Hen's teeth" though are about rarity, and while the idea of combining difficulty and rarity is attractive it just ends up sounding a bit muddled. Not a great brand statement.

Better to keep it simple, say "it's hard", and leave it at that.

Writers' Block

This blog's been on a break, so I thought I'd start the month with a piece on writer's block.

Block is cited by many creatives as a reason for not being able to write when they want or need to. It's not the preserve of fiction writers though: anyone who writes regularly can find themselves unable to get the words out. So is block a useful description and what can it tell us about how to get round the problem?

In my opinion, writer's block isn't a terribly helpful term. It suggests a single cause and a single solution, neither of which is true.  If you're having trouble writing, you have to be more specific about what's not working. The next time you're struggling, try these diagnises and the corresponding techniques to get back on track.

You don't know what to write about (1): Ask the question whether you really have a writing need first. If there are no ideas burning their way out, then that's a message you need to listen to. However, any creative stimulus will help you come up with some new ideas. I'll do more on this in a later post, but for now try the free writing method - write whatever comes into your head for 3 minutes, with absolutely no self-editing. See where it takes you.

You don't know what to write about (2): Perhaps you have too many ideas and don't know which one to go with first. Well, thank your lucky stars then write down the first five ideas that spring to mind. There's a reason they were the first five out ...

You don't know how to start: Then don't start at the beginning. There's no law that says you have to start any writing with the first sentence. Start anywhere you like then fill the gaps.

You don't think you're good enough: Self-criticism is a very destructive mental process, but it's just that. It's only you telling yourself that what you're about to write is rubbish. So what do you know? Let others be the judge of the quality of what you write, learn from any feedback you get, and keep getting better. Not writing, just in case it's not good enough, is a crime.

Keep writing, all the time, and you won't go too far wrong.

Is it worth getting the words on your website done professionally?

I had a call from a prospective client this morning. He had been referred to me enthusisatically by a mutual colleague and was considering whether to invest in professional copywriting support. His business already had a website that was working OK but he felt there was more that could be done.

When we'd first spoken a couple of months ago, he'd been clear that he would be testing the return on any copywriting investment he made before making any significant commitment. Using Google Analytics he intended to compare the performance of the new homepage I would put together with the current page and the results would determine whether he would proceed further.

Today's call was about the results of that test. All of his measures of success had improved with the new page: visits, click-throughs, conversions to calls etc. "Ten out of ten" was his assessment of the impact that the copywriting had had. So we're getting down to work on the rest of the site and a long term relationship is in the offing.

Good copywriting makes a real difference to the success of a website. Don't be afraid to test the quality of any writing that's done for you, but don't be tempted into thinking that any old words will do. You don't know how much business you might be missing out on.

Treat what you write like an exclusive club

I'm editing an article written by a consultant. He clearly knows his subject and the structure of the piece is absolutely fine. His problem, and it's a common one, is that he uses too many words. To be precise, he uses too many unnecessary words.

If you want your reader to understand what you are saying, give them the space to think and absorb your words. Telling them twice in the same sentence, repeating yourself, or saying the same thing in different ways, doesn't help. See what I mean?

Editing is a really important step in any writing (I will keep coming back to this subject in future blogs). For now, I'll look at one aspect. When you are rereading what you have written, only keep words that deserve their place. George Orwell suggested that writers should take out every adjective they've written and only put back the ones that are absolutely necessary. For a business piece, try taking out words and phrases in the longer sentences and see what effect that has. Unless your meaning evaporates like taxis on a rainy night, leave them out.

So treat the words you use like members of an exclusive club. No deadbeats or freeloaders, just those that add value and you couldn't do without. If your writing has an open house policy, get some bouncers on the door before it's too late.

Grammar isn't something to be afraid of

There will be some who will feel the urge to correct that title: surely, it should be " ... something of which to be afraid"? Well, no.

It was only yesterday that I heard the latest book on correct grammar being plugged on the radio (My Grammar and I by Caroline Taggart). Now I have no objection to books like these (I'm working on a practical grammar e-book ...), but there is a problem.

The message that we are fed regularly is that there are two types of grammar (right and wrong) and two types of people (grammar pedants and stupid). It's no wonder that people are wary of writing.

The most important thing about writing is meaning. Grammar and punctuation are there to make meaning clear. If you concentrate on that, you won't go too far wrong. So yes, people were once taught not to leave prepositions (like "of") at the end of sentences. But did you struggle to understand what I was saying? I didn't think so.

Don't be put off by a fear of getting it wrong. Just make yourself understood.

It's not the length that counts

How long should a sentence be? Six months? Ten years? Fifteen to life?

So what's the crime? Trying to say that, in certain situations, there is a "correct" number of words for the space between the opening capital letter and full stop of the grammatical unit we call a sentence. And believe me, there are those who would have you think that certain types of writing (let's say website copy) benefit from "sentences of about 20 words."

There is only one thing to remember when it comes to sentence length: variety.

It would not surprise me if it emerged that the CIA has an advanced form of torture involving the reading out of hundreds of sentences that are all the same length and rhythm. Think you could take it? Here's a test.

"I am going to tell you how to be successful in your business. It is a foolproof method that anyone can follow. There's no catch and nothing to pay upfront. In the pages that follow I'm going to explain how it works. You have to read every sentence for the system to succeed. There are about 500 of these sentences and they are all like this. Lose interest once and you will definitely fail. ..."

OK, OK, I'll tell you anything you want to know! Life is just too short to have to put up with that. Much better to keep your reader interested by simply varying the number of words you use. Shorter sentences can be really effective. Longer sentences are useful for developing ideas, building lists or to highlight what follows. Like this. Easy.

However you do it, vary your sentence length to keep your reader active. It'll be good for both of you.