Write Better and Get Ahead At Work. Michael Dolan
You have no doubt noticed that freewriting is much different from your usual writing at work. For one thing, no one is looking over your shoulder. Freewriting is something just for you. No one approves it or offers criticism.
At work, however, the writing is different. Not only do people see it (and judge us), but also it is directed at a goal. We write because it is necessary. By learning how to write at work and knowing how to do it quickly and well, we increase both our productivity and our enjoyment.
Fast Tips for starting
1. Complete this sentence: “My reader will want to read my message because....”
2. Say it all in one 2-line sentence.
3. If you are having trouble starting, write down your goal first.
4. Write anything.
Today, more than ever, people at work must know how to write. Not just people who work at a desk. As computers enter the workplace, information becomes a larger share of each person’s daily job. Promotion to a supervisory or managerial position often requires more writing.
People are busier than ever before. With international competition affecting almost every part of society, the push for improved productivity becomes stronger.
We need to be able to write memos, letters and reports quickly, with a sense of accomplishment and confidence. Writing at work successfully means mastering the activity of writing rather than letting it control us.
Even those who gained strong writing skills in school find it necessary to learn the particular composition techniques used in today’s workplace. Although experience at writing stories or term papers is valuable in becoming an effective writer at work, these disciplines differ from writing memos, letters and reports in certain important ways.
Writing is also one of those fundamental human activities—such as sports or dancing — that require constant attention to maintain skills. Every person can write better. Even those who have mastered all the skills must try to write faster when they come to work.
Yet mastering the skills of language is not enough. Writing at work is goal oriented—it gets work done. The memo, letter or report is never the end product. At work we do not write for information alone. We write for action.
What I Like
The largest single change most people have to make in order to write effectively is to move from a passive to an active attitude. Instead of trying draft after draft to see if something “sounds right,” you must define precisely what you want to accomplish with each writing project.
To arrive at a written product that you like, you first must identify what you like. Think about the messages you have received. Which ones were readable? Which ones struck you just right? Which ones caused you to take the action the reader wanted you to take?
On a piece of paper, list at least five elements you feel make an effective memo, letter or report. (Writing means writing. Running an idea through your mind or “thinking about” five elements is not the same as listing them on paper. Getting into the habit of listing ideas, or outlining or taking notes on paper moves you closer to better writing.)
Reader Point of View
So far, we have discussed leaving out information or including it. Faced with the diverse amount of information coming to anyone’s workplace, how do you determine what information is useful for a particular piece of writing and what information is unnecessary? The reader will tell you.
You cannot understand the writing problem as either deciding what to put in or as selecting what to leave out. Both approaches are too narrow. Determining the most effective content means “selecting” among many conclusions, examples, anecdotes, recommendations and facts.
The most effective method of selecting what to include in your writing is to identify what interests the reader. Too often the wordy or clumsy message merely includes content that has no bearing on the reader; it is included only because it interests the writer.
To decide what content will most likely cause the reader to take the action you want, you must adopt the reader’s point of view. Taking the reader’s point of view is a personal attitude as well as a literary technique.
The following section lists three different versions of a message about recycling. Examine each closely for point of view. See how each subsequent rewrite gains strength and focus by shifting more toward the reader’s point of view. (Here is a tip: Writing from the writer’s point of view uses the words “I,” “we,” “us,” and “my.” Writing from the reader’s point of view includes the words “you” and “your.”)
Writing from the Reader Point of View
Writing from the reader’s point of view is an easy suggestion to accept. Everyone agrees with this notion when simply stated. However, when it actually comes time to write a memo, adapting your writing style to the reader is sometimes difficult to do.
Take a look at the three following passages, an original and two rewrites. Then we will discuss them.
Original Version
The company’s Recycling Implementation Committee has designed a survey to find out how we recycle and where we can improve. Recycling is one of the major issues we face today. The survey is due back to the committee by the end of the month.
First Rewrite
The Recycling Implementation Committee has decided the best way to recycle at this company is to find out how we recycle already. Once we have responses from all the offices, we can better determine how recycling will help you. We need your answers by the end of the month.
Second Rewrite
To determine the best recycling program for your office, we need to know what you want to do and what works in your office already. This survey from the Recycling Implementation Committee will be used to learn what works now and what you think will work in the future. Let us have your ideas by the end of the month.
The first version, typical of many memos, is about the company’s Recycling Implementation Committee. It reads as if it were written by a member of the committee who wants people to know what his or her committee is doing. It adopts a complete writer point of view.
Compare the original to the first rewrite. The first rewrite is about the committee’s decision on the best way to recycle. It moves closer to a reader point of view. Instead of being about just the committee, it is about something the committee has done to affect the reader.
So a close analysis will demonstrate point view–reader or writer or somewhere in between. However, there is a faster way to determine point of view, one that will work quickly for you at work. Let’s look again at the first two passages to identify the personal words. Those are the words, usually pronouns, which refer specifically to a person.
In the original version, all the personal words are “we,” an indication of total writer point of view. The first rewrite includes “we” several times but also contains “you,” a reader point of view word.
Now we have a quick way to measure the point of view in any passage of writing. Count the personal words.
Writer point of view words: I, we, us, me, mine, our, and the rest of the pronouns referring to the writer.
Reader point of view words: you, your, yourself. Language has a lot more words for “me” than for “you.” Another excellent reader point of view word is the reader’s name.
With this method for measuring point of view, let’s look at the second rewrite. Count the personal words.
Reader point of view: 5, your, you, your,