Tips for Effective Writing

By Susan Regier

In the competitive world of business today it is imperative that all your written work be accurate and concise. Whether it’s sales letters, brochures, newsletters, or daily correspondence, clients and prospects will measure your company’s professionalism by the quality of your marketing material.

• Keep your writing simple and easy to read.
  
  
• Vary sentence length and structure.
  
  
• Use active voice whenever possible. A passive voice slows the pace and the reader.
  Active voice: Our company produces ten thousand widgets each month.
  Passive voice: Ten thousand widgets are produced each month by our company.
  
  
• Use positive statements.
  
  Positive: As a leader in total home security, Trusty Alarms can protect your investment.
  Negative: No other security company can protect your investment like Trusty Alarms.
  
  
• Keep verb tenses consistent and understandable. Common verb tense errors: I should have went to their office yesterday. [should have gone] The dog has bit the boy seriously. [has bitten]
  
  
• Use strong nouns and verbs to eliminate as many adjectives and adverbs as possible. Write to "express," not "impress" the reader. If the right word is long, use it, but if a shorter word will do, use the shorter word.
  
  
• Ensure that your words can’t be misinterpreted; e.g., The senior citizens were reluctant to book their holiday to the "hot" destination described by the travel agent.
  
  
• Get to the point and finish. Never state the obvious as it wastes words; e.g., never begin a sentence with "I am writing you…" of course you are, start right in.
  
  
• Avoid wishy-washy openings; e.g., Do you like…
  
  
• Avoid cliches. Tired expressions such as "a good time was had by all" are annoying and lack creativity.
  
  
• Write the way you talk. Keep the tone conversational, but grammatical. Read everything out loud.
  
  
• If you stumble over a word or phrase – revise it.
  
  
• Proofread for spelling and grammatical errors.
  

Susan Regier is the publisher/editor of Networking Today and owner of Vantage One Writing, a professional writing service for businesses. (519) 471-8726 E-mail: regiers@vantageone.ca Web site: www.vantageone.ca