Things Writers Do, Part 1: Write What They Know

"Write about what you know," said one of my college professors.

What was that supposed to mean? I admitted only to my 20-year-old self that I didn't know much at the time. So what can I write about? That advice was not much of a help for someone who wanted to be a writer.

It turns out I knew more than I thought, and so does anyone who has lived to age 20 and reflected on the comings and goings in their life: the mild trauma of a sudden argument between our parents, siblings, or friends; our helplessness in an unexpected confrontation with a police officer, principal, or little league coach, principal, or police officer; an embarrassing realization that we never had thought of the proper name of a tree, flower, or plant we see every day; our overwhelming sense of impotence when standing on a mountaintop and encountering what a tiny part of the universe we are; the inexplicable rapture that overcomes us when breathing the ocean air; the oneness with humanity that pervades our being when gazing at a crowded terminal, park, or stadium; the fear we felt of a neighborhood bully, or the shame when recalling we ourselves were bullying; the abject despair of losing a dying family member or of saying goodbye to a beloved friend who will leave us for a long while; our laser-like focus on the ceiling tiles to forget the dentist's drilling of our tooth. 

We have plenty to write about because we know a lot.

Am I Supposed to Know What That Means?

A little bit of thoughtfulness goes a long way for business and technical writers. Are you unsure of what some of these terms mean?

• adze (from carpentry)
• anaphylaxis (from medicine)
• capias mittimus (from law)
• consist (from railroad)
• critical path method (from project management)
• metacognition (from education)
• phenotype (from biology)
• recidivism (from corrections)

If you don't know them all, and even if you do, remember to define your technical terms for unfamiliar readers the next time you write.

Tips from Fiction Writers

Whether you are a serious novelist, dramatist, poet, journalist, memoirist, or business writer, you will find the Twenty Writing Tips from Fiction Authors helpful. Suggestions like "Read everything you can lay your hands on" and "Protect the time and space in which you write" are timeless, inspirational, and practical.   

How to Get to My Webinars

Since I often get the question about where my webinars are available online, I have decided to share some of those key places:

• Audit Report Writing by Bank Webinars
• Business Writing for Financial Professionals by Audio Solutionz
• How to Write a Darn Good Email by American Management Association
• How to Write Fast When It's Due Yesterday by American Management Association 
• Technical Writing Essentials by Compliance Global
• Writing High-Impact Executive Summaries by Train HR

Other webinar sites are available for the asking.

What's a MOOC?

Coursera and EdX, premier sites of practical massive open online courses (MOOCs), offer several helpful full-semester writing courses. If you want to sharpen your writing skills conveniently and inexpensively, you can start here:

Coursera

• Getting Started with Essay Writing
• Grammar and Punctuation
• High-Impact Business Writing
• Write Professional Emails in English

EdX

• Academic and Business Writing
• English Composition: Research and Writing

The Courage (or Insanity) of Using Active Voice

Auditors can be in a tricky position when auditing the very people who pay them. We often hear that active voice is better than passive. But which of these sentences would you choose when writing to a client you are auditing?

Active: The CFO directs Accounts Payable to withhold vendor checks until 30 days past the due date.

Passive: Vendor checks are withheld until 30 days past the due date.

Of course, the active version is clearer because it indicates the guilty party, but you might want to choose the more diplomatic passive version in this case—unless you want your check to be withheld until 60 days past the due date. 

Focus Your Purpose, Part 2: Make It One Sentence

Regardless of its length, a business message should have only one purpose. This means we do not want to split our purpose among different sentences. Here is an example of an unfocused purpose:

This document describes the protocol for Procedure X. It also ensures operational safety and efficiency.

The writer seems to believe the messages has a dual purpose, to describe a protocol and to achieve two operational benefits. But the benefits are actually the result of following the protocol. The purpose would have been more focused if he had written one of these sentences:

This protocol for Procedure X ensures operational safety and efficiency.

To ensure operational safety and efficiency, follow this protocol for Procedure X.

Follow this protocol for Procedure X to ensure operational safety and efficiency. 

Building on the previous WORDS ON THE LINE post, the idea is start the message with the purpose, and to assert it in one sentence.