Excerpt from a previously published SDA article:
Are you still writing “Enclosed please find . . .”? Please stop. It’s old fashioned and you wouldn’t talk that way. [You] won’t find one writing consultant that will tell you it’s okay to write like that. Just ask Mannie Sherberg. He presented a session on business writing, at the SDA Leadership 2001 conference.
What It Is
- Good business writing is clear, concise and conversational, and you can test for all three of these.
- For clarity, ask yourself: “Is my intended reader likely to understand what I’ve written, fully and accurately, after reading it just once?”
- For conciseness, ask: Is every word I’ve used necessary to get my message across, and has every unnecessary word been omitted?”
- For conversationalism, ask: “Could I say this out loud without feeling foolish?”
- If the answer is no, something’s wrong. How can you fix what’s wrong? Apply “The Writer’s Daily Dozen.”
How To Do It
To write clearly, concisely and conversationally, apply The Writer’s Daily Dozen every time you write.
- Use everyday language
- Favor short sentences
- Favor active sentences
- Use verbs in place of nouns
- Use the right words
- Use precise words
- Omit useless words
- Avoid redundancy
- Avoid squishy terms
- Unstring your nouns
- Arrange your words carefully
- Think
The most important daily dozen is thinking. All good writing begins with clear thinking, continues with clear thinking, and ends with clear thinking. Mannie says “Since writing is thinking on paper (or on a computer screen), you’ll write better if you know what to think about.”
Thinking About It
Who is my reader? What is my message? Is what I’ve written clear? Can the reader understand all of it with only one read-through? Is what I’ve written concise? Does it contain only necessary ideas and are those ideas expressed only in necessary words? Is what I’ve written conversational? Does it sound natural and flow smoothly when read aloud?
Hey, you’re still not writing “Enclosed please find . . . “, are you?
