✏️ 10 business writing tips
CoFounder Weekly: December 6, 2020
CoFounder Weekly is a newsletter about startup life, etc.
This week’s issue is a list of 10 business writing tips by Simone Stolzoff. It’s actionable. Concise. And helpful!
My colleagues asked me to put together a presentation on what makes good business writing.
Naturally, I plagiarized most of it from writers much better than me.
10 writing tips 🧵👇
1. Prune.
Don’t write “He was very happy” when you can write “He was happy.” You think the word “very” adds something. It doesn’t.
I love this @glichfield quote on the value of concision.
2. If you can, always use the shorter, simpler word.
- Help rather than facilitate
- Use rather than utilize
- Start rather than commence
Here's @ScottAdamsSays on the value of short sentences. The same applies to words.
3. Use inclusive language.
This applies to gender and pronouns, but also idioms, acronyms, and jargon. Language should invite people in, not leave people out.
Here's @courtneyseiter:
4. Own your words.
Good writing doesn't hedge. Phrases like "I think" or "maybe" soften your impact.
@om on the value of simple, persuasive arguments.
5. Write short declarative sentences.
When I was a budding journalist, I asked @CaseyNewton for the best piece of writing advice he had ever received. Without skipping a beat, this is what he said.
Every time you write "and," ask yourself whether you can put a period instead.
6. The goal of the first sentence is to get people to read the second.
We've all heard the importance of a hook. But this logic extends to the entire piece.
I love the way Trey Parker and Matt Stone frame it here.
7. Create conflict.
The simplest definition of a story is a person with a problem. Without a problem, there is no story.
Behold the Pixar storytelling madlib.
8. The key to great writing is shitty first drafts.
Good writing is 80% editing and 20% deciding what to say. Get the draft done.
Love this @HarryGuinness quote: "Writing offers us one of the rare chances in life at a do-over: to get it right and say what we meant this time."
9. Know what your next sentence is going to be before you stop writing.
This is my favorite nugget in the set. Writing is about momentum. One of the best things you can do to keep your momentum going on a long-term project is to leave yourself on a cliffhanger.
10. People don’t care about you; they care about themselves.
Cynical, sure. But the #1 thing you can do before you start writing anything is ask yourself: Who are my readers and what do they care about? That's the million-dollar question.
More here:
Das it! I guess my bonus piece of advice is to get an editor.
Nothing has improved my writing as much as talented editors like @HeatherLandy @vauhinivara @shoshanaberger @pardesoteric @MattQuinn16 @janinezacharia @georgiafrancesk @jennifer_maerz.
✏️✏️✏️,
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