On writing effectively

On writing effectively

Jorge Carrero

26.128.418 

Written communication is essential in many aspects of our professional lives. It provides the formality and structure needed in communication in businesses and organizations, and it is far more effective than speech at communicating complex concepts and instructions. Also given it's permanent nature, it is the natural means to convey information when dealing with legal matters.

The effectiveness of any piece of writing in conveying a message will depend in no small part in the competence of the author as far as writting is concerned. Any piece of written content must be cohesive and have the ideas its trying to transmit properly organized into sequences of sentences. To achieve this I recommend 5 practical rules to use in your writing,that have helped me tremendouly in developing my ability to express myself trough the written word.

• Treat any text you write like prose. Before commiting to a letter or email, or anything that you write, review your text: spelling, content, punctuation. Ask yourself: What am I attempting to communicate? What am I attempting to express? Be more deliberate with your writing
• Words are tools. Expand your vocabulary to make your writing more precise. There’s no need to use a ten-dollar word when a ten-cent word will suffice, but having more tools in your toolbox will allow you to select the most appropriate tool for the job. Sometimes you need an ax, sometimes you need a scalpel. Pick one new word each day, and then use it at least 21 times in your conversations with others that day. The most useful words will stick, and your vocabulary will expand over time.
• Avoid throat-clearing. Blogs, books, and social media posts are littered with unnecessary intros, solipsistic digressions, and avoidable drivel. Ditch the nonsense and state your points. When in doubt, delete your first two paragraphs and see whether the writing improves.
• Don’t waste the reader’s time. Our time and our attention are two of our most precious resources. It is selfish to force a reader to spend fifteen minutes reading something you
  
  could’ve—and should’ve—communicated in 90 seconds. If you want to earn your reader’s trust, don’t waste their time.
• Narrative urgency. Every sentence must serve a purpose: Your first sentence must make the reader want to read the second. The second sentence must propel the reader to the third. So forth and so on until the very end. If a sentence doesn’t move the narrative forward—if it doesn’t make the writing more urgent—then it must hit the cutting-room floor, no matter how clever or precious it seems.