The Art of Business Writing

Writing a good opening

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that writing in possession of a good message, must be in want of a strong opening.

OK, so it’s a clumsy version of one of the most famous opening lines in fiction*, but the intent is valid. It doesn’t matter how good a story you have to tell, how valuable your offers are, or how insightful your opinions, if your opening lines are poor the good things that follow may never get read.

Openings have three functions:

• grabbing attention. Readers, and particularly busy ones, are always asking themselves whether they are interested in reading on, whether they have better things to do. Anything you produce has to pass this test;

• setting up what comes later. It’s tempting to draw a reader in with something compelling or very topical … but completely unconnected with what follows. Don’t do it. At best it’s naff; at worst, it’s misleading and trust-breaking. Concentrate on making a bold statement or raising an intriguing question that a reader will want to see you support or resolve;

• first impressions. Like a handshake or that head-to-toe glance to take in what someone’s wearing, your opening creates a first impression that will colour your reader’s perception of what you say thereafter. Don’t be afraid to use a bit of personality to start building a relationship, and be interested in your reader if you want them to be interested in you. Remember you should be writing as if to a single reader, so what works in a social setting works in print.

The last thing I’ll say here about openings is that you don’t have to write them first. Get the bulk of the writing done then create the best opening you can. The greatest authors do it; so can you.

* It’s no accident that I picked the opening of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to illustrate the importance of how to begin a piece of writing. Austen makes a bold statement that “a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” No messing about there. The idea is the centrepiece of the whole book and isn’t just an attention-grabbing headline. We know quickly what we’re in for, in both style and substance, and what follows does not disappoint. We can all learn from the best.

Stephen Fry: Let it all hang out

If there is one person in the public eye who you'd have down as a language pedant, it would be His Wordship Stephen Fry. Classically educated and erudite, surely he would be first in line to smite apostrophe-abusers everywhere. Well, it turns out that's not the case, and everyone in business should listen to what he has to say.

In a recent podcast, Fry berates the punctuation-whingers and grammar-grumps for nit-picking their way into our attitudes to language. Instead of being intimidated by the fear of getting something wrong, he says, we should be embracing the richness of the english language. And there's no writing in more need of enrichment than business writing.

The unforgiveable wrong committed in most business communication is that all the life is squeezed out of this vast and colourful language we share. More importantly for business, it's commercially disastrous too.

If you use pity or boredom to underpin your sales pitch, doing the writing equivalent of standing quietly in the corner of the room or muttering business-like phrases to anyone passing, good luck to you. People are attracted to the interesting, the interested, those with personality and something different to say.

So build your business with language that entrances, excites and entertains, and remember:

• be clear to be understood

• be interesting to be remembered.

Writing with colour - will any hue do?

As Tom pointed out in an earlier comment, it's important to have colour in writing. Dullness just gives your reader another reason to go elsewhere, and few of us have the luxury of a tied reader.

But what is colour, and will any hue do?

The answer is no. Think decor and you will get the general idea of what is good and what isn't:

• colour should highlight and not obscure: the more people notice the colour, the less they notice your theme. Don't overdo it and you will attract the right kind of attention.
• choose well: a little bit of thought can bring out a phrase or description that's a good fit and says something about you. Pick up the obvious roll of woodchip or pot of magnolia and you'll do your writing a disservice.
• try not to mix your decoration too much: a bit of coordination between the images you use or the similes you employ can give nice balance to a piece's readability. Try it and see what happens.

So, no colouring by numbers. Look for opportunities to add something extra to what you write and you will make your writing your own.

Like pulling hen's teeth

On the radio this evening a guy was commenting on the difficulty of reaching consensus on some contentious industrial relations issue: "it's like pulling hen's teeth," he said.

Now being interviewed live on the radio is not an easy way to pass a few minutes, so I'm not criticising the interviewee for his slip. What's worth pointing out though is that similes and metaphors may seem attractive shortcuts to get your point across but they are easy to mess up.

In this case, "pulling teeth" is fine as a way of conveying something that's difficult to make happen. It's a bit old-fashioned now, not least because pulling teeth is anything but difficult.

"Hen's teeth" though are about rarity, and while the idea of combining difficulty and rarity is attractive it just ends up sounding a bit muddled. Not a great brand statement.

Better to keep it simple, say "it's hard", and leave it at that.

Treat what you write like an exclusive club

I'm editing an article written by a consultant. He clearly knows his subject and the structure of the piece is absolutely fine. His problem, and it's a common one, is that he uses too many words. To be precise, he uses too many unnecessary words.

If you want your reader to understand what you are saying, give them the space to think and absorb your words. Telling them twice in the same sentence, repeating yourself, or saying the same thing in different ways, doesn't help. See what I mean?

Editing is a really important step in any writing (I will keep coming back to this subject in future blogs). For now, I'll look at one aspect. When you are rereading what you have written, only keep words that deserve their place. George Orwell suggested that writers should take out every adjective they've written and only put back the ones that are absolutely necessary. For a business piece, try taking out words and phrases in the longer sentences and see what effect that has. Unless your meaning evaporates like taxis on a rainy night, leave them out.

So treat the words you use like members of an exclusive club. No deadbeats or freeloaders, just those that add value and you couldn't do without. If your writing has an open house policy, get some bouncers on the door before it's too late.

Grammar isn't something to be afraid of

There will be some who will feel the urge to correct that title: surely, it should be " ... something of which to be afraid"? Well, no.

It was only yesterday that I heard the latest book on correct grammar being plugged on the radio (My Grammar and I by Caroline Taggart). Now I have no objection to books like these (I'm working on a practical grammar e-book ...), but there is a problem.

The message that we are fed regularly is that there are two types of grammar (right and wrong) and two types of people (grammar pedants and stupid). It's no wonder that people are wary of writing.

The most important thing about writing is meaning. Grammar and punctuation are there to make meaning clear. If you concentrate on that, you won't go too far wrong. So yes, people were once taught not to leave prepositions (like "of") at the end of sentences. But did you struggle to understand what I was saying? I didn't think so.

Don't be put off by a fear of getting it wrong. Just make yourself understood.

It's not the length that counts

How long should a sentence be? Six months? Ten years? Fifteen to life?

So what's the crime? Trying to say that, in certain situations, there is a "correct" number of words for the space between the opening capital letter and full stop of the grammatical unit we call a sentence. And believe me, there are those who would have you think that certain types of writing (let's say website copy) benefit from "sentences of about 20 words."

There is only one thing to remember when it comes to sentence length: variety.

It would not surprise me if it emerged that the CIA has an advanced form of torture involving the reading out of hundreds of sentences that are all the same length and rhythm. Think you could take it? Here's a test.

"I am going to tell you how to be successful in your business. It is a foolproof method that anyone can follow. There's no catch and nothing to pay upfront. In the pages that follow I'm going to explain how it works. You have to read every sentence for the system to succeed. There are about 500 of these sentences and they are all like this. Lose interest once and you will definitely fail. ..."

OK, OK, I'll tell you anything you want to know! Life is just too short to have to put up with that. Much better to keep your reader interested by simply varying the number of words you use. Shorter sentences can be really effective. Longer sentences are useful for developing ideas, building lists or to highlight what follows. Like this. Easy.

However you do it, vary your sentence length to keep your reader active. It'll be good for both of you.

When writing, two's a crowd ...

Now let's not have any confusion; I'm not suggesting that your next newsletter campaign should involve the painstaking construction of one email after another. No, I'm talking about the picture you have in your mind of who you are writing to, whenever you write.

Almost everything you write is for many people to read (if only in your dreams). You may have an email distribution list of 10,000 addresses or be hoping for 50,000 website hits; either way you will be imagining a healthy audience. Let's assume I'm reading an article you've written that contains the following statement:

"Many of you recognise the need for quality writing in your business."

This may well be true of the group you are communicating with, but that's not the point. What you have done is put me, the reader, in a crowd which is being addressed by the literary equivalent of a megaphone. You've made me feel like a punter at Hyde Park Corner listening to you warble on about your favourite topic. So if it's OK with you, I'm going to walk on; you've obviously got a big enough audience already.

If I hang around long enough, I might consider the point you are trying to make: that some of the readers of your piece don't recognise the need for quality writing. Are you trying to make me feel uncomfortable, an outsider in a self-satisfied group of know-it-alls? Well it's working, and I'm really going this time.

The alternative is simple: talk to one imaginary reader and do it directly and personally. Let your voice be inside her head, speaking to her privately. Not only will it be more effective but you will find your writing becomes more focused. You're showing that you are more interested in your reader than you are in listening to your own voice:

"You recognise the need for quality writing in your business."

That's got my attention now. Whether or not you're right, you are talking to me and me alone. In return I'm going to give you the opportunity to finish what you want to tell me.

One thing to remember: if you have trouble getting a clear mental picture of your reader for a particular piece of writing, then face up to the possibility that you have too many segments of your market in mind. Pick one - your writing will benefit, and the message will resonate much more with your readers. That is exactly the effect you want to have; better the relevant words that make some people listen, than the general words that make everybody walk away.