Effective Writing Takes Practice

People usually don’t expect to do things perfectly the first time. That’s why we invest in lessons for everything from violin to dance to cake decorating to golf. And we know we have to practice, whether that means going to the batting cage three times a week or rehearsing a sales presentation over and over.

Writing is no different. It is a skill that can be mastered with practice.

If you struggle with writing, this bit of wisdom should encourage you! Writing is not some mysterious talent that a few chosen individuals have. You can learn to do it, but you do have to practice. If you practice enough, you might actually enjoy it!

Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, once declared, “Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you're doomed.”

Here are a few ways you can incorporate writing practice into your daily or weekly routine.

• Plan everything you write. Whether it’s an email to a colleague or an incident report for your boss, take a few minutes to map out the document. Consider your  audience and purpose. The planning will become second nature.
  
  
• Ask for feedback. Ask co-workers and readers to offer their opinions on your documents, no matter how simple the writing projects are. Find out if they truly grasped your main objective.
  
  
• Read critically. Read reports, articles, or correspondence, with a critical eye. Decide what’s effective and write notes in the margins. Think about how you would approach the subject differently.  

Writing is a skill that can be improved with a little dedication. And if you improve your writing skills, then you’llalso increase your value as an employee. Visit our Resource Center for more helpful information for your writing projects. 

Be Clear for Your Peers

Writing for external audiences can easily take the lion's share of your team’s attention. Internal audiences (email recipients, project team members, document users) are often just as important — and the quality of your organization’s writing needs to reflect that.

Consider the types of content that you produce for readers inside your organization:

• Human resources (HR) policies or manuals
• Company rules and regulations
• Project assignments or instructions
• SOPs
• Emails
• Meeting agendas and minutes
• Status updates

These documents might not seem as important as the content  destined for an outside audience; however, if these types of communicative documents aren't well planned and well written, the results can cause real problems.

Follow a plan
Good writing provides clear direction, improves efficiency, and even boosts morale. Internal document writers should follow similar guidelines as they would when writing  external content:

• Plan well. Just as you analyze your audience before writing a deliverable report or other scientific, business, or technical document, you must evaluate the audience for your internal writing. You also want to pin down the primary purpose of the document. Is it informative? Persuasive? Decide before you begin writing.
  
  
• Format for readability. Just because your colleagues are the intended audience doesn't mean you should skimp on ensuring clarity and conciseness. Remember, properly structured sentences and paragraphs, active phrasing, and the use of headings and subheadings can improve the readability of your document.
  
  
• Maintain a consistent style. If your company has a style guide, use it. If not, find an off-the-shelf style guide and use it consistently. (Send us an email to request a list of style guides.)
  
  
• Put on the polish. If you value your reputation among colleagues, don't skip the final step of creating content. Check spelling, grammar, and format before pressing “Send” or passing out a report.

Regardless of whether your organization’s employees are producing content for research groups, grant reviewers, or their peers,  good writing skills will benefit everyone they work with.

Positivity in Writing

In an interview with Hannah Seligson of the New York Daily News, psychologist Susan Segerstrom connects optimism with success: “Optimists are more successful because they are willing to overcome obstacles and problem-solve, which are critical skills to advancement in any work environment.”

Segerstrom’s assertion was based on her research following 10 students before and after law school. She found that the students who were more optimistic before starting law school earned more money after graduation.

Let’s apply optimism to writing. If writers use positive language and statements, will their documents be more effective? Yes, they will.

With positive words, documents are easier and more enjoyable to read. And when the writer focuses on possibilities and opportunities rather than mistakes and failures, the audience is energized and more receptive to the presented ideas. With positive language, you can reframe problems as opportunities.

Of course, we’re not suggesting dishonesty or lies of omission. Just choose your words carefully. For instance, “The project was a complete failure due to a budget overrun of $200,000” can also be stated this way: “Although we absorbed a significant overrun of $200,000, the project highlighted several possibilities for future development.” In this way, readers are made curious about upcoming strategies rather than left stewing over past missteps.

Read more about implementing positive language in your documents. Also, be sure to use all of the tools in our Resource Center to improve your documents. Hurley Write is here to help. 

Sharpen Your Content

One surefire way to improve your scientific or technical writing is to sharpen your aim. Your ultimate goal is simple: Make readers understand your message. A few changes to the form and content of your text will help you hit that target.

The key to helping readers understand your writing is making it easier to read. After all, most readers want to understand your point; otherwise, they're wasting their own time and effort! Help them by making these three changes:

• Simplify the language. Use shorter words whenever possible. You can "employ," "utilize," or "leverage" all you want, but why bother when "use" works just as well, is easier to translate, and is perfectly clear? Also, focus on concrete language: Provide a specific figure or metric instead of using vague words such as "very," "rather," "many," or "small."
• Stay positive. Positive writing is easier — and more pleasing — to read. Positive text tells the reader what's possible and identifies opportunities rather than disadvantages. Plus, positive phrasing allows you to be clear and assertive.
• Get active. Learn the difference between active and passive voice, then use active voice to make your content soar. Active phrasing states who or what is performing an action.
  
  Active: Our team designed and performed the experiment to test this hypothesis.
  
  Passive: The hypothesis was tested through means of an experiment that was designed and carried out by our team.
  
  Active writing clarifies and shortens your text, making it easier and faster to read, and it elicits a more positive response from readers.

We can help you with these three skills and many others to improve your writing process and results. Contact Hurley Write, we're here to help!

Planning Paragraphs

Of course you know what a paragraph is, but have you considered what makes it work? Paragraphs are one of the fundamental building blocks of documents, so if you master the paragraph, you’re one step closer to writing more effectively.

Every paragraph has a topic sentence. I realize this likely is not an epiphany for you, but it is still an important fact worth repeating. The topic sentence frames the paragraph and lets readers know what information it will contain. It also guides the writer, dictating which information to include or leave out.

Limit each paragraph to one idea. Crafting your topic sentence first will keep the paragraph focused. Then, use transition words to create flow in the paragraph. Transitions enhance the flow of your paragraph and cue readers in terms of how they should make sense of the information.

Practice writing topic sentences, then read the resulting paragraphs with a discerning eye. You’ll soon be able to tell whether your supporting sentences are on track or veering down a different road. Your readers will appreciate your efforts!

Case Study: High-Tech Technical Writing

Cherry Cwalina, an engineer at a high-tech aviation manufacturer, understands the importance of good technical writing.

Cwalina says, “Clear writing is essential to my position because our proposal is the first impression our customer receives.”

Because Cwalina’s job involves writing responses to proposals for programs, she knows that “writing in a succinct, precise, and straightforward fashion is not only valuable, but a key ingredient in making those proposals successful.”

Like most people in her field, though, Cwalina’s expertise lay in mathematical and engineering concepts, not writing.

“Writing in a clear and concise matter, without the fluff, is my current challenge,” she says.

So she was thrilled when her employer set up a customized, onsite training class from Hurley Write, Inc.

Eager to learn, easy to implement
Cwalina approached the course with eagerness, ready to improve her writing skills.

“I was open-minded about learning anything that would help,” she says. Still, she adds, “I wasn’t sure what to expect in the two-day class. But the concepts taught were very easy to implement and actually inspired me to learn to love writing. It’s empowering to be equipped with the right tools to do the job — and that’s what Pam offers.”

Cwalina was pleased to discover that the course used actual documents from her company to demonstrate the concepts that were taught in the class. This approach gave her a concrete way to understand how she could apply the skills she was learning to her specific writing projects.

Cwalina says that the Hurley Write course “equipped me with techniques, strategies, and different styles of writing.” She learned how to

• reduce expletives and pronouns to create clearer content;
• create audience and purpose rubrics; and
• modify sentence and paragraph length and complexity for maximum benefit.

Cwalina points out that the most important thing she learned from the course is that writing stellar technical content is 80 percent planning and only 20 percent writing.

A major part of that planning is the creation of an audience rubric that determines who the readers are, why they’re reading, what they hope to gain, and how they’ll use the document. A purpose rubric helps pin down the specific outcome the writer envisions. The Hurley Write course helped Cwalina develop both an audience rubric and purpose rubric to use in her own writing projects.

Building credibility
Now, Cwalina says, “I am writing with my audience in mind at all times. Getting buy-in and building credibility among my readers is at the cornerstone of my mind when I write. And reading and writing more has become a standard practice to overcome some of my hurdles.”

Let the Audience Be Your Guide

Readers truly dictate everything about your document: word choice, voice, length of document, information to include, tone. Taking the time to pinpoint your audience will pay off because it will inform all of your decisions while writing. (Note: Merely thinking about your audience doesn’t really count — you have to write it down!)

Identify the audience of your document early in the writing process. Different readers have different needs that your writing must address. For example, a public outreach document for a geologic survey will be quite different than the report submitted to the regulating agency. The study area is the same, and both documents reflect the findings of the project. The difference is the audience!

In addition to focusing on the specific needs of the audience, keep the knowledge level and topic background of your readers top-of-mind. Back to the geology example, laypeople interested in geology or invested in the study area would likely get frustrated with terms like MORs, strata, vertical exaggeration, and metamorphic petrology. However, reviewers at the USGS would be intimately familiar with this language and breeze through it.

From the overall design of your document to the tiniest details, let your audience guide you through your writing.

For more about audience, contact us. Hurley Write, Inc. can help you define your audience and therefore increase the effectiveness of your writing. We will share our best practices for developing an audience rubric that will guide your documents.

Words Are Your Product

Many companies consider writing about their work to be secondary to performing their day-to-day scientific or technical work. In reality, written collateral is often the product you will present to the world — and can make the difference between success and failure.

Writing matters
In nearly every scientific and technical field, writing is the critical link to sales, funding, and continued work.

Environmental engineers and scientists spend weeks or months collecting data in the field, but the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest Service, or other regulatory agencies — and the public — form opinions based in large part on the resulting reports and Environmental Impact Statements.

Scientists may spend their lives in research, but to enter that work into the canon and secure funding, they must produce research papers, journal articles, and R&D proposals.

Pharmaceutical researchers spend years conducting clinical trials to verify a drug's effectiveness. But Food and Drug Administration approval often relies on their ability to clearly communicate findings in writing.

Aside from approval, written instructions and details are vital for successful recreation of trials or experiments, verification of findings, and so on.

It all adds up to one fact: Writing is your product, even when writing isn't your full-time job.

Equal emphasis
Businesses pay a lot of attention to continuous improvement of processes, from manufacturing to safety to data collection. Equal emphasis on the writing process is vital to ensure the success of the business.

Publications are often the only points of contact that customers or agencies have with your company. If your written collateral doesn't correctly or convincingly depict the processes, standards, and results of a project, then you could lose funding, contracts, product approval, or public goodwill.

Reputations — of the company and individual employees — are on the line every time a report is submitted. Good writing builds credibility in your client base.

You can foster continuous improvement in your company's writing processes by giving writers the tools and resources they need to grow. Companies with sensitive or proprietary intellectual property can benefit from an onsite training program that provides private, customized instruction where and when needed.

Three Critical "Cs" for Good Writing

Checking over any written document for three essential elements will certainly improve its effectiveness. Make a checklist, tape it to your monitor, keep it inside your notebook, frame it for your wall — do what you need to do to make sure your writing reflects these attributes.

Clarity. We refer here to clarity of purpose. You’re writing for a reason, right? Make sure the reader captures the essence of your document. Reread the introduction — is the purpose of the document clear? Does the reader know what to expect?

Consistency. Be consistent in all aspects: voice, tense, formatting. For example, active voice is especially important when writing SOPs so the reader understands what actions s/he should take. Throwing in passive voice here or there introduces ambiguity. “Disengage the motor” clearly names the reader to complete that action; “The motor should be disengaged” does not. 

Conciseness. Provide only the information the reader needs right now — you don’t want to distract the reader from your main point. And use economy in your word choice, selecting simpler words over complex ones and omitting unnecessary words or phrases.

Clarity, consistency, and conciseness in written documents enhance readability and effectiveness. We can help you with all aspects of constructing high-quality, productive documents. Contact Hurley Write for online courses, customized webinars, or on-site trainings.

Write Effective Emails

Email is the preferred method of communication for most workers. Some people spend as much as a quarter of their work day dealing with the stuff. Busy email users are especially irritated by unclear or rambling emails, which take up even more precious time.

Fortunately, you can ensure your email communications get a positive reception in a few simple steps:

• State your topic in the subject line. Doing so can help your message stand out in a packed inbox.
  
  
• Stick to one topic per email, and keep your message brief and focused. You have less than 10 seconds to capture readers’ attention, so don’t squander it.
  
  
• Clearly and concisely describe any action that you want recipients to take in response to the message. Don’t force readers to figure out what you want.
  
  
• Resist the urge to try to communicate humor or subtle emotions via email.
  
  
• Proofread each message. These are professional communications, so you don’t want them to be riddled with typos or grammatical errors. For particularly important messages, consider reading your text aloud before hitting Send.

Yes, you can learn to do this! Contact Hurley Write toll-free at 877-24-WRITE (877-249-7483) or by email for more information about our training courses.