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Structured Approach to Business Writing
- 1. A Structured Approach toBusiness Writing by Olga Grynenko based on HBR Guide to Better Business Writing
- 2. “ There isno such thing as bad weather, only bad gear. ”
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- 4. Before you startwriting 1. Know why you are writing
- 5. Before you startwriting 1. Know why you are writing 2. Understand your readers
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- 9. 1. Let yourpurpose and your audience guide what you say and how you say it 2. Plainly state the issue you are addressing and what you hope to achieve 3. Keep your goal in mind: Don’t undermine your efforts with an inappropriate tone Know why you are writing
- 10. 1. Your readersare busy - very busy, get to your point quickly and clearly 2. Tailor your message to your audience 3. Emphasize the items most important to your readers 4. Choose an intelligent, nonspecialist member of your audience to write for Understand your readers
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- 12. Break up yourwork into 4 smaller tasks representing the phases a writer goes through: 1. “Madman” 2. “Architect” 3. “Carpenter” 4. “Judge” Get to writing
- 13. Writing Characters “Madman” Gathers materialand generates ideas “Architect” Organizes information by drawing up an outline, however simple “Carpenter” Puts your thoughts into words, laying out sentences and paragraphs by following the Architect’s plan “Judge” Your quality-control character, polishing the expression throughout -- everything from tightening language to correcting grammar and punctuation
- 14. “Madman” ● Brainstorm ● Acceptall ideas ● Record data, facts, opinions (distinguish facts from opinions) ● Keep links to sources ● Give credit where it’s due
- 15. “Architect” ● Generate alist of topics to cover ● Develop these raw ideas into full sentences ● Categorize your main points into sets of three ● Arrange these sets in a logical order from the reader’s point of view
- 16. “Carpenter” ● Write firstdraft as quickly as you can ● Schedule time for drafting & honor it ● Don’t wait for inspiration, time yourself: 5 - 10 minutes per section ● Don’t perfect: leave it for the “Judge” ● If stuck - move on to a different section, then come back
- 17. “Judge” ● Allow enoughtime to revise and edit: at least as much as you spent researching and writing ● Look at your content and structure ● Have multiple rounds of editing: focus on one element of writing at a time (tone, grammar, formatting, etc)
- 18. Summary 1. Keep yourpurpose and your audience in mind to achieve results 2. Tailor your message to an intelligent, nonspecialist member of your audience to make it accessible 3. Don’t wait for inspiration, use structured approach, iterate: a. Brainstorm b. Outline the skeleton c. Write first draft quickly d. Revise and edit
- 19. Highly recommend thisbook! HBR Guide to Better Business Writing by Bryan A. Garner
Editor's Notes
- #3 Ever felt reluctant to do something? -- lack of proper tooling to tackle the big task at hand Someone said: “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear.” -- share ideas which helped me move past the writer’s block Hopefully you’ll find this helpful too and any weather will become good weather for writing.
- #4 Do you feel anxious every time you sit down to write? Your main difficulty is probably figuring out how to begin. There are two key things you need to clarify before you start writing.
- #7 Let’s imagine a situation: -- you are working on a project and the deadline is coming up. -- While reviewing the documents or designs one last time, -- you notice a critical error which needs to be corrected ASAP -- and would delay the project launch otherwise. -- You decide to write an email.
- #8 Scenario 1: -- you have a trustworthy relationship with your colleague who works with you on this project and can take care of the error -- they are responsible; understand the priority; are aware of the upcoming deadline Tone: friendly, informative Purpose: to point out the error to your friend
- #9 Scenario 2: -- it is unclear who is the owner of that part of the document -- you are not sure the error will be corrected in time -- likely CC a project manager or other people responsible for the delivery of this project Tone: formal, conveying urgency Purpose: escalate the issue, communicate the delay, propose a change in plans Your emails would look quite different as you are trying to accomplish different things writing them. Focus on the reaction you are trying to elicit from the reader. You want results.
- #10 What does it mean?
- #11 Remember that your readers have many other projects to deal with. The reality is, if you don’t convey your point quickly - your readers will ignore you as you ignore long rumbling messages. And at the slightest need to struggle to understand - they’ll likely stop trying. Your content and level of detail will change depending on your readers. Make sure to highlight the things they care about most - “what’s in it for them”. Focus on a smart nonspecialist who is actually in your audience. You readers might have little or no prior knowledge about the facts or analytics you are disclosing. But assume they are intelligent people. This will help you strike the balance between the level of complexity and the accessibility.
- #12 Now that you have all your ducks in a row, you are ready to get to writing!
- #13 Don’t try to picture the completed piece before you’ve gathered and organized your material. Too early to think about the finished product - you will make the challenge in front of you seem overwhelming. Instead, break up your work into smaller tasks. You can imagine them belonging to 4 different characters in your brain, representing the phases the writer should go through: - Madman, Architect, Carpenter and Judge.
- #14 -- go between stages -- need more data? => go back to hunting and gathering -- might reorganize your points or reshuffle sections
- #16 -- skeleton of topics -- write them out in full sentences -- spell out your logic as clearly as you can -- sets of 3 -- logical order for the reader (easy to follow, smooth transitions between sections) -- You will gradually clarify your points by making several runs at them, don’t worry yet
- #17 The main point of this phase is to write your first draft as quickly as you can. Don’t wait for inspiration. -- you should have enough information and structure to be productive and get right at it -- Begin drafting what you are most comfortable addressing -- If struggling, try to think out loud to yourself or to someone what you are trying to convey. Don’t edit as you go. -- doing two things inefficiently rather than simultaneously -- Besides, the editorial part of the brain is incompatible with the production part. If stuck - move to a different section, then come back
- #18 Revising: have I stated my points quickly and clearly in my opener? Do I have enough supporting facts? Is the structure of my document apparent to my readers? Use bullet points to add more structure. Are my headings informative? Editing: can I save some words here? Is my meaning unmistakable? Is there a better way of phrasing this idea?