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15 Cures For Bad Writing In The Twitter Age

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A stocking-stuffer for the Twitter-and-texting crowd---in other words, all of us. Best of luck in 2013!

Cure #1:  A Point

Like any worthwhile pursuit, all good writing begins with a goal. If you don’t know yours, rest assured readers won’t, either. Before you begin, ask: “What do I aim to accomplish? What specific service am I providing?” That simple exercise will save a lot of time and thousands of wasted words.

Cure# 2:  Logical Structure

Many readers have the attention spans of drunk gnats. That's why having a logical structure is so important. The backbone of anything longer than a Tweet or short blog entry consists of three parts: intro, body, conclusion. In other words: 1) say what you’re going to say, 2) say it, 3) summarize what you said. Boring, perhaps, but effective.

Cure #3:  Clarity

If you think what you’ve written is remotely vague or unclear, it's probably incomprehensible. Keep things simple by breaking complex concepts into logical steps. Four short, clear sentences are better than one long, convoluted one.

Cure #4:  Reading Aloud

This trick helps with clarity and rhythm. Read your words aloud and the rough patches will pop up like pimples on prom night.

Cure #5:  Context

A fact without context is useless. Numbers help a lot, if used correctly. Example: The federal debt is $16 trillion. Is that big or small? The reader has no idea without context. Better to say the debt is nearly as big as America's annual GDP---and better still to say the debt, as a percentage of GDP, is the highest it's been since World War II.

When using numbers to make your point, ask these basic questions:

---Is the number remotely plausible?

---Is it (like any other fact) adding meaningful value to the story, or just slowing down the proceedings?

---Is it critical to building your case?

---Does it conflict with, or even refute, a previous number or conclusion?

---Is it helping explain a complicated concept?

---Is the source of the number credible, or does he/she have an obvious agenda?

Cure #6:  Audience Alignment

Know your reader and gear the material accordingly. When in doubt, a little extra hand-holding is always appreciated.

Cure #7:  Tangible Examples

The mantra “Show, don’t tell” has been around awhile but folks still have trouble with it. Here’s some turgid copy pulled directly from the homepage of a tech firm that just made Forbes’ annual list of 100 best small publicly traded companies:

"[Company name] provides a broad range of IT consulting, systems implementation and application outsourcing services through an optimized global delivery model. Through our industry leading platforming process, [Company name] focuses on delivering business results by modernizing, rationalizing and consolidating the critical applications that support our clients' core business processes. We employ advanced processes like Agile to insure the right system is delivered the first time. This approach enables [Company name] to serve industry leaders as they seek to improve their customers' experience, expand market reach, improve time to market and lower costs."

Need some Excedrin? Delve further into the site and the torture continues, with some excruciating flow charts to boot.

Whatever you’re writing, don’t fall into this trap. If you offer “technology solutions” or “advisory services”---and thousands of companies do---strut your stuff by providing specific, tangible examples that potential customers can understand in a hurry. Same goes if you’re preparing a Power Point presentation, sharing instructions with your team, or writing an editorial for a publication. One more time: “Show, don’t tell.” 

Cure #8:  Well-Defined Assumptions

Credibility is crucial. Whatever case you’re making, clearly state the assumptions and the logic behind them.

Cure #9:  Charts That Pay Off

Charts and graphs are powerful tools---again, if used correctly. Do your best to tell a story within the chart itself by writing meaningful labels, titles and captions.

This subject deserves considerably more attention, but the bottom line is this: If readers have to spend more than 5 seconds understanding the point of a chart or graph, you’ve made them work too hard.

Cure #10:  Active Verbs

Passive verbs are the province of dissemblers. (That’s why lawyers love them!) Stick with the active variety. Example: Joe hit Bob with a stick.

Cure #11:  Straight Talk

Jargon and clichés are poison. A reminder: The Most Annoying, Pretentious And Useless Business Jargon.

Cure #12:  New Start

If you’re stuck, it’s for good reason. (See Cure #1 and recall the point you wanted to make.) Don’t “write around” roadblocks---it never works. Instead, go back and take a different route.

Cure #13:  Fresh Eyes

Anything worth printing is worth an extra look in the morning---or at least in an hour or two after you think you’re done.

Cure #14:  Practice

Good writing comes with practice, and practice includes reading good writing---any good writing, from short stories to research reports.

If you want to learn more about topics that touch your wallet---and become a better writer in the process---start here:

---Jill Lepore, The New Yorker

---James Surowiecki, The New Yorker

---Michael Lewis, Vanity Fair

---Roger Lowenstein, BloombergBusinessweek (and others)

---Allan Sloan, Fortune

---Gretchen Morgenson, The New York Times

---Adam Davidson, The New York Times Magazine

---William Baldwin, former editor of Forbes (my boss for many years)

Cure #15:  Patience

Writing is a process. Let it happen.

Have other tips on writing well? Please share your comments.

See also: Do You Read Fast Enough To Be Successful?