Why I Write

Professionally, I am a reluctant writer. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean I don't enjoy writing. It means that being a published author was not something I aspired to do initially - or still.

It was necessary.

Growing up, I never liked writing and at one point, one of my English teachers who I admired challenged me by simply saying my writing wasn't very good. The comment stung a bit, but I muddled along through high school and then in college things changed.

The habit of writing early and often

First, I declared myself an English Literature major, which meant I was going to do loads of reading and writing. Then, I joined the Loyola University of Chicago weekly newspaper as a sports reporter. In my freshmen year, I was thrust into the position of sports editor (the senior who filled the volunteer job was fired because he was at the bars on Thursday night and kept missing deadlines).

All of this meant that I spent hours a day writing, and it became a habit. I read good writing and worked on making mine sound like that.

Having something to say

One of the reasons why I write is that my clients need my help. After breaking into the marketing world, words become a currency that I traded in professionally. I worked hard to hear something my clients had to say that sounded complicated, confusing and important and they needed me to help find a way to say it for them in better words. That meant working on deadlines to craft press releases, media pitches, white papers, case studies, plans and reports.

When you have something to say and can't put it to words, you have few options. My clients had enough money to pay me and my team to do it for them. Most people get stuck because getting someone else to do it is not in the budget. They have to say it themselves and fear they're not gifted at writing it.

Outlines are lifelines and I got mine

Looking back at my school years, I don't remember being fond of the creating outlines. I'm sure I did them but I probably wasn't proficient or consistent with them. That all changed when I worked in a large marketing agency that developed "message mapping," or visual outlining, as a distinctive service offering.

The approach was creative and compelling: facilitate a dynamic discussion with business leaders and draw a visual mind map (i.e., bubbles on a whiteboard) to help them organize their ideas (key messages) before having us write piles of confusing content for them (see reference above).

Get it clear up front to avoid hours of rework later. Brilliant!

What changed for me was that the guy who was the primary leader of this offering abruptly quit. He was the magician of message mapping and he left town. Nobody seemed to know how to run these sessions like he did, leaving a void. I saw an opportunity and stepped in.

Giving the gift of clarity

I loved leading these "message mapping" sessions to outline and simplify complex ideas for my clients. We would start with confusing buzzwords and corporate speak, and end up with a clear storyline. Over the years, these collaborative exercises were a classroom for me to become a better writer.

The writing process always starts with a good outline. Without one, writing is even more painful and clarity is elusive. Thinking, organizing, writing, editing and rewriting is a process my company has coined as T.O.W.E.R., a five-step approach to clear and concise writing.

A trilogy to provide the gift of clarity at work

Over the past ten years, I have been on a journey to help professionals communicate at a higher level. All along, I wrote because my clients needed me to and asked me for more. I was not interested in notoriety but in helping them get across their important messages in a cluttered environment.

I am proud of writing three books, but more thrilled that they all work together: BRIEF is all about clear and concise communication; NOISE is all about the challenging, distracting and disruptive environment we live and work in; and now QUIET WORKS is about the value and necessity of time alone to think, plan, reflect, and embrace what really matters.

As the launch date of the final book of this trilogy (which I am calling the "Clarity@Work" collection) approaches, I write still to encourage you: to communicate well means taking time to think about what you have to say, who needs to hear it and how they can benefit. It's a deliberate process and a worthwhile one for all of us to pursue. The Quiet Workplace The BRIEF Lab #quietworks www.thebrieflab.com www.thequietworkplace.com