Write to be understood not show off

Here’s a photo I took on my regular morning walk.

WALL

What do you think it means?

As much as I enjoy discovering a new word when I am reading (and looking it up in the dictionary I always have beside me), one of the most important elements to writing a great business book is to write clearly, simply and concisely.

As Einstein said

‘if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.’

This goes for writing as well. To write clearly and concisely you need to choose your words deliberately and precisely and use grammar properly. This way you’ll make your points in a way that readers can easily understand. And this will keep them reading.

So here are some tips that I use to focus my attention on this.

1. Avoid acronyms

If you have to use them explain what it is in full the first time you use it. E.g. Random Access Memory (RAM), Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC),

Every industry has it’s own set of acronyms and business management has a whole raft of them, but using them doesn’t mean you actually understand them and limits the appeal of your book. Just think of ROI, EBITDA,

2. Choose your words carefully

Avoid ‘fancy’ words. I find this quite hard at times as I like words and the nuances they convey but that’s not helpful to most readers. When you can use a simpler word to describe something, choose this option. For example:

Fancy word Straightforward word

ascertain find out

commence begin

constitute make up

fabricate build

initiate begin

terminate end

utilise use

3. Write less not more

I am sometimes offered writing work based on a specific word length and at the same time asked how much I charge per word. My response is always the same. I don’t charge by the word as you actually want me to write less not more and that takes time.

When you write something, go back to it and see what unnecessary words and sentences you can delete.

One of the first questions many of the business people I work with ask is ‘How long should my book be?’ ‘It depends’ is my response, and it does. There’s no point writing 40,000 words when you can say what you need to in 20,000 words.

Most writers have the opposite challenge, of writing too much. That’s where I come in and sometimes an editor.

4. Avoid redundancy, adding different words with the same meaning to a sentence, or repeat words or phrases unnecessarily.

5. Some quick tips

Avoid starting sentences with ‘There is’ There are, It is

Eliminate extra nouns

Use an active voice where possible

Eliminate filler words such as ‘that’, ‘of’, or ‘up’.

Always follow ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’, and ‘those’ with a noun

Shorten long sentences

Define abbreviations

6. Use online tools

Hemingway Editor, Readable.io. Grammarly to improve your writing, but don’t rely on them to capture your unique knowledge and insights. AI hasn’t got quite that good, yet.

And, what does the photo WALL that I’ve chosen for this article mean?

It’s the name of a street, but it is not Wall Street, it’s actually Wallis Street. It was truncated after workmen patched up the pavement.

What you write might be clear to you, but think about the reader and revise what you write, always.