For many people, writing is a mystery. There’s a widespread myth that writing ability is innate:you’ve either got it, or you haven’t. The truth is that good workplace writing is a skill that can be learned and that you can continue to improve, right throughout your working life. This three-step process will set you on a journey to becoming a better writer. It’s designed to help you develop your writing processes and build your writing confidence.
Step 1. Read like a writer
To become a good writer, you need to read widely. Read all types of documents, but particularly read documents that are similar to the ones you need to write. Reading widely will improve your vocabulary and help you to reflect on what makes a document successful. To read like a writer, try reading documents twice. The first time you read, read for content – just as you normally would. Then read the document a second time, but this time read for writing style. Read section by section (or sentence by sentence) and think about why the writing succeeds or fails. Look for patterns in sentences and in the document’s structure, and see what you can learn from them. When you find particularly good sentences, try to mirror the style using your own content. When you read like a writer, try to put into words your opinions about the document. Hunt for examples of successful documents, as they will provide you with the most useful writing hints. Finding successful documents can be difficult, because the writing style is almost invisible: when something is well written, you notice its content rather than its style. It’s the invisible style that you want to pin down and emulate.
Step 2: Write like an adventurer
To become a successful writer, you need to write a lot. Practise writing at every opportunity. You might like to keep a writing journal or start your day with a 10-minute writing session. Writers have a dual personality; they’re both creators and editors. The creator comes up with new ideas and arranges ideas in different ways. The editor then judges the quality of the creator’s work and corrects it. To write well, you need to lock up your editor. Let your creative mind write, without judging the quality of your work. Come back and edit later (and when you do, lock up your creator). Here are some suggestions to help you write like an adventurer: • Write horrible, terrible first drafts – it doesn’t matter how bad they are, because no one will ever see them. Come back and edit later; editing is much easier than creating the first draft. • Make do with whatever comes to mind. Don’t stop to hunt for the right word and don’t worry if the sentence doesn’t make full sense. Fix that later. • Don’t start at the beginning. Write the easiest section first. Then write section by section until the document comes together. Write the introduction last, when you’ve got something to introduce. • Turn off the spell check and grammar check. They will slow you down and encourage you to think about editing issues when you should be creating the content. • Set yourself a timed writing task. This is particularly useful if you’re a procrastinator. Make yourself write for 15 minutes before you get that next cup of coffee! • As you write, don’t make judgements about whether the content will survive to the final draft. Make that judgement later. • If you take a break, stop in the middle rather than at the end of a section. This will make it easier to pick up writing again. If possible, write a few notes about what you plan to do next.
Step 3: Edit like a reader
A first draft needs a lot of editing, and you may find that you need to edit through 10 or more rounds. This is perfectly normal, and doesn’t mean that you’re a ‘bad’ writer. Quite the opposite: good writers understand that writing involves a lot of rewriting. As you edit, try to think like you readers. Readers read workplace documents for a reason – usually because they have a question to answer or because they need to get some work done. Try to understand and answer your readers’ needs. Remember that readers don’t have the advantage of your knowledge about the topic. Make sure that your key message is clear and that your structure and tone are appropriate. Check your work carefully for accuracy.
