TheWritersBag.com

1. Be consistent with your purpose.

Accomplishing your purpose – the reason you are writing your e-mail – is your #1 task. Try to do it clearly and concisely.

2. Be consistent with your organization’s image.

If you’re working for a bank, don’t sound like a loan shark. At the very least, you’ll offend people. If you’re a loan shark, don’t sound like a bank officer. No one will pay attention.

3. Be concise but not “short.”

There is a fine line between writing short and being short. It’s easy to make people think you’re mad at them when writing quick, short e-mails. If necessary, add a few words to strike a congenial note.

4. Don’t write anything you wouldn’t want to have posted on a bulletin board.

Remember, e-mails are not private. Don’t get yourself in trouble. Any e-mail you send can be distributed widely with a few keystrokes.

5. It’s not about how you mean it – it’s about how a specific reader will take it.

Know your audience and write accordingly. How will the particular reader perceive the tone of your message?

6. When in doubt, read it out loud.

Your ear can catch subtleties your eye might miss.

Which of the following two statements is more readable?

1. Mayor Bills said it was too late to put a halt to the downtown renovation project, even though the majority of the city’s citizens have expressed their desire to leave the downtown the way it is. He explained that the plans have been completed, the funds have been allocated and the contracts have been signed. For these reasons, he believes the city must push ahead with the project.
2. “There’s absolutely no way we can stop the downtown renovation project now,” said Mayor Bills. “I know most people here want to keep things the way they are, but we’re too far down the road with the project to turn back. The plans are finished. The money’s been set aside and we’ve signed all the contracts. We have no choice. We have to push ahead!”

If you think the second paragraph is easier to read and more interesting than the first, you’re in good company. But why? The same basic messages were conveyed in both.

The difference is the quote.

Quotes liven things up – especially when you’re writing a report, press release or other project that requires a formal writing style. By letting others say it for you in quotes, you can break away from the stiff style the format demands without getting your hands slapped.

Also, it’s often easier to convey information and especially feelings with quotes than with straight writing.

One word of caution: Be very careful not to misrepresent people by “doctoring” their quotes. At the same time, it is very common to clean up quoted statements for the written page. People typically ramble around, stumble and take dead ends when they talk. Keep the meaning, but don’t repeat those meanderings verbatim. The following quote would embarrass the source and bog down your written piece:

“Well, I think … ah … there’s really … absolutely no way – no way at all – to … umm … stop the downtown renovation project now, you know,” said Mayor Bills. “I mean, I know most people here want to … well … want to sort of keep things the way they are, you know …”

You get the point. Use quotes, but use them intelligently. Clean them up when appropriate, but never change the intended meaning.

I’ve been following an online writers’ forum that asks the question, “Are you a writer or a storyteller?”

It’s a good question, and one that everyone who writes should consider. The fact is, there are some wonderful writers out there and there are some wonderful storytellers. To have either talent in abundance places you in an elite club. But to have a high degree of both talents makes you a literary miracle.

I’ve recently read books by two contemporary authors: Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men, The Road, All the Pretty Horses, etc.) and Stephenie Meyer (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, etc.). Where do these eminently popular authors fall on the writer/storyteller continuum? I believe McCarthy is a better writer than storyteller, while Meyer is a better storyteller than writer. (Both, however, are very good at both, but exceptional at one, in my humble opinion.)

Many authors of the classics are high on both the writer and the storyteller scales: Charles Dickens, Joseph Conrad, Ernest Hemingway, Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Leo Tolstoy … to name a few. These giants of literature could weave spellbinding stories. But they could also communicate them with writing that was nothing short of remarkable. That’s why their books are classics.

So what are you: a writer or a storyteller? Or are you both? And how high up the scale are you in each category? Assess your writing. Take an inventory of your talents. Identify where you fall short, then do what you have to do to push your natural talents higher through conscious effort. Even the classic writers had to work to augment the talents they were born with through conscious effort.
If you’re willing to do that, you may surprise yourself with the results.