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Ideas for Impact

The More You Write, The Better You Become

September 13, 2021 By Nagesh Belludi 1 Comment

Good writing is hard. No matter how much you practice, writing rarely seems to get easier.

The following guidelines are some of the most basic writing advice around, but they’re often overlooked.

  • Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. Keep reminding yourself whom you’re writing for. Tailor your message for this audience.
  • Write from a plan. Write toward an ending. If you aren’t clear about your purpose, your reader won’t be either.
  • Be specific. Specifics outsell generalities. Restructure your sentences and try to say more with fewer words.
  • Avoid superlatives—fabulous, incredible, fantastic, always, never, and so on. Leave the exaggeration to used-car salespeople.
  • Lead with your most significant ideas. Keep your message simple. Prune needless words. Short sentences and common vocabulary make your material as palatable as possible.
  • Provide adequate supporting information to be compelling and helpful enough, but don’t over-complicate your message.
  • Tune your voice. Read drafts aloud. Examine for both form and content. Redraft. Rephrase. Reword. Revise. Rework.

Idea for Impact: If you want to get earnest about writing better, add these two reference works to your shelf: William Strunk and E. B. White’s The Elements of Style (1918) and William Zinsser’s On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction (1980.)

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Filed Under: Effective Communication, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Communication, Persuasion, Presentations, Writing

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Comments

  1. Jayanth says

    November 17, 2021 at 4:22 AM

    Thanks for the informative article.
    Can you suggest any books for writing technical articles (for devs).

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About: Nagesh Belludi [hire] is a St. Petersburg, Florida-based freethinker, investor, and leadership coach. He specializes in helping executives and companies ensure that the overall quality of their decision-making benefits isn’t compromised by a lack of a big-picture understanding.

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