Secrets Of Better Writing - Part 2

November 11, 2010

Interview with Diana Young, author of the book Be a Brilliant Business Writer: Write Well, Write Fast, and Whip the Competition

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Mike Carruthers:
People actually make judgments about you based on your style of writing.

Diana Young:
Actually there was a guy at Princeton, Daniel Oppenheimer who studied this and found out that people judged writers to be less intelligent when they used complicated words, complex sentence structure and even hard to read fonts or design.

Diana Young, author of the book Be a Brilliant Business Writer, says for whatever reason people often get caught up in very strange ways of writing.

I once got something from a guy who was doing my taxes, the letter actually said, “Overpayafication has been achieved.” I had to phone him up and find out that meant I didn’t have to pay anymore and I didn’t owe any more taxes.

A simple technique to write more clearly is to let your speech guide you.

Just imagine that person (whoever you’re writing to) in the office with you and say, “Well what would I say if he or she were here? What am I trying to say?” And actually force yourself to say it out loud and that will help you say it as clearly as humanly possible. Most people for example are not going to say something like, “Mike I am in receipt of your invitation” but if you said, “Mike thanks so much for your invitation.” It’s huge, you find a way of actually using the power of your own voice in your own writing.

To hear the complete unedited interview, click here