Jul 2016: So, you think you can’t write …

I do not claim to have Edith Wharton’s prodigious writing talent, but my love of the written word supported a teaching career in Geneva and propelled me through an English doctorate. It also produced, I hesitantly confess, a romantic novel set in Tsarist Russia that sadly gathers dust in my desk drawer.

Moving swiftly on, as a leadership consultant, I am always saddened to discover that clear and confident writing is a skill that eludes many professional people. For me, the discipline of effective writing is not dissimilar to the instinct to dress elegantly.

Like most of us, I pride myself on being well-groomed: hair twisted in a chignon, minimalist jewellery, subtle makeup, perhaps my favourite dress, trustworthy heels that won’t send me flying off the podium and I am ready to go.

Writing competently, without wishing to sound too flippant about a process that many find challenging, is fundamentally a process of accessorising. In this case, however, the garments are words, phrases, voice, register, flow and cohesion, not to mention that final glance in the mirror, editing.  The result should be one of polished elegance.

If your opus – report, self-appraisal, email or LinkedIn post – is poorly edited or indifferently written, then a valuable opportunity has been squandered: the power of impact. An error in the writing process may spell (sorry!) doom for your credibility by suggesting a lack of professional competence.

Many people tell me, defiantly, “I can’t write” but I always insist that they are wrong.  Writing is a skill and it can be learnt. With a little application, anyone can fashion a respectable piece, including, by the way, that novel you always wanted to write (it really is never too late).

You do not have to be Ernest Hemingway (if you are, let me know as I fell in love with you years ago!), but emulating his crisp, economical style would obviously be an excellent start.  If you haven’t yet read The Sun Always Rises (1926), try to, because you will see exactly what I mean.

When Ernest was living in Paris during the 1920s and battling with writer’s block, he would gaze out of his Left Bank window, across the pearly turrets and towers of Paris’s sublime skyline. He would tell himself: “All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know” (A Moveable Feast 12). That advice translates across genres and writing purposes.

It means:  be true to yourself when writing. And then write.

 

You are expert in your field and therefore have an advantage that others lack.  Yet, too often, people forget this and struggle to write those first few lines.  Before long, they have literally lost the plot. A writing task also assumes deadly proportions the longer it is delayed. Procrastination will make the challenge seem as futile as climbing Mont Blanc in carpet slippers. For others, editing is the stumbling block.

Victor Hugo wrote in the nude. An arch procrastinator, he insisted that his valet hide his trousers and undergarments so he could not steal away to the local bar without attracting unwelcome attention.

I would not suggest that you adopt this habit, but a few tips might help you to start writing with more confidence. Assuming that you have gathered all your content research, now is the time to pace yourself with this simple but effective technique we use with our House of Beaufort clients.

P – PLAN what you want to say and how you will say it.

A template might sound simplistic, but headings and key messages will coax you away from rambling incoherence towards more concise prose: Introduction, outlining your purpose in writing; Body – citing your main arguments, and Conclusion, offering a pithy wrap up.

Pad out each section with bullet points to prevent you from taking the reader off piste on a digression that can kill interest. These bullet points may later be removed.

A – ACHIEVE one complete draft.

It doesn’t have to be Pulitzer Prize standard but believe me, when you produce a complete draft, the elation will make you think you have achieved such a prize!

C – CRITIQUE

Does it flow?  Is the meaning clear?  Have you used succinct language rather than a style deadened by prolix (pot calling kettle black here, but prolix is prose that is wordy, showy, rambling, shambling and truly pretentious).

So, you have rigorously critiqued. Well done!  But you haven’t quite finished.

E – EDIT (ruthlessly)

Always print off hard copy for the editorial stages (note, plural!) because scientific research suggests that the brain navigates textual landscapes more accurately than it does screen landscapes (see Ferris Jabr “The Reading Brain in the Digital Age”). I certainly prefer to edit from the page and am often horrified by the errors I have overlooked on the screen. Reading aloud may also help you gain some sense of confidence regarding the quality of what you have written.

References

Ferris, Jabr. “The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Sciene of Paper versus Screens. Scientific American. April 11, 2013.

Hemingway, Ernest. A Moveable Feast. New York: Scribenar, 1964.