Good Writing — What and Why
by Miki Saxon
Does writing matter? Do capitals matter? Does punctuation matter? Does reviewing what you wrote matter?
Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes.
We’re not talking about becoming the next Tom Clancy or winning a Webby.
This is about sounding professional and respecting your reader, whomever they may be.
There are a lot of things that go into good writing, but the most important thing is that it makes sense, not how many multi-syllabic words are used. Obviously, this Fortune 500 company manager didn’t believe that when he described his job.
“It is my job to ensure proper process deployment activities take place to support process institutionalization and sustainment. Business process management is the core deliverable of my role, which requires that I identify process competency gaps and fill those gaps.”
Additionally, it requires using the correct words, as I said in another post.
“Are most people loosing their minds, while I am losing mine?
Years ago KG sent me a memorable reminder of the importance of capitalization. I used it then and here it is again.
“Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.”
A missing comma cost Oakhurst Dairy a lawsuit for overtime — they lost.
Finally, it takes very little time to review what you wrote; the best way is to read it out loud.
CB Insights shared a hilarious example from a resume they received.
P.S. We’ve been asking folks about their job interviewing and resume reading tips. Here’s a pointer for candidates: think carefully about your wording when submitting a CV. We received this earlier this week:
Enough said.
Image credits: thewritingreader and CB Insights
