I wrote a piece of communications last week and received some feedback from a very experienced writer / editor. I wrote the piece again; cut it down by about half. Following feedback, I wrote it again. I was fortunate to then talk through the changes and I took some notes on the points we discussed. The piece I wrote was a blog, so here are the key points of feedback that could help you too.
– Companies are third person singular. I find this hard when writing, usually using ‘their’ when talking about IBM, I was wrong, it’s always ‘its’.
– In conversational style blogs, don’t use language that you wouldn’t use in a conversation, i.e. formal sentences. And, (much to my horror) I have learnt it’s actually ok to start a sentence with ‘and’, shocking I know.
– Always, if possible, print your work out to proof read. We weren’t designed to read things on screens, it’s much more accurate to review things on paper.
– Avoid repetition, but don’t go crazy for alternatives. Try restructuring the phrase to see if you could avoid using that particular word altogether. In the piece I wrote, I had used the word ‘experience’ about 10 times, there was a definite requirement to remove some of those.
As and when I receive more advice and coaching on my writing I’ll share what I’ve learnt. I’ve recently asked to give some communications workshops myself, but I have so much to learn – so keep an eye out for more tips!
This is a really helpful post š
And, as and English grad, being told you can start a sentence with 'and' baffled me when I went to high school as teachers are dead against it in primary lol.
Sarah x