Content Archives - Page 20 of 28

Editorial Makeover 3 — A Simple Story

August 24, 2006 by Liz

Simple Is Lovely

Hi Liz,

I was considering sending in a piece when you first mentioned the makeover but had forgotten about it. Since getting your reply I’ve picked out a piece and would like to submit it. The little girl in this story taught me something so I’d like to do the story justice.

Thanks in advance,

Tim

Hi Tim,
This is such a lovely story. I was inspired by the Buscaglia book, too. I also hold high respect for the perceptions of children and what they can teach us. I understand what you mean about doing this story justice. The little girl you tell about is a special one.

With those thoughts in mind, I made my edits. I worked to the spirit of the story, and that led me to alter some facts to put things in order that people might imagine them.

I removed many words to make the story simpler and more powerful. That was to underscore your respect for this young child as a teacher.

I tried to stay close to your writing voice. Only you can judge whether I succeeded at at that.

I may not have made all of the choices that you would have made, but I hope this points you in the direction you’re looking to go.

Remember, as always, this is only one way to edit it! Every editor edits differently.

Smiles,
Liz

Turn the page to look over my shoulder as I do the editorial makeover. It’s called, “A Simple Story” [Read more…]

Can’t Write? Improve Your Skill Set to Improve Your Job Security

August 21, 2006 by Liz

Improving Your Writing Skills Is an Investment

Straight talk on business writing is a crucial need in the 21st century. We do business with people we don’t meet. It doesn’t matter whether we work at home or in a Fortune 500 environment, being able to communicate effectively in writing affects our ability to get work; it affects our place in society.

Do you want that job as a police officer, designer, detective, cook,or landscaper? Do you need to write a deal memo or a letter of complaint? You have to express yourself well and clearly, and to know the form and style that best suits the information you’re presenting, or you won’t be heard.

“With the fast pace of today’s electronic communications, one might think that the value of fundamental writing skills has diminished in the workplace,” said Joseph M. Tucci, president and CEO of EMC Corporation and chairman of the Business Roundtable’s Education and the Workforce Task Force. “Actually, the need to write clearly and quickly has never been more important than in today’s highly competitive, technology-driven global economy.”

The National Commission on Writing also found that American corporations have been spending $3.1 BILLION annually on improving employee deficits in writing.

This fact alone has lead many companies to look on people lacking writing skills as unfit for hire and unlikely to last long enough for promotion.

“In most cases, writing ability could be your ticket in . . . or it could be your ticket out,” said one respondent.

How we write is how we are judged by others. It is often the only picture of us they see. Certainly many of the key people in our lives see more of our words than they see of us.

So I’m going to spend this series looking at communication in all of its forms as we interact with businesses — getting and giving work and talking about the work we do together — why it works and why it doesn’t. We’ll talk about targeting your audience, sounding professional and easy to work with, how to delegate properly, emails, deal memos, proposals, conversation, and when things should be in person, on the phone, and in text.

I’m interested in what else you think this series should include.It’s all about business communication. No one is perfect at that.

So comment away on the problems you see and I’ll add them to the list of what’s covered. Improving this single skill set is the quickest way to ensure job security.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you think Liz can help with a problem you’re having with your writing, check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

10 Sure-Fire Ways to Stop Making Writing So Hard

August 15, 2006 by Liz

Why Do We Make Writing Harder Than It Needs to Be?

It’s amazing how often we undercut our own progress, cause a power failure, make things hard on ourselves. We set up roadblocks and wonder why the path is hard to travel. We take the long way home, because we fear the easy way. We shoot ourselves in the foot, and we don’t know that we’re doing it.

In training writers, I’ve seen people talk themselves out of writing in so many ways. Most are easy to stop if you know that you’re doing them. If you think you might be making things harder than they need to be. Hang on. I’ve got the list for you. [Read more…]

PH2: Less and Fewer — Don’t Learn to Write by TV

August 15, 2006 by Liz

TV Has It Wrong

Language is a changing thing. The changes first happen in conversation and eventually they become accepted in written language as well. That’s what happened with that old rule Don’t finish a sentence with a preposition.

Power Hits prove that not everything you see in print, hear in a song, or watch on TV are correct.

In this case, two words the mass media can’t seem to get right are less and fewer. So let’s settle that matter once and for all. [Read more…]

Myth Busting “Write as You Talk” OR How to Write Conversationally

August 14, 2006 by Liz

I Can Think Writing

My IT husband wanted to know what I knew about writing. We talked quite a while. I told him that writing is written conversation about organized thinking.

As he does often, IT man gave his response in quotable form.

I can think writing, but I don’t know how to write it.

I could have answered, “Write as you talk.” It’s well known advice, but talking isn’t at all like writing. Really. That is a myth and I’m myth busting it now. So what does it mean to write as you talk? [Read more…]

Content or Copy: Ignore the Difference at Your Own Risk

August 9, 2006 by Liz

The Pigeons and the Preacher?

When we were first married, my husband I were walking through a city park. The lawn was filled with pigeons. He voiced the most unusual thought. “Why are pigeons always the same size?” he said. “What if they are all baby pigeons and a great mother pigeon lives up on the roof of one of those buildings?”

Shortly thereafter we passed a young man in scruffy clothes who told us that the world was ending. He asked us to change the way we were living. He offered us the reasons and joys of how living his way would make our lives wonderful and give us peace forever. I wondered whether he’d heard the conversation about the pigeons.

If the two messages had been written as text–one would be content; the other would be copy.

Do know see the difference? I don’t mean to hold you hostage. But ignore the difference at your own risk. [Read more…]