How To Write More Effectively — And Why It Matters
I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy as we navigate through the uncharted waters of the Covid-19 pandemic together. Like many of you, I have been physically distant from my co-workers over the past few weeks. My voice has echoed into an empty room on conference calls and my words have zipped through emails in cyberspace, but my body language has remained silent.
Clear thinking and clear communication are crucial during a crisis. One of the unique challenges of this crisis is that we can no longer lean on body language for communication; we must rely on our voice and our words. While dialogue on phone calls is important, our current remote working situations can also help us become better writers. The intent of this article is to share 3 techniques that enable effective writing:
- Plan
- Be concise
- Use analogies
Plan:
The first step to effective writing is effective planning. Once a topic is chosen, I find that countless unstructured thoughts begin swirling through my mind at rapid speed. The goal of the planning phase is to siphon chaotic thoughts out of the mind and freeze them on the page. When thoughts have a physical presence, they can be structured; if thoughts swirl in the mind, they tend to scatter.
It’s important to write freely, without a filter and without judgement, during the planning phase, as the plan becomes the soil from which the main piece of writing grows. Just like fertile soil yields a healthy harvest of crops, an extensive plan that is full of rich, unstructured thoughts, can yield powerful writing.
Be Concise:
If the planning phase is characterized by freedom, the editing process is defined by precision. It is through ruthless editing that dull thoughts become sharp and confused ones become clear. The guiding principle to keep in mind is to be concise. To quote George Orwell, we should “never use a long word when a short one will do”, and if it’s “possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.”
Being concise is important as words are just the medium through which we express thoughts. Each additional word to express a given thought becomes a tax on the reader’s scarce attention; the higher the tax, the less effective the writing.
Use Analogies:
Finally, analogies are my favourite way of making a piece of writing memorable. The best analogies are unusual marriages between unrelated two concepts, and can help (1) explain a difficult concept in simple terms, or (2) put recommendations in context.
For example, politicians around the world have been comparing the fight against Covid-19 to a war. Consider the implications of this simple analogy: the life and death nature of the virus is now obvious, the enemy has been clearly identified, and the the extreme measures that governments have taken have precedent. The other analogy that governments have used is “flatten the curve.” The concepts behind this phrase — infectious disease science, exponential growth, healthcare system capacity — are complicated, but the visual is simple and easily understood by all.
Crafting analogies takes imagination, but the right one, when used effectively, can cut through noise, spark understanding, and inspire action.
Conclusion:
At this point, some of you may be wondering if learning how to write well matters in corporate environments. After all, responsiveness and speed is critical, and it’s often more effective to call a colleague than to write a lengthy email.
But I would suggest that the process of planning your thoughts, being concise, and using analogies is not just about improving the quality of your writing.
It is about improving the quality of your thinking.
In challenging times, difficult, unexpected problems come up on a daily basis. Clear thinking and clear communication matters now more than ever, and by extension, learning how to write effectively matters, now more than ever.
