Writing That Works, 3e_ How to Communicate Effectively in Business - Kenneth Roman [7]
Definite is most often used to mean positive, absolutely certain; It is now definite that the factory will open on schedule. Definitive means complete and authoritative, determining once and for all: It was the definitive design for a steel mill, a model for all others.
Indifferent means that you don’t care how it comes out: The chairman, recognizing the triviality of the proposal, was indifferent. Disinterested is not the same as “uninterested.” It means neutral and objective: Amid the passions raging on both sides, only the chairman, recognizing the importance of the decision, managed to remain disinterested.
Fulsome means excessive to the point of insincerity: His fulsome praise was a transparent attempt at flattery. Full, abundant are in no way synonymous with fulsome. They carry their own familiar meanings.
Notable means worthy of note: His research on Jack the Ripper is notable for its thoroughness. Notorious means famous in an unsavory way: Jack the Ripper was perhaps the most notorious criminal of the nineteenth century.
Into must be handled with caution. The headline writer wrote, murder suspects turn themselves into police — stunning as magic, but not what he meant. When the preposition belongs to the verb — “to turn in” — you can’t use into. In to is not synonymous with into. You go into the house, or you go in to find your wallet. You look into the subject before you hand your paper in to your boss. The rules are too complicated to help. Be alert to the difference and use your ear.
When you confuse words like these, your reader may conclude that you don’t know any better. Illiteracy does not breed respect.
8. Make it perfect
No typos, no misspellings, no errors in numbers or dates. If your writing is slipshod in any of these ways, however minor they may seem to you, a reader who spots your errors may justifiably question how much care and thought you have put into it.
Spelling is a special problem. Good spellers are an intolerant lot, and your reader could be among them. Whenever you are in doubt about how a word is spelled, look it up in the dictionary. If you are an incurably bad speller, make sure your drafts get checked by someone who isn’t thus handicapped. Computer spell checkers can help, but they have serious shortcomings (as demonstrated poetically in Chapter 3).
9. Come to the point
Churchill could have mumbled that “the situation in regard to France is very serious.” What he did say was, “The news from France is bad.”
An executive mumbled in his report, “Capacity expansion driven by the sales growth encountered engineering issues which adversely impacted profits.” What he was trying to say is, “Profits are off because engineering problems hurt our ability to increase production as fast as sales.”
Take the time to boil down what you want to say, and express it confidently in simple, declarative sentences. Remember the man who apologized for writing such a long letter, explaining that he didn’t have time to write a short one.
There are only 266 words in the Gettysburg Address. The shortest sentence in the New Testament may be the most moving: “Jesus wept.”
10. Write simply and naturally — the way (we hope) you talk
One office worker meets another in the hall. “Ben,” he says. “If you need more manuals, just ask for them.” His ten-word message delivers his thought simply and directly. Anyone can understand. What more is there to say?
But let the same man write the message, and he pads it with lots of big words. Here’s the way the written message actually appeared.
Should the supply of manuals sent you not be sufficient to meet your requirements, application should be made to this office for additional copies.
A message needing ten