Writing with Substance

No brevity without substance, please

“Brevity without substance is useless.” This statement in Bryan Garner’s HBR Guide to Better Business Writing spoke to me.   If you regularly read this blog, you know I’m a big fan of writing concisely, and observing the rule of 42-14-2. However, sometimes a longer sentence is easier to understand than a shorter sentence. And, a […]

Writing to understand

Writing to understand

I agree with Japanese novelist Haruki Marukami who says, I have to write things down to feel I fully comprehend them. Writing things down forces me to clarify what I think. It forces me to learn as I fill in the missing links between different parts of what I’m saying. This learning process is one […]

2019 reading recommendations

My 2019 reading, with recommendations

Mistake Monday

MISTAKE MONDAY for November 25: Can YOU spot what’s wrong?

Can you spot what’s wrong in the image below? Please post your answer as a comment. This mistake made me laugh when I caught it. I post these challenges to raise awareness of the importance of proofreading.

Can chronology improve your email?

Bryan Garner’s HBR Guide to Better Business Writing has a great chapter on “Use chronology when giving a factual account.” You and your readers benefit whenever you organize your emails using easy-to-follow logic. Chronology is one of the easiest organizational schemes for writers and readers. Garner suggests “creating a chronology of relevant events before you […]