- Susan Weiner Investment Writing

What if your article has 5 points, but 1 is a digression?

January 9, 2018/in writing/by Susan Weiner, CFA

Imagine that you have five important points to make in an article, quarterly commentary, or white paper. Four of the points hang together. The fifth point is a digression. It doesn’t have much to do with the other four points. How can you best manage your oddball point?

Solution 1. Delete your digression

In the best of all possible worlds, your piece has a clear focus. Don’t dilute it by adding irrelevant information.

Solution 2. Move it to the end

Deleting the unrelated content isn’t always possible. I often encounter this in quarterly client letters.

For example, a letter may discuss the developments that drove portfolio performance during the past quarter. However, it’s also relevant to discuss the firm’s new hire.

In this case, discuss the new hire at the end of the letter. If possible, set off the announcement with a new heading.

Solution 3. Put it in a sidebar box

If you’re writing a longer piece that will be printed or published as a PDF, you have more options. You can put your digression into a sidebar box. That box gives a visual cue that its content is not essential to the main thrust of what you’ve written.

Other ideas?

If you have other ideas for handling a digression, please share them with me.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy “5 steps for rewriting your investment commentary.”

Learn more about my financial blogging class!

My posts that attracted the most views during 2017’s fourth quarter

Shall vs. will—which is best?
My 2017 reading with book recommendations for you
Bond market commentary rewrite
Writing about the new tax legislation in your client letters
Communicate with your clients about their legacy—This post features advice from Kathleen Burns Kingsbury
Canned newsletters can hurt your marketing
Blog post headings vs. no headings for your financial blog
4 financial blog post ideas from a writing teacher
Don’t wait for perfection
Red tulip writing exercise

Learn more about my financial blogging class!

When I was a lousy writer

December 19, 2017/in writing/by Susan Weiner, CFA

This is what I remember about my writing before I became a reasonably skilled writer.

As a high school student, I had a hard time understanding the use of footnotes. Luckily, earning a Ph.D. in Japanese history forced me to learn. In one seminar, my professor recalled students’ books to check the quality of our citations and our translations from English to Japanese.
I overused initial capitals in job titles. My Ph.D. thesis advisor drummed that out of me as I discuss in “Do you use ‘pride capitals’?“
I believed that I had to write out all of the evidence before I expressed an opinion. I didn’t know that I could engage readers by stating my opinion before building my case.
My laborious attempts at speaking and writing Japanese instilled empathy in me for those who struggle to express themselves. I lacked subtlety in Japanese. Sometimes I felt as if I were trying to slice a loaf of bread with an axe.
I used too many words. I hate to think about how the Hemingway tool, which I described in “Free help for wordy writers!” would grade my Ph.D dissertation.
I used lots of passive verbs. In other words, many passive verbs were used by me because I wasn’t taught to know any better.

How did I overcome these weaknesses?

Working with a writing coach while I was a staff reporter at Dalbar’s Mutual Fund Market News (now Money Management Executive)
Taking many writing classes that involved lots of feedback on my writing
Participating in a monthly writing group
Writing a lot—both for clients and on my blog
Reading about good writing and absorbing some of the lessons by blogging about them

By the way, except for my work with a writing coach at Dalbar, little of my process was specific to financial services.

Inspiration for this post

This post was inspired by “Remembrances of Being a Little Fat,” a chapter in Tina Fey’s Bossypants. The chapter consists of two sentences, plus a long list of bullet points.

This is more proof that nonfinancial sources can help your financial writing.

Shivering Turn approach to organizing your thoughts for writing

December 12, 2017/in writing/by Susan Weiner, CFA

Sometimes you get locked into writing about a topic in a certain way. It’s not easy to develop a fresh perspective. If this describes you, try what I call the Shivering Turn Method.

In The Shivering: A Jennie Redhead Mystery, a private investigator tries to unscramble the anagram, “shivering turn.” She says,

…because you cannot always see patterns if all the components are presented in a linear manner, I make a rough circle of the letters.

In the book, this helps her to crack the anagram in less than two minutes.

This made me think about a technique that you can use to reconsider your topic:

Put each of your main ideas on an index card.
Shuffle the cards, or spread them out on a surface in a random order.
Look for patterns and associations among your subtopics.

If you like this idea, you may also enjoy “Index-card approach to writing.” Or, learn about mind mapping in Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients.

Did you figure out the anagram? I confess that I did not. I’m not going to share the answer so I don’t spoil the book for other readers of this well-written mystery.

Disclosure: If you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I only link to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers.

My 2017 reading, with book recommendations for you

November 20, 2017/in writing/by Susan Weiner, CFA

Here are some of the books I read (or referred to) in 2017, divided by categories. The starred books are books that I refer to in 2017 blog posts, some of which haven’t been published yet.

Biography/autobiography

* Bossypants by Tina Fey

* Turner: the extraordinary life and momentous times of J.M.W. Turner by Franny Moyle

Elder care

I learned about the first two books in this section from New York Times columnist Ron Lieber’s article, “Hard-Won Advice in Books on Aging and Elder Care.” I imagine the other books he reviewed are equally good.

The 36-hour day: a family guide to caring for people who have Alzheimer disease, other dementias, and memory loss by Nancy L. Mace and Peter V. Rabins — This book has many practical tips.

A bittersweet season: caring for our aging parents—and ourselves by Jane Gross

Seven Steps to Managing Your Memory: What’s Normal, What’s Not, and What to Do About It by Andrew E. Budson and Maureen K. O’Connor — One of the authors spoke at my local library. I missed his talk, but the book seems solid.

Marketing

* Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger

* One Perfect Pitch: How to Sell Your Idea, Your Product, Your Business–or Yourself (Business Books) by Marie Perruchet

Personal finance

* Breaking Money Silence: How to Shatter Money Taboos, Talk Openly about Finances, and Live a Richer Life by Kathleen Burns Kingsbury

Reference books for writers

* Associated Press Stylebook by Associated Press

* Garner’s Modern American Usage by Bryan A. Garner — This has become a “go to” reference for me.

Words

Hemingway didn’t say that: the truth behind familiar quotations by Garson O’Toole

The Story of Be: A Verb’s-Eye View of the English Language by David Crystal — Before I read this book I hadn’t thought about the many meanings of the word “be.”

Writing

Do I Make Myself Clear: Why Writing Well Matters by Harold Evans

* Stylish Academic Writing by Helen Sword — This book was my favorite discovery in 2017.

* Unless It Moves the Human Heart: The Craft and Art of Writing by Roger Rosenblatt

Disclosure: If you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I link only to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers.

Don’t wait for perfection

October 31, 2017/in writing/by Susan Weiner, CFA

The show must go on. That applies to your blog, too.

In Bossypants, comedian Tina Fey quotes Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michels as saying, “The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s 11:30.”

As Fey says about writing comedy, “…it’s a great lesson about not being too precious about your writing. You have to try your hardest to be at the top of your game and improve any joke you can until the last possible second, and then you have to let it go”.

Do the best that you can with your blog posts. But don’t hold them back because they’re one smidgen short of perfection. Release them so your readers can benefit from your insights.

Image courtesy of Graphics Mouse at freedigitalphotos.net.

Red tulip writing exercise

October 3, 2017/in writing/by Susan Weiner, CFA

Want to think creatively about your next article or blog post? Try the red tulip exercise that I discovered in Helen Sword’s Stylish Academic Writing.

Here’s an exercise that Sword suggests for “generating new ideas and perspectives” for academic writing, but you can apply it to other types of writing:

Ask a friend, relative, or small child to write down the name of a randomly chosen object—something specific enough that you can actually picture it: a fat dachshund, a red tulip. Freewrite for ten minutes about all the ways that object resembles your research project.

Freewriting means writing nonstop, without editing, for a predetermined period of time. After you finish, you look at what you’ve written to see what’s valuable in it.

My freewriting about a red tulip

I did a freewriting exercise about blog posts and a red tulip. You can read the results in “5 ways a blog post is like a tulip.” In case you don’t believe that I really did the freewriting exercise, here’s a picture of what I wrote.

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy, “Photo + Mind Map = Blog Inspiration,” my wacky way to generate ideas for blog posts. That post was inspired by a photo of a Barbie on a beach.

Disclosure: If you click on the Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I only link to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers.

Writing question: how do you know when you have too many details?

September 26, 2017/2 Comments/in writing/by Susan Weiner, CFA

How do you know when you have too many details in your writing? That question from a participant in my investment commentary webinar made me think of these six tips. Try them if your writing gets bogged down by details.

1. Go with your gut

Seasoned writers rely on their instincts to know when they’ve stuffed too much into their drafts. They look at the rhythm of the piece or simply go with their guts. That’s fine for experienced writers who’ve honed their instincts through feedback from teachers or editors. But it’s not much help for non-professional writers. That’s why I provide more suggestions for identifying when you have too many details.

2. Word count

How long is your draft and its components? To oversimply, if you’ve written a 20,000-word blog post or a 1,000-word sidebar, it’s too long. It probably includes too many details.

3. What advances your argument?

Too many details may overwhelm your readers instead of convincing them. To cut the excess, ask “What’s the absolutely minimum of details that will make my point?”

Pare your story back to the basics. If it’s compelling, you’re finished.

4. Rule of Three

Examples work better in groups of three as I discussed in “What number of examples is ideal for persuasion?” Do your examples comply with the Rule of Three?

The Rule of Three isn’t an absolute. There’ll be many times when more is better. But it’s a way to filter for easy cuts to your excessive details.

5. Ask what your readers want

Do you have family or friends who are members of your target audience? Show them your draft. Ask them for feedback, including suggestions for what you can cut.

6. Are your sections balanced?

If your piece has three sections and one section is way longer than the others, it’s possible that section is too long. But that’s not always the case. Use your judgment.

Your suggestions?

If you have suggestions for how to recognize when your writing has too many details, please let me know.

Image courtesy of iosphere at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

What would happen if I stop writing?

September 12, 2017/in blog, writing/by Susan Weiner, CFA

Many of you struggle to write as much as you’d like. The large number of inactive financial blogs speaks to the difficulty of writing and posting weekly (or at any frequency). That’s especially true when you face demanding responsibilities as an investment, wealth management, or financial planning professional.

This struggle is why I suggest that you ask yourself “What would happen if I stop writing?”

When it’s okay to stop writing

Your answer might be, “Nothing bad.”

A “nothing bad” answer is more likely if you have colleagues who can pick up the slack to satisfy your firm’s writing needs.

Or, maybe you’re working on a 25-page white paper on an obscure topic. If few people would read—or be spurred to action by—your output, it’s okay to stop writing. You could benefit from using your time for higher-benefit activities. This is the kind of situation I wrote about in “Marketing lesson from clashing clocks.”

If your answer is “nothing bad,” then stop beating yourself up. Use the time and emotional energy that you save for goals that energize and help you.

When you shouldn’t stop writing

What if you’d lose something by not writing?

Financial professionals who write regularly have told me about the benefits they experience. Understanding the benefits may inspire you to make time to write.

Sometimes the benefits go to the bottom line. For example, a student enrolled in my financial blogging class because he wanted to return to blogging regularly. He said that his blog yielded many leads when he posted regularly, but the leads dried up when he stopped posting.

Often the benefits are less direct. For example, you can rarely attribute a sale directly to a great white paper about an emerging asset class. But you know that it enhances your firm’s credibility and makes it easier for salespeople to spur discussions with prospects.

Another benefit of writing is that it helps you to clarify your thoughts about other people’s ideas, as you explain your take on their ideas to your audience. Also, writing more helps you to improve your writing. These issues came up directly or indirectly in my survey about why advisors blog. Here is how people responded to my asking “What are the goals of your blog?”

23% Educate people
19% Attract clients
15% Improve my writing
15% Spread my ideas
12% Learn from others
8% Keep the clients I have
8% Sell information products
0% Other

If you resist my suggestion to stop writing…

Feel appalled by my suggestion that you stop writing? In your gut reaction, there’s a kernel of something that may spur you to write more. Look for it!

If you think a structured process could help you to write more, check out my book, Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients, and my financial blogging class.

Powerful financial article abstracts

August 29, 2017/in writing/by Susan Weiner, CFA

How do you get the most out of your financial article abstracts? I’m not talking about executive summaries for white papers. I mean formal abstracts that appear at the start of journal articles.

To supercharge your financial article abstracts, you need to know your goal. In Stylish Academic Writing, Helen Sword got me thinking about what your goal should be. She says:

The purpose of a scholarly abstract is not merely to summarize an article’s content, but to persuade one’s discipline-based peers that the research is important and the article is therefore worth reading.

One way that authors strive to assert the importance of their research is to say that it “will plug a ‘gap” in the existing scholarship,” as Sword says. Surely this is important.

But, Sword argues that starting “human conversations” in abstracts may be even more important. “Authors who adopt an impersonal ‘academic’ tone are neglecting one of the most powerfully persuasive tools at the stylish writer’s disposal: the human touch,” she says.

One way to do that is to give “a voice and presences to human subjects,” Sword says. To do this in finance, you might write about the people affected by your research.

Another way is to write in the first person. Use “I” or “we,” instead of writing impersonally.

Sword also pushes for “clear, comprehensible language” in both your abstract and the body of your academic paper.

Another suggestion for your abstract: Describe “not only its what but its why.” Sword asks, “What is the main point of your article, dissertation, or book?” Also, “Why is it important, whether to you or to anyone else?” These are great questions for the writers of any document.

Check out Stylish Academic Writing

Helen Sword’s Stylish Academic Writing isn’t just for academics. It offers advice that will help any nonfiction writer. It also sparked several posts on this blog.

Disclosure: If you click on the Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I only link to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers.