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We are what we write

No one in business escapes being a writer today. Perfumer’s blog. Personal trainers tweet. Engineers spend a third of their working day writing, instead of tinkering in their workshops. Famous authors promote their books on Facebook from beyond the grave. There’s no escape.

‘A refreshing new approach packed with practical hot tips to help dodge common pitfalls’ Jeff Davy, freelance journalist and university lecture

When Susan moved from a career in journalism into screenwriting, she soon found herself in the crucible of a film crowdfund, discovering that her pitch was destined to crash and burn. In the dark days of the campaign, a handful of words kept Susan going, words that have become famous as Theodore Roosevelt’s ‘man in the arena’ speech.

The power of these 100-year-old words became the springboard that prompted Susan to write her book, driven by the goal of showing businesspeople how to write well and nudge the business world.

Writing is more than grammar, punctuation and correct spelling. Even in business, writing has a soul. We each have a writing fingerprint that can make or break our careers. And when we write, we show exactly who we are. Clear thinking or confused. Active or passive. Concise or long-winded. Our strengths and weaknesses are all there.

Writing style has identified murderers and terrorists. Software can define our personality traits through our tweets, and expose ‘sock puppet’ accounts on Wikipedia. Recently, the use of forensic linguistics identified JK Rowling, keen to publish without post-Harry Potter expectations, as the hidden author of The Cuckoo’s Calling.

Susan offers a creative, yet realistic, approach to the craft of writing, covering the big picture and fine detail in equal measure. She delivers hard-hitting truths about the dangers of hiding in our writing comfort zones of writing. With a sense of humour, she pushes us to think about the deep purpose of our writing and to aim high. Lack of research, knowledge of our readership, and procrastination all come under her scrutiny. The classic areas of style, tone and, yes, punctuation all come into the picture too, in a refreshing way that prompts us to assess writing style from a new viewpoint.

’We write to discover and share what we think, what we feel, and what we know, ’she says. ‘Maybe you want to build a world-class brand, a company that crashes into the Fortune 500, or create a career that leaves a lasting impact on the planet. Whatever you want to achieve, writing is your best buddy, the go-to sidekick who can help you get to where you want to go. It’s personal. And yet… you have a distinct unease about where to start, what to say and how to say it. And if you are what you write, why can’t you do it well. That’s why I wrote this book.’

How to Write Well (£14.99) is published by Panoma Press and is available to order from Amazon.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Panoma Press .