I was reading a chapter - Business Writing: Writing in your job - written by William Zinsser who was basically one of the fathers of writing in American literature. There's a saying in Chinese - history is like a mirror and you can get a good reflection of who you are by watching it. I think it goes as well with books of concrete substances - good books are like a mirror and by looking at which, you can find the past of you stupid and pompous.
In the segment I read. William gave a lot of examples of newsletters written by principles from different institutions. In most cases, the words inside lack humanity and clear thinking. They are obscure and pedantic words to the ordinary mortals which would make people raise the question that if those words are tapped out by the computers instead of another soul.
Here are some negative examples:
In this document you will find the program goals and objectives that have been identified and prioritized. Evaluative procedures for the objectives were also establish based on acceptable criteria.
To compare, here're some positive examples written by some principals to notify the parents:
It seems that traffic is beginning to pile up again in front of the school. If you can possible do so, please come to the rear of the school for your child at the end of the day.
Needless to say, you can tell the flagrant distinctions between those two paragraphs. The first at the top is infested with obscure words and concept nouns, which set up a huge block on the path to the understanding and do a great disservice to the fervent readers, whereas the second one at the bottom embraces humanity and humor.
In order to change this sluggish and noneffective writing that are rampant among the educators. A principle asked William to conduct a workshop in the school and teach the teachers how to write.
At first, the situations were quite wild and grim. By quoting the original text of the chapter, the scenario is like this:
They had met the enemy for the first time. They scribbled on their pads and scratched out what they had scribbled. Some didn't write anything. Some crumpled their paper. They began to look like writers. An awful silence hung over the room, broken only by the crossing out of sentences and the crumpling of paper. They began to sound like writers.
Luckily as time goes by coupled with constant practice, the writers' words got humaner. They edited their previous newsletter piece from A to B:
A: Evaluative procedures for the objectives were also established based on acceptable criteria.
B: At the end of the year we will evaluate our progress.
In this study case, all the people related are mostly represent their institution. That means their writing style and work would be the face of their organisations, However, in our daily life, the words we ink on the paper present who we really are as an individual, showcasing our true characteristics and personalities. Take a look at your writing in this perspective, you would get the true sense of the writing itself. It's no longer just about the information we try to convey, but the revelation of our inner selves and the one we aspire to be.
So, next time, before you send an email to your friend, potential client, or your boss, you'd better mull on your sentences twice and hone the writing at least one more time after you finish it, trying to stick to the principles of making it simple, succinct and effective. And don't forget the most important things of all, inject enough dose of humanity in it.
