Thrive: Improve Your Writing Skills Last Part

This post is labeled under Personal Development, Career Move


This is the last portion of my post in improving writing skills. If you haven’t read the first part, you can visit it here.

Success in writing sometimes comes in correct way of packaging. I have read memoranda, technical manuscripts of which you think you are reading a judge decision on a criminal court. Avoid lengthy words/paragraphs that make the reading material heavy and hard to digest.


Plenty of white spaces is one of the techniques present writers use to create an impression that the article is short and easy to read. Writing short paragraphs is much effective than lengthy one. But you still need to follow the rules in dissecting paragraphs e.g. change of topics, mood, place, and focus.

Formal vs. Non-formal

I was once criticized by my American boss when I was still working as an analyst in a back-office setup. “Jerry, can you make your email short? No one here bothers to read long emails”.

That’s why sometimes you would see the core of the message at the subject line; typical with business counterparts that come from America and Europe. People on the go prefer short message which immediately tells what you want from them.

Words of caution: You need still to adhere the correct way of writing a formal/business letter to convey seriousness of content especially if the recipient prefers the old-fashioned way. Putting smileys on your messages is a big no-no.

Depending on the culture of the business environment where you at, learn to adapt immediately which styles you need to apply. The important thing is, formal or non-formal, they get the message.

Sacrificing Clarity with Brevity

One of the struggles of bloggers like me is how to present our content with at least 500 words or less. On some occasions I even violate this rule when compression of thoughts is no longer possible. This just has to show how ironic, with all forms of communication we have today, our readers’ attention span is becoming shorter.

Business letter prefers brief; personal longs emotions-filled message. I remember when I was young and writing love letters, how a girl looked forward to in writing her letters even though I would seen her everyday. I suspect personal letter pours out detailed emotions which ordinary talks fail to deliver between a girl and a boy.

Same goes when writing friends, relatives and loved ones. I’m not saying you need to write long personal letters. What I mean is, have a freedom to say what you feel. Short or long letter will not defeat the thought of taking time to write and making the connection.

Let the fun begin

My former German boss often calls me every time he needs to write a memo or draft a formal letter to this boss or client. Even though he had his own secretary who composes his letters, he lets me see the draft if it was written with effectiveness.

Soon other managers often teased me as someone as next-in-command as they see letters and memo we sent. Over time, my boss dragged me along with his meetings and I coordinated things in-lined with his responsibilities. Managers and clients, who had misunderstanding with my boss, often talked to me first so I could mediate; an opportunity that widened my influence and made things done fast never before.

So, start hitting the keyboard (or pen): write. No one can say where it will take you as opportunity breezes with your writings.