This article is part of a new series with a closer focus on how you can be more persuasive when writing.
It has a business slant, but in reality, the advice and theory here can be used for anything – negotiating your next utility bill, emailing your boss, or even texting the people you care about.
These take me time to write and I hope enjoy them. I’d love for you to stay, but if for whatever reason you wish to unsubscribe, use the link at the bottom.
As always, thank you for reading.
Books Versus Business: 3 Essential Business Writing Tips
“If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him” The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
Books take us to places we could never imagine ourselves, to distant futures and mythical history.
It’s the closest we can ever get to being inside someone else’s mind and sailing their stream of consciousness.
We read for intrigue, mystery and beauty.
Business writing is the polar opposite. Most of the time.
The goal of business writing, or copy, is to inform quickly and persuasively. Being ambiguous is a problem. The last thing you want from a piece of copy is mystery.
Curiosity? Yes. Mystery, not so much.
Here are some business writing tips, looking at literary and business writing differences and some examples of when it’s worth blurring the lines to help you communicate better.
Write for Simplicity
Literary language can be complex. It uses metaphor to tease and seduce the reader. Authors make up words and concepts and have done for hundreds of years. The number of words created by Shakespeare or C S Lewis is mind-boggling, words like chortle and phrases like “break the ice”.
In books, there’s value in having a narrator who is unreliable. It keeps the audience guessing, keeps them reading, allows them to walk in the shoes of their respective protagonist and feel confusion and betrayal, connection and loss.
“I am not what I am” Othello, William Shakespeare, ~1604
Meanwhile, business writing needs to be transparent. It needs to act as a shop window so that potential customers are drawn to the products and services behind.
If your copy is attracting too much attention to itself, this is a problem. So, it’s important to use words that are quick to process and easy to understand.
But business writing shouldn’t be boring either.
That means there’s an intersection worth exploring. Metaphor can be very powerful because we are visual creatures. When something fits “hand in glove”, we can almost feel it.
And just because you’re writing to or for a business, that doesn’t mean you can’t be personal or conversational. Often, it’s preferable to an overly formal tone.
“1000 songs in your pocket” iPod, 2001
Write with a Purpose
Writing something literary is meant to evoke emotion. The reader is meant to feel what the character is going through, empathise with them and appreciate their struggle.
Consider the best villains in books or cinema – the most blood-chilling evil is often seeded with something you as the reader can empathise with.
They explore the human experience – all of it – with the intention of bringing you along for the ride. And just like human experience, books are chaotic, meandering and descriptive.
“You have been in every line I have ever read” Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, 1861.
Business writing is meant to sell you something. Even informative writing, like annual reports, job descriptions or internal communications – practically everything written for business is written through the lens of encouraging action.
This means that they must be written to persuade. Persuade you that the figures are correct and should be trusted, that they are a great company to work for or this round of redundancies is actually a good thing.
That means there isn’t much room for creative, descriptive language. But there is a need for the creative use of language. Here’s an example I really like from from ThoughtCo:
“I’m sorry to report that your grant proposal was among those that were not approved for funding in the spring. With the reduction in grant funds caused by budget cuts and the record number of applications, I’m afraid that many worthwhile proposals could not be supported.” ThoughtCo, 2019
This serves to buffer the reader from bad news, clearly state the situation and then provide an explanation and reasons. This is a creative use of language but is clear, kind and persuasive too.
They could simply have sent a note that said “REJECTED”.
Setting up messages like this, whether cancelling plans, complaining to the council or changing your mind on a business proposal will save you enormous amounts of grief and is often much more powerful than making up an excuse.
Be Clear
Good stories will use context to completely change the meaning of a line, chapter or perhaps the whole book. They’ll play with timelines, taking you back and forwards and side to side.
They can do this because they command the attention of the reader. Readers want to read the book else they wouldn’t have picked it up. They signed up for a rollercoaster ride. They want to read between the lines and make their own mind up about what’s going on.
“For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen.” Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy, Douglas Adams, 1979
This is completely different if you’re writing to promote your business or capture attention on social media. You don’t have the luxury of time or a committed audience. In reality you have seconds to make an impression.
That means clarity is your most important currency.
You need to make your points in a way that are entirely contextual, timely and precise. In whatever way you use style and tone, the actual information you impart needs seed itself in the front of the reader’s mind.
How many of us have read an ad on the tube and thought “Ok, but what is it?”
This is a complete waste. If your message has got someone to read it (great work), but then forces them to work to understand what’s going on, they’ll simply disengage and look at the next email, the next poster or scroll to the next post.
Business Writing Tips for Balance
If you look at how businesses have communicated over the past century, it has evolved dramatically.
In an ad for razors from the late 1800s, the tag line is simply “Because they’re good”.
However, the introduction of Freudian theory in the 1920s, courtesy of his nephew Edward Bernays, and the scientific approach towards understanding the impact of advertising copy changed everything.
Now we know that the more expensive your product and the more emotion is involved in the buying decision, like a wedding ring, it’s better to have longer copy. We know that small commodity purchases like toothpaste do better with less copy.
This has led to a raft of Id based messaging from “Just do it” by Nike, 1988 though to “I’m Lovin’ It” by McDonalds, 2003.
Novels can and should be new, exciting, original. But for a lot of business writing, we know what works. A good copywriter can help you know how to share your message without reinventing the wheel.
Since the dominance of search engines, it’s become essential to fold keywords into your writing without them hurting your readability. This can impact flow but is essential if you want anyone to be able to find what you’ve written. Learn more about this here.
That’s not to say you can’t break the mould. But you have to know what the mould is before you can come up with something both original and effective. Use these business writing tips to keep your message simple, purposeful and clear.
“We’re just waiting for the moment his poetic license runs out” Noel Coward
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