At a recent workshop to improve my writing skills I came across a guru who gave me some sage advise.
“Like it or not, people judge you by how you write. Strong writing skills will help you get noticed, earn you confidence and trust, and move you up in your career.”
If your writing can use some work, here are some suggestions I garnered from the workshop:
- Understand your audience– The best writers tailor their work to the people who will be reading it. Think about your audience and figure out their problems and goals and then write specifically for them.
- Pick your topics well in advance of a deadline– If you are like me, you work best under pressure, or think you do. But deadline pressure won’t help you do your best writing. Instead, set up a schedule where you plan topics in advance. This affords plenty of time to think about them.
- Read a lot– The more you read, the more you learn, and the more you will discover the differences between good writing and bad. Don’t limit yourself to only writing within your field – broaden your horizon and perspective by looking at a variety of topics and writers.
- Make it a habit– Strong writing is developed, not something you do from time to time. Set a time and place to write so you will become consistent and efficient.
My "Bersonal" View 
Someone once said, “As you speak, there you are”…….so too with writing. As always, this article of yours is right on the cuticle. Being a poet and writer, I have learned and are still learning, the true power of words and how thoughts get developed into ideas and they to some finished product.
On that vane, one morning I woke with a line in my head that kept repeating itself over and over.
I rose and wrote this poem .
“A Word
A word appeared from somewhere far, from a land where words are made.
It nudged the brain, then nudged again, like a tune that must be played.
Still other words took up the pace and they all took their place in line.
The gathering attracted even more, until full sentences were defined.
A thought was formed and nourished, until an idea was newly found.
Lines of sentences performed “Dress Right, as more paragraphs came round
.
Order came where disorder reigned, and soon a poem was heard.
The companies of paragraphs had formed a regiment of words.
They arrived together, marched in time, stood proudly, banners high.
An example of what can be formed, when one word decides to try.
by Jerome E Howard
Thought you might enjoy. Regards, Jerry
thanks for that. so true.
when young, budding financial analysts asked me what they needed to be valuable to our brokerage firm I always told them: the ability to write reports that could be understood. And they did and we built a NYSE firm with international customers because they could read our “stuff” and know what we saw in companies.
My best tip is to READ BACK to yourself OUT LOUD so that you hear any weird sentences or missing words, etc. It is a sure fire way to self edit!