Are you busy? Overworked? Over-stressed? Surrounded by a pile of material you need to read and review and act on? Well, so are your readers. And at the risk of bursting your bubble, they’re also not particularly interested in reading your memo, brochure, ad, article, white paper — whatever you’re writing. The solution? Make it […]
Author Archives: Tom McKay
Writing Secret #2: Make a Map
A simple outline is your map through the cluttered forest of your mind. Let’s face it, we’re all bombarded with calls, emails, meetings, interruptions and distractions of all sorts, from every direction, every day. All an outline does is help you stay on track. Like a map, it shows you exactly where you want to […]
Gladwell on Writing
Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and Tipping Point, discusses writing and doing what you love: “I really love writing, in a totally uncomplicated way. When I was in high school, I ran track and in the beginning I thought of training as a kind of necessary evil on the way to racing. But then, the […]
The Joys of Writing
“There are two moments worthwhile in writing: the one when you start, and the other when you throw it in the waste-paper basket.” – Samuel Beckett
Writing Secret #1: Start Right
Before I do the big “reveal” (as they say in TV land) of my seven secrets of effective business writing, you may wonder why clear communications even matter. Hey, it’s hard work to be clear and compelling in your writing and speaking. Is it worth the effort? What’s in it for you? Why should you […]
Write what you mean to get what you want
Why didn’t they say yes? Why couldn’t you close that important sale? Why didn’t you land that new job, or get the promotion you’d been hoping for? Why didn’t she say yes when you asked her out? You made your pitch, but they just didn’t “get it.” Why not? Why didn’t they value what you’re […]
Secrets of good writing
Writing is hard work. Well, good writing is. As the late, great sportswriter Red Smith put it: “There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” Samuel Johnson agreed, although he lived a few hundred years earlier. “What is written without effort is… read without pleasure.” Finally, […]