A Quick Exercise To Improve Your Writing

Anyone wanting to quickly improve their writing need only perform a simple exercise, courtesy of public relations and marketing guru Bob Schumacher and several other folks.

First, pick a recent document designed for public consumption: a press release, report, white paper, “How To” guide, etc.

Second, take another sheet of paper and draw a column down the center.

The final two steps are where this exercise gets interesting: In one column, write down every instance of the words “I” or “me”. In the other column, write every use of the words “you” or “your”.

Your last step is simple: tally the instances of “I” and compare them with “you”. Every “I” is a negative and every “you” a positive.

Or as Schumacher says, “No one cares about “you” (the author). They care about “you” the reader.”

This leads to a topic covered extensively in earlier blog posts, namely: “Think Like a Reader.”

People are reading your words not because they consider you some gifted writer—you may be but that is not the point—but because they seek information, education, entertainment or a combination of these three. When writers consider their readers first, they create more engaging and much more useful material.

Put another way, consider researching and writing using these perspectives:

· What will my readers get from this document? It can be 30 seconds of important information, or 30 seconds of drivel.

· Does this document provide value to them? That is really the key. Non-fiction writers present facts and opinions designed to inform and persuade others. If your document informs or persuades readers, it passes the test. If it leaves them confused or uncertain, it doesn’t.

· Is the impression this document creates the one desired by either the writer or their client? For example, a press release on a new product should explain what it does, not what it does not do.

Ultimately, good writing boils down to one simple test: who benefits the most? The writer or the reader? Readers who regularly gain information and knowledge from your documents will continue to seek out your material. Those that feel their time is being wasted will not.

Applying the above exercise to this document finds no instances of the words “I” or “me”, but two uses of “you” and five of “your.”