The One and Only Way to Become a Better Writer

             When I point out to students in my engineering communication class that learning to be a better writer requires reading, they remind me they do read a lot.  They read documents, specifications, product notes and organizational blurbs, most of them written by engineers or tech writers.

 

            But if you want to learn to write well, you’ll learn more by reading the works of great writers, rather than the works of great engineers.

 

            I point out, too, that becoming a better writer requires practice.  You can’t learn to write if you don’t write.  Then they remind me they do write a lot.

 

            “Do you know how many emails I wrote this week alone?” one student asked me.

 

            “How many did you revise?” I asked.

 

            “Why would I revise them?”

 

            Why indeed.  If you get no feedback (guidance, corrections, recommendations), then I guess you wouldn’t.

 

            Becoming a better business writer (or a better any kind of writer) requires practice and instruction and—although businesses impatient to improve “communication skills” won’t want to hear this—that takes time.

 

            You can’t learn to write better if you don’t revise.  You can’t learn to write better if you don’t read.  And doing either one in a vacuum won’t help you. 

 

            If you really want to become a better writer—if you want to look forward to writing rather than dread it, if you want to create written works people look forward to reading, if you want your written work to get action rather than get filed—take a class.  Not a one-day “seminar” where an instructor lets you have it about remembering your audience, outlining your thoughts and using correct punctuation, all in the space of seven intense hours of rapid-fire instruction.  That may fulfill your professional development plan (“I need 8 hours of writing instruction this fiscal year”) but it’s no way to learn to write. 

          Take time to read, write and revise.  Find someone (an instructor, a trusted colleague) who writes well who can point out ways to make improvements.  That’s the only way to become a better writer.