The "Easier to Read' series on writing tips is now complete. Technical professionals will gain an understanding of how social media has impacted traditional writing. In some cases, the shift is obviously toward shorter, direct styles. In other cases, the shift returns to good practices that we have simply forgotten. Either way, the shift is real and impacts all of our technical communication.
What Inspired the “Easier to Read’ Series
Most of my inspiration comes from the people and projects we encounter through our consulting practice, JD Solomon Solutions. Such was the case here.
A few months ago, one of the technical professionals on a reliability assessment project commented that I posted a lot of articles on social media. He asked what I got out of it, and I replied that one of the things was improved writing. I suggested he give it a try. The idea for the series came when he asked me to give him some tips on how to get started.
The Approach Is FINESSE
FINESSE is a cause-and-effect approach for communicating effectively to senior management on big decisions. Writing tips fall primarily under the first S in FINESSE, which is Structure.
Remember, tips are ineffective without understanding the context and having an overarching approach.
The Content of This Series
The source of the series is social media, so that is the first article. Making writing easier to skim and making writing more accessible are linked in several ways. Both underpin good writing for social media. Finally, those pesky readability scores are now part of just about every software we use. The final two articles discuss how to use readability scores and what is behind the formula.
Writing Tips within the Writing Tips
Providing sub-tips or attributes for each writing tip makes them more practical and easier to implement.
For example, six ways to improve business writing are subheadings, two-sentence paragraphs, shorter sentences, fewer uncommon words, keyword-rich paragraphs, and informal tones.
The 5 Articles in the "Easier to Read' Series
Writing with FINESSE
Check out the articles on writing tips in the "Easier to Read" series. Technical professionals will gain an understanding of how social media has impacted traditional writing. In some cases, the shift is obviously toward shorter, direct styles. In other cases, the shift returns to good practices that we have simply forgotten. Either way, the shift is real and impacts all of our technical communication.
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