Surfing the Net some months ago I bumped into this little free eBook, 30 Days to Better Business Writing, 116 pages of expert tips, advice and help to make you a better writer.The eBook is written by Matthew Stibbe. He is writer in chief at Articulate Marketing, a marketing agency, he writes for clients including Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, eBay and HM Government and runs the successful Bad Language blog.
The book is essentially a 30-day course that you can use to improve the way you write.
This is the summary
1st Week: days 1 to 7
The author, through his own experience, writes in a few pages a great amount of useful suggestion. Even if you are not a journalist you will find interesting the Interview approach, the target point of view assumed, the story chase. Tips and tricks, and related exercise, are valid for all writing aspects: website copy, brochures, emails, letters, proposals, blog posts, press releases, etc. Everything starts with a target and continues with a story sewed for that target. This is what Stibb teaches during the first week.
2nd Week: days 8 to 15
The second week is dedicated to the mechanics of writing.
The key point is how to bring ideas on the screen using some few rules to create the best reading experience for your readers.
Avoid long sentences and long paragraph, use short words but avoid acronyms and passive sentences. Look for mistake and stay concentrate. This means avoiding surfing Internet while you are writing or interrupting your job continuously distracting elements.
On the other you must schedule some pauses because the attention is a descendent line not only if you reads or hears but also when you are writing.
Days 16 to 19
Days from 16 to 19 are a kind of pause. You may need a cup of tea or a thesaurus links list, you have to prepare everything in order to collect the ideas in the right way, writing a brief to help your job with a solid base.
I really found useful the link list shared at the end of days 17. Visual thesaurus, data visualization and mind mapping tools.
Days 20 to 26
These are the operative days. The author focuses his explanation to different writing pieces. What you need depends on what is your job but each one contains worthy comments always usable. These are the days that I preferred but, obviously, for an effective writings you also need the previous days!
Days 27 to 31
Final destination! The last suggestions from the experienced writer. What you can do to manage some nasty situations.
