It Makes An A - - Out of You and Me

Too many of the bloggers of the world either think no one is reading their blog or everyone is. If you're journaling for yourself, okay, but if you want to share you thoughts, you need to be clear.

Besides the grammar, spelling and sentence structure mistakes that confuse readers, too many bloggers assume the reader knows what they are talking about. Not so.

When many of us pull up a blog we're lost. There isn't any background or context to give meaning to what's newly written.

Bloggers need to find a few words to explain why the reader should be reading this post, what's new about this information, how does it relate to what's been said before and how/why it matters.

Before hitting the send button, you, the blogger, need to ask yourself if what you've written can stand alone. Would someone who's finding your blog for the first time understand your latest entry? (Hint: if a reader needs to read all entries to understand your latest, you'll likely lose them.)

Yours,
WMW

Who cares? What does it mean? So What?

These questions are the beginning of writing. In finding the answers to them, you've found something worth saying. Every story, e-mail, policy statement, brief, letter to a client, blog entry, memo to staff, report and note to a friend has an audience and to keep that audience, tell them something worthwhile. Don't waste their time.

Who cares? Consider whether what you're writing is going to the right person. Consider why that person should read what you have to say. Find the words to make your reader care. If you can't, maybe you don't have enough to say at this particular time to this particular reader.

What does it mean? This is a two-prong question. First, your message needs to have some substance. Secondly, it needs to be written carefully and clearly so it can be understood easily and fully.

So What? The answer, or lack of answer, to this question sets the course of when and what you write. Don't waste someone's time if what you have to say doesn't really matter.

Yours in waste management, WMW

Mother knows best

Having trouble figuring out who your audience is? Who is on the other end of your writing? Or, you know who you're writing to, but just can't get started?

Picture your mom. She’s smart, doesn’t let you get away with anything, demands accountability and has impressed upon you, roughly since birth, that you need to be responsible for your actions.

Picture your mom when you write.

She is your first and longest-running editor. As you write, keep to her expectations. She doesn’t want her time wasted, she seeks facts, and she’s more than capable of making up her own mind – as long as she’s supplied with clear, intelligent, meaningful information.

Platitudes (as in too many adjectives) don’t cut it with her. Get to the point, she’s a busy woman.

So is your reader.

Yours in Waste Management, WMW

Waste is a terrible thing

Quick advice: Just drop "in order to" from your writing. It's wasteful. When you next get the urge, delete those three little words and see how you've empowered your sentence. Same goes for "in fact." Ditch those words; not needed. Don't let anything get in the way of you getting to the point of what you want to say. Less is more -- three words you'll hear often from me.

That said, I'm wondering about other kinds of waste. The waste of energy doing the wrong thing, when the right thing is far easier to do. The waste of time spent on people not worth your while -- I don't advocate rudeness, I just don't think you owe everyone a piece of you. (I've learned this the hard way -- I'd write "very hard way," but that would be a waste of the word "very" when "hard" says it all.) Save your precious self for those who count.

I'm hoping to offer food for thought on all kinds of waste; life is about managing it. I don't come close to having all the answers, but sometimes it's the right question that brings you to enlightment.

Yours in waste management, WMW

Don't waste your talent

Whatever you do, don't undermine your efforts with clumsy writing, poor grammar and unclear thoughts. It doesn't matter how smart you are, how glib, how talented. If you can't get your smarts across with the written word, you're forgettable at best, and unforgettable at worst.

Find the power of your words by not wasting them.

Think about this. With so much writing on the Internet, shouldn't yours be among the best? With so much competition in the business world, shouldn't your message be the one that matters? If grades count to you, shouldn't your writing?

Shouldn't you stand out from the crowd?

Let me help you with the waste management of language. Let me show you just how outstanding you can be.

Yours in waste management, WMW