Just Do It (Then Revise It Later)

Writing is like any other skill: we learn by doing.

One of the reasons people don't like to write is a misplaced perfectionism. It's reasonable and appropriate to expect your writing to be coherent and professional. But it's not reasonable to expect everything to be professional the first time out.

My son plays Little League Baseball. Through his first two years, he was a timid hitter, afraid to swing the bat. In the batting cage, he had confidence and hit the ball well. In a game situation, he was like a deer in the headlights. I spoke to one of the coaches who told me not to worry. If he stuck with it, he'd eventually find his confidence and hit the ball. And he did.

It's the same thing with writing, except that you get another shot at it before you release what you've written. Instead of procrastinating, try writing it...even if the exercise is painful and the product is poor. Then sit on it for a few hours or even a day, look at it again, and revise it.

Revision and repetition are part of writing. JK Rowling didn't sit down and produce Harry Potter the first time out, and she didn't produce it without going back and changing a lot. It's the same for writing. As you write things, you'll get better at it, and the revisions will be less painful.

But the first step in writing something is figure out what you want to write, then write it. The second step is to let is sit a little and go back to revise it. The third step is to remember that it's a skill like any other. You wouldn't expect to solidly hit a baseball the first time you get in the batting cage. Neither should you expect to write well without having written much before.

Tell them what you want them to do

You've probably gotten it: the e-mail that goes on for eight or nine long, text-bound paragraphs. Then, when you finally slog through to the end, you don't know what it is you're supposed to do with the information in the e-mail.

You've probably also written a similar e-mail message.

If you want people to do things as a result of your e-mail message, you have to make it easy for them to see and understand that. Fortunately, some easy-to-use tools will help with that.

I typically try to treat e-mails like briefings, especially if I'm sending them to a large audience. I try to break up the information into three short sections. The names may vary, but the model stays the same. The sections are:

• Situation
• Background
• Actions Required

Situation. There has to be something that prompted you to write the e-mail. In two or three sentences, describe it. You can use any number of suitable section headers. For instance: Problem. Heavy snow is forecast for the area for the next 24-36 hours. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the area, expecting 18-24 inches before the end of the storm.

Background. It helps people frame their actions if they know why this is important. How does it relate to them? Tell them, but do so briefly. Background. The heavy snow will block the driveway and sidewalk making passage difficult if not impossible. In addition, you stay here rent free and your mother and I arrange for your food, clothing, and shelter.

Actions Required. Tell them what you want them to do, as simply as possible. If possible, also include what they should do if they have questions. Again, your header for this section can vary, depending on the circumstance. What you need to do. Please shovel the sidewalk and driveway, placing the excess snow on the lawn until the driveway in cleared. Please repeat this process in the morning and again toward the end of the day tomorrow. If you have any question, ask your mother, and please consider that we control the keys to the car.

It's a silly example, but the structure is solid and useful. Use active voice, include all the required details (but no more), and clearly state what you want them to do.

Grammar Stuff 1: Passive and Active Voice

Eighth-grade English wasn't much fun. What I remember most was the grammar. Mind-numbing repetition that seemed to take an eternity. Diagramming sentences and all that. My English teacher never yanked me out of the chair by my ear like one of my sixth-grade teachers did, but diagramming sentences might have been more painful.

Grammar is the art of making words work. Take passive and active voice. Yeah, yeah, I can picture your eyes glaze over now. But it's not that hard and you can master it pretty quickly.

Identifying active and passive voice

Here's an example of passive voice: The ball was hit by Daniel.

Here's active voice: Daniel hit the ball.

The second sentence is, in most cases, better. First, it has two fewer words, and the omitted words (was and by), didn't accomplish much anyway. Why keep them around leaching off the words that did the work?

Second, which sentence leads to a mental picture of someone hitting a ball? By economizing the words, you create more concise communication that people are more likely to read.

So how do I do it?
You can master active and passive voice by asking two simple questions:

1. Who is the actor in the sentence? If you can make the actor come first, you're probably okay. In the example Daniel is the actor. The ball is acted upon. Literally.
2. Does your sentence have the word was in front of the action verb?

If the actor comes first and you don't see a was in front of the verb, you're probably okay.

See, that wasn't so bad. Not as bad as being picked up by your ear.

Your e-mail is a document, not a letter

E-mail. It's the bane of our existence. But, if you structure an e-mail well, you can get your point across quickly, easily, and effectively. To do so, stop thinking of your e-mail as an online letter or memo, and start thinking about it as a document.

For instance, let's say you're writing your manager an e-mail message about how a specific group has done an outstanding job supporting your initiative. As a letter or a memo, it might look like this.

Elaine,

I met with the support center team lead and manager this morning. The meeting went very well, and I wanted to pass along how well the support team is progressing. First, they are taking the time to deal with the users' issues without rushing them off the phone so they can take the next call. Second, even though call volume has been heavy because of the product launch (up 59%), they have closed 84% of the tickets that have been submitted. Third, they have followed up personally when they've escalated tickets to assure that the user was satisfied with the support they've received.

Also, we held the last training session Thursday and I was very impressed with their knowledge of the system and participation. They came prepared and asked appropriate questions, several of which I had to follow up outside the meeting and get back to them. Overall, I think we should bypass the remainder of the probationary period and retain their services permanently.

Larry

Although this message is generally well-written, it reader can't skim it to pick up the main points because they're buried in a mass of text. The e-mail message looks like a letter, but is not as successful as it might otherwise be.

Let's try it again. This time, we'll forget that we're writing a virtual letter and treat the e-mail like a document.

Elaine,

I met with the with the support center manager and team lead yesterday and was impressed with their progress.

Areas of Improvement

• They spend enough time with user issues to make sure the issue is resolved.
• Although call volume increased 59% because of the product launch, 84% of the tickets have been closed.
• When a ticket is escalated, they follow up after the ticket is closed to assure the user is satisfied.

Training

The last training session occurred Thursday.

• They participated fully in the class.
• Their questions were well-thought out; I had to research the answers to several of them.

Recommendation

We should bypass the remainder of the probationary period and retain their services permanently.

The second approach actually results in a longer e-mail message, but it's easier to read. It calls out the important points so the reader can grab them at a glance. The desired action is easy to find, with the supporting information presented in an easy-to-digest format.

The second e-mail is more likely to produce results than the first.

Q. Why did you call it that?

A. Because it's a good name (read on)...

I once sent a woman an e-mail that explained everything she needed to know and do to handle the issue at hand. She called me and yelled at me because she didn't know how to handle it. I told her I sent her an e-mail that explained everything.

She said, "You didn't expect me to read that, did you?"

At the time, I was frustrated and thought her question to be a very selfish one. Since then, however, I've talked to the woman (she's really very nice), and thought about it.

The information I gave her was well-written and comprehensive. It covered everything she needed to know.

And it had too many large paragraphs. It was intimidating to the eye, and as a result, she didn't want to read it.

Since then, I've worked hard at reducing the information I need to convey so it looks quick, easy, and it pays back the reader's time and investment from the time they open the e-mail.

This blog lists the techniques I've found useful.