A simple secret about how to write
Short and sweet this week! I’m giving you my number-one piece of writing advice.
When I switched on the out-of-office reply on my emails the other day, it got me thinking about the best writing tip I could offer if I weren’t here to support my clients with all things word-weaving. I didn’t have to think for long because one insight jumps out from the rest.
Over my years of writing, copyediting, and proofreading, I’ve received many draft documents from clients with this comment/caveat added:
‘What I’m trying to say is …’
This note usually accompanies a lengthy paragraph, ‘clunky’ sentence construction, or, lately, an AI-generated wadge of sentences that sound good but boil down to nothing at all.
Time and again I find that the comment in the margins, the ‘what I want to convey’, is the thing. Almost always, it’s better writing than in the main part of the document. It’s better because it’s usually written more simply, without the pressure to write well. In the aside is the very essence of your message: the true and human sentiment that will resonate with your audience.
When I first encountered this, it made me feel like a bit of a fraud — like I’d been given an exam paper with the answers included. But it’s become central to my approach to working with my clients: I start every new project knowing that you already have the words you need to communicate your message (you just might not know that you do!).
Often my job as a writer and editor is to help with unwriting: freeing the copy from needing to sound ‘writerly’ and, instead, uncovering the phrasing you’d use if you were sending me a quick note about what you wanted it to say.
In other (more confusing) words: The writing you write when you’re not trying to write is the right way to write.
So, the next time you’re struggling to craft the perfect wording for, well, anything (an email, newsletter, proposal, website, blog, script, social post, letter/card, message), ask yourself: ‘What am I actually trying to say?’ Then: write that.
