Blog – Page 2 – Fund Writing

22 July 201922 July 2019

The power of the paragraph

Short paragraphs make it easier to refine a narrative. (Image by chloestrong from Pixabay.)

If I stop reading a blog post, below-the-line comment or book review online, the chances are it’s because the text has no paragraphs.

Using short, clear paragraphs is one of the simplest things you can do to make your writing more attractive and legible – especially if it’s likely to be read on a screen.

“Don’t be afraid to use ultra-short paragraphs”

Another benefit of using short paragraphs is that they make it easier to refine a narrative. If you stick to the rule of having one main topic in each paragraph, then it’s easy to spot when an idea’s in the wrong place (or perhaps doesn’t need to be there at all).

And don’t be afraid to use ultra-short paragraphs. They are a good way of emphasising key points in your text.

Beyond legibility and narrative clarity, paragraphs have expressive potential too – and much of that expressiveness lies in the white spaces between them.

“Physical gaps in the text give the reader mental space to absorb and reflect on the previous idea”

These physical gaps in the text give the reader mental space to absorb and reflect on the previous idea. They also allow writers to suggest things that they don’t want to write explicitly (just as a pause or total silence does in a conversation).

So whether you’re writing a quick email, a monthly report, a proposal or a press release, take care with your paragraphs. And if you are prone to using long ones, start to make friends with your return key.

8 July 20192 August 2019

Why do we write?

If you want to convince your readers, you should have some idea who they are. (Image by Pexels from Pixabay.)

Unless you are writing a literary work, which is a form of artistic expression, your purpose in writing is usually to inform or persuade your audience. Often, you want to do both.

In the fund industry, certainly, informing and persuading the intended audience is the aim of almost every piece of writing that is produced. It’s good to remember this when you sit down to write.

“The purpose of writing is to inform and persuade your audience”

If you remind yourself that the purpose of writing is to inform and persuade your audience, you can avoid many common writing mistakes. The first and perhaps most lethal of these is to ignore your audience.

If you want to convince your readers, it’s obvious that you should have some idea who they are. It’s equally obvious that you should think about what interests them and that you should try to avoid confusing them or boring them to death.

“A lot of business writing is not suitable for the intended audience; sometimes, it’s not suitable for any audience”

These points are obvious, but writers often don’t address them, particularly in a business context. A lot of business writing is confusing and boring. Often, it’s not suitable for the intended audience; sometimes, it’s not suitable for any audience.

Perhaps it is encrusted in arcane jargon. Perhaps it is lifeless because all the sentences are structured in the same way. Perhaps it fails to engage the reader because it is too impersonal.

These are all problems that can be fixed. The first step on the way – and the best way to avoid these problems in the first place – is to remember why we write.

24 June 201924 June 2019

Finding your voice

Retro microphone — Writing voices are trickier to modulate than speaking voices. (Image by tookapic from Pixabay.)

Do you consciously think about your voice as you write? If not, there’s a risk that some of your texts may strike the wrong note.

Writing voices are trickier to modulate than speaking voices because the tone of a text relies only on words and grammatical structures. In writing, we can’t use facial expressions, body language or changes in volume to add nuances to our messages. Perhaps that’s why GIFs and smileys are so popular on social media. It’s not appropriate to use smileys in a fund report or press release, so what can you do instead?

“You should adapt your writing voice to suit your audience and your intention”

Think about how you talk to your granny, a puppy, old university friends, colleagues and clients. Do you use the same vocabulary, sentence structures and vocal pitch regardless of who you are speaking to? Probably not. Similarly, you should adapt your writing voice to suit your audience and your intention.

A good place to start is with your words. Experiment with using more and less formal vocabulary (chief executive officer/CEO/boss; statistics/numbers/stats, for example). Similarly, notice how using contractions such as “it’s” and “won’t” changes the tone of your text.

Experiment with your sentence structures and punctuation too. And notice how serious journalists use very short sentences, rhetorical questions and sentences beginning with “and” or “but” to emphasise key points or to signal a change in direction.

“Don’t lose the connection between your speaking and writing voices”

Most importantly, don’t lose the connection between your speaking and writing voices. Try reading your texts aloud as you write and edit them. If a sentence doesn’t sound right when it’s spoken, it probably doesn’t read well either.

A natural, conversational writing voice exudes confidence and professionalism, and so it’s well worth learning how to make the most of yours.