Category: Blog

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Are you too fond of exclamation marks?!

Too many exclamation marks are unrelaxing. And unprofessional. (Image by FreePhotosART from Pixabay.)

On our writing courses, we usually spend a bit of time going back to basics and considering what a sentence is. As we all know, a sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.

But when should you use an exclamation mark? Grammatically speaking, an exclamation mark should come after an exclamation (What a stupid idea it is to be prescriptive about exclamation marks!) or a strong command (Don’t pepper your writing with unnecessary exclamation marks!).

“Rules are made to be broken. The occasional ungrammatical exclamation mark can add humour.”

It’s a little hard-line, though, to say that those are the only times when you should use an exclamation mark. Rules are made to be broken, and the occasional well-deployed exclamation mark at the end of a statement can add humour and emphasis to your writing.

I used one myself recently in an article about translation for the Herald: “For some years, The Mandarins [by Simone de Beauvoir] was out of print,” I wrote. “Out of print! This is an abomination.”

If overused, however, ungrammatical exclamation marks quickly become tiresome. We’ve all received emails that start something like this: “I hope you are well! It was great to meet you!”

“If overused, ungrammatical exclamation marks
quickly become tiresome.”

This is unrelaxing. And unprofessional. Ungrammatical exclamation marks should be used sparingly, like swear words or £50 notes.

In this, they contrast with ungrammatical question marks. Here there is no room for manoeuvre or nuance. To write “I hope you are well?” or “Perhaps we could meet on Thursday?” is to write rubbish.

Like The Mandarins being out of print, ungrammatical question marks are an abomination.

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Bad writing: the canary in the coal mine

“Bad writing is the canary in the coal mine. It tells you that you don’t know what you’re doing.” (Image by Capri23auto from Pixabay)

Which of these sounds better to you?

  1. “Give me my money back!” he said loudly.
  2. “Give me my money back!” he shouted.

The second is far better. Adverbs have their place, but if you can find the right verb to express what you want to say, that is always neater and punchier.

This is one example – a very simple one – of lexical diversity, which is largely about having a good vocabulary and using it well.

“A recent academic study found that lexically diverse hedge funds outperform.”

A recent academic study suggested that lexical diversity may be more important for fund managers than you might think. The study found that “lexically diverse hedge funds” – ones with strategy descriptions that use a rich vocabulary – outperform.

This is perhaps unsurprising. A dull, predictable vocabulary seldom heralds searing intelligence – or great engagement with the task at hand.

But there’s more to it than that. The study also found that lexically diverse hedge funds eschew tail risk and encounter fewer regulatory problems. By contrast, funds with “syntactically complex strategy descriptions” are more likely to violate regulations.  

“Lexical diversity […] has been associated with cognitive ability and honesty,” the study says. “Syntactic complexity […] has been linked to deceptive behaviour.”

“Syntactic complexity has been linked to deceptive behaviour.”

This chimes with our experience of teaching writing. A rich vocabulary stems from engagement and belief. Convoluted sentences happen when writers are hiding something or don’t understand it.

Good writing is important. It’s not just that bad writing gives you away. Bad writing is the canary in coal mine. It tells you that don’t know what you’re doing or what you’re doing isn’t right.

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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.

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Utilising numerous lengthy turns of phrase?

“Short words will give your writing pace and punch.” (Image by Aberro Creative from Pixabay.)

One of the easiest things you can do to improve your writing is to stop using unnecessarily long words. They slow the pace of your text and can sound old-fashioned and pompous. The same is true of wordy phrases.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t use long words at all. Where there’s no sensible short alternative, then it’s fine to use a long word if your readers will understand it. But don’t use a long word where a short word would work just as well.

“Don’t use a long word where a short word would work just as well.”

At the top of my blacklist of long words are utilise, numerous, approximately and necessitate. Do these words often appear in your texts? If so, try replacing them with use, many, about and require. The short words will give your writing pace and punch while creating a relaxed, confident tone.

If you feel resistant to making this simple change, ask yourself why. Perhaps, like many people, you believe that using long words makes you appear professional and educated.

“At the top of my blacklist of long words are utilise, numerous, approximately and necessitate.”

It’s certainly true that business writing is often peppered with long words, management-speak and jargon. But that doesn’t mean it’s good practice to use these words. Rather it shows that many people in business are not very skilled writers.

If you’re still not convinced, just look at my headline. Impressed? Of course you aren’t. Similarly, you won’t impress anyone by using unnecessarily long words.

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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.

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