Communicate, chunk by chunk

If I had a dollar for every time someone called me up and said, “I’ve been meaning to write [fill in the blank] for months and can’t find the time. Can you help?”… Granted, I wouldn’t be a millionaire but I’d have at least a week’s worth of Starbucks lattes in the bank, and they don’t come cheap. 

If your great intentions are getting you nowhere fast, try tackling it in small chunks versus one big bite. With that in mind, here are five tips to help you get that communication out before it's old news.

Analyze your audience and your purpose.

Who are you communicating with? What is the desired outcome of your communication? Is it to build loyalty, drive traffic, or simply inform? Lose sight of your goal and you’re guaranteed to veer off track.

Organize your source material.

I find it helpful to create one document into which I cut and paste helpful URLs, directions issued to me via e-mail, and relevant paragraphs pulled from various sources. This allows me to spend less time rummaging and more time writing.

Don’t write and edit at the same time.

If you’re constantly stopping to criticize your work, you’ll never manage to complete a thought. Get your points down and then – only then – revisit your work and start editing.

Buy a dictionary.

If you’re not obliged to follow a particular style guide, I recommend that you stick to Canadian spelling. And don’t let your spellcheck tell you otherwise. In Canada, we write “fulfil”; in the U.S., they write “fulfill.” As a general rule don’t succumb to MSWord’s little red spellcheck squiggle without picking up your dictionary. The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, 2^nd edition, is a wise choice.

Pass it on.

Even the best writers are human first, writer second, and humans make mistakes. If you have a vested interest in the outcome of your communication, call on a professional for a fresh pair of eyes. Or, if budget is tight, run your work by a colleague or friend at the very least.

Got a tip you’d like to share? Send it my way and I’ll pass the word on.

Avoid these everyday errors

One writing error that I come across almost every day is the mistaken substitution of two words in instances where there should be one. I’m not exaggerating. It’s practically an everyday occurrence.

If you think I’m making this up, you’re altogether wrong. I’ve been collecting clippings of this recurring error from my local newspaper. I keep these clippings all together in a small plastic box in the top drawer of my desk and look at them every day before I start work.

Okay, I confess, there is no plastic box and there are no newspaper clippings. If you were all ready to write me off as a mad grammarian, please think again. I simply like to make a grammatical point from time to time. I trust I’ve accomplished this already.