g l o s s i n g s

notes in the margins

“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man. “   (Hamlet, I.iii, ll 78-80)

Shakespeare wrote that at the turn of the 16th century and this week I experienced the full impact of what he wrote.

I have a client whose business has been struggling with the failing economy, like so many others. Not realizing, at first, the full weight of the impact on him, I sent him a final invoice, as normal, requesting payment in full.  This is typical for me to do and I’ve never had a problem with him paying his account.  All of a sudden my emails were being read but not responded to and it would take me multiple emails and voice mail messages to hear anything back and then what I heard were promises of payment that never panned out.  For 3 months this went on.

Finally, last week, I wrote him again.  This time, however, I put away my “business” tone and just wrote him the way I would a friend.  I wrote from my heart, and I didn’t bother trying to sound “professional.” I didn’t threaten, I didn’t beg, I just communicated.  I expressed to him my concern about not hearing from him and wanting to find a way for us to work out the account.  I felt good when I hit the Send button because I knew I’d been sincere and hoped that I opened a channel to a person who has integrity.

A week went by without a response.

Then yesterday I received an email from him explaining that he, too, is waiting for payment from one of his clients and if he gets it he’ll send me some money.  The mere fact that he took time, after a week, to write me and explain made me feel good about what I’d written. Now, knowing that he is struggling, the same way so many others are, I’m going to do what I’d want done. I am going to trust.  I’m going to add no further late charges, and if he needs more work done I’ll do it.

I know it’s not supposed to be “good business practice,” and there is a risk that I’ll never get paid but I understand all too well how hard it is to make ends meet.  This client has always settled his account in the past and I believe he will in the future.  He also may be like me.  I don’t respond well to threats or coercion but I’ll work hard to meet obligations to those who understood and helped me during trying times.

I believe, ultimately, it won’t be a stimulus package, or a recovery bill, that will bring us out of this mess we’re in but rather it will be people helping people in whatever ways they can.  Those who can give money, will; those who can’t will find other ways to help ease the burden, perhaps like myself by taking small amounts over a longer time without heaping on penalties.  We all want to get back to prosperity but right now maybe we have to help each other stay the course so that when the economy recovers we can then realize prosperity together.

The best way for me to do that is to give myself permission to be myself, professionally, more than to be what everyone else says a professional should be.

What makes good writing? Certainly, I never thought I’d be questioning this since I don’t consider myself to be an exceptional writer but after reading a very poorly written blog recently, it dawned on me (finally) that even I write better than this. Which brought me to my question: what makes good writing? Or perhaps, more importantly, what makes poor writing better?

Tone. Structure. Fluidity. Proofreading.

Tone is how your audience will “hear” what you write. It comes in many voices, ranging from humorous to onerous. Even in academic writing, the tone of a paper is important and consistency matters. Regardless, however, of what you are writing, if your tone is flat and boring your reader will find it difficult to absorb what you are trying to convey.

Structure is how an article is put together. Briefly, you have to have a beginning, middle, and end, and one must flow logically, and as smoothly as possible, from one to the other. Structure is how you guide your reader through your piece and each section should prepare them for the next. A rule I was given in a public speaking class while in college, says that you should “tell them [your audience] what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them.” It’s as good a maxim for writing as it is for public speaking.

Fluidity is how smoothly your piece flows from beginning to end. Transitioning, one component of fluidity is how you move from one thought to another. It is vitally important in anything you write. If you think of your paragraphs as thoughts, there should be a smooth blending between them. This is particularly true when your thoughts are shifting (or leaping in some cases). Set the stage for the new thought by tying it into the current. When you move to a new thought or point, too abruptly, you leave your reader baffled and bewildered as they wonder how they went from A to K.

Proofreading is making sure you don’t have incorrect spelling, grammatical errors, or improper word use. Anyone who writes should learn to proofread. Someone writing for a public venue must proofread. This is not simply running a spell check but rather it is reading for sense as well. One of the errors missed most often is the improper use of the word your/you’re. Both words are correct in a spell-check but often a piece will use your for you’re. For your reader, it can be jarring to encounter this type of spelling error, and often interrupts the reader’s focus. As a result, the message often fails.

To insure your writing has the above, take time to read what you wrote. Read it as if you are not the author. Simply reading the piece will help you produce writing that is clear and well formed.