After reviewing hundreds of writing samples from workshops in 2011, three writing basics stand out as necessary to make writing positive and clear. Test your daily writing for these: 1. Positive wording:  Attitude, attitude, attitude.  Doesn’t it make a big difference? We all enjoy working with people who come at a problem with a constructive approach—those who take time to consider all possible solutions.  These people’s attitudes are reflected in [...]

By Andrew Moore I recently had a chance to review your work and what I found shocked me. Of course, I don’t know you from Adam, but did I get your attention? Are you curious to know what shocked me? An opening line that draws in your readers is the best way to generate interest in your writing. In journalism, it’s called the lead, and it’s the most important sentence [...]

By Andrew Moore Have you ever opened an email to realize you need to block out half your day to get through it? How many of us have opened one of these monsters and scrolled to the end before even beginning to read it, just to mentally prepare ourselves? Email has revolutionized the workplace, but like all communication, it’s only effective if it gets and maintains our attention.  And in [...]

By Barry Mohn Occum’s Razor, loosely interpreted, is a principle stating that the simplest method is often the best.  Philosopher William of Ockham surely would have approved of clustering then. Clustering, believed to have started in Roman times, is a technique that helps create a hierarchy of ideas around a central purpose or problem.  Circa 75 BC, Cicero etched clusters for his speeches on clay tablets.  Today, third graders mark [...]

By Andrew Moore In a famous scene from the Steve Martin remake of “Father of the Bride,” Martin’s character heads to the supermarket in a huff, tasked by his wife to buy something for dinner. Frustrated that hot dogs come in packages of eight and buns in packages of 12, Martin begins opening the bun packages and ripping out the extra buns, telling a stunned clerk that he is removing [...]