WRITE THINKING
Towards enhanced written communication
We expect "zero defect" when someone invoices us. We expect "zero defect" in our bank statements. We expect "zero defect" when someone services our vehicle. We aim for "zero defect" when we sit down to do some maths or bookkeeping.
Why, then, are we so often prepared to settle for less when it comes to the very important matter of written communication?
How do you feel when you receive a memo, e-mail or report from someone who has clearly not taken the necessary care to produce a well-written, grammatically correct document that has been carefully punctuated and then read over to make sure everything is as good as it can be?
And how do you fare in this department?
Take this little test to see how sharp you are at spotting some of the fairly common errors of grammar, spelling, punctuation, logic and style people often make:
Afrikaanssprekendes kan hulle hand ook aan 'n eie toets waag.Klik hier.
- Each of the new staff members were welcomed in turn and wished a happy stay.
- The meeting will start at exactly 10 o'clock a.m sharp on Teusday mourning.
- Waking through the veld late one night, a miniscule light became visible in the distance.
- We wandered weather the car would live up to it's reputation?
- The teacher repeatdly used three phrase's over and over; "mixed metaphors", "figures of speech," and similes."
- Just between you and I, despite of what was written in the press the two parties did eventually come to a mutual agreement with regards to the incidences of of misconduct reported to them.
- I'll always be gratefull that when only four years old my Mother taught me to read.
- In the competion one entry in each of five categories were nominated for the final round; fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, and short stories, and translation.
- All those participants, who got less than three question's wrong went through to proceed to the next round.
- This dwarf galaxy was discovered by research students Alan Whiting and George Hau of Cambridge University in England while visually inspecting UK Schmidt Telescope photographic survey plates.
- Can we look forward to another horror/thriller from you in the future?
- If you could leave your readers with only one message after reading your novel, what would that be?
- The operation will take between 30 to 60 minutes.
- The course covered everything from digital imaging, branding, hiring the right ad agency and right pricing.
Easy as pie.
... Or not?
Many of the errors in the above sentences could have been avoided if people had really thought while they were writing, really paid attention, and had not "just sommer written".
Working mostly with real-life examples I've collected from thousands of different documents I've translated, proofread and edited over the years I will show you how to start thinking about every facet of your writing. By the end of your time with me you will be much more conscious of what constitutes error-free writing, and you will know how to ensure clarity in formulation and style.
This workshop will stretch you, but at the end of it you will be very glad that you came!
Important to note, please
This course is not primarily about the form that a report, a business letter or an e-mail message should take, e.g.
where to put the address on a letterhead or how or where to put the date. Those are externals, or conventions, which
I will assume that clients coming on this workshop already know. This workshop is about the internals, like grammar and
punctuation. However, recognising that not everyone is clear on the formal or external conventions I would
be more than happy to arrange a separate workshop to deal specifically with those matters.
Read here what Lynne Truss (author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves), Kathy Kleidermacher (Copywriter's Words & Phrases) and the authors of The Right Word at the Right Time believe about careful writing.
