Apr
30
Are you writing simply?
Filed Under Uncategorized
Writing simply doesn’t mean you are writing simplistically or childishly, but rather that you are making clear statements, constructing arguments logically, and describing your product appropriately.
When I download and read white papers, especially B2B technology papers, there is always a tendency to use ‘extra’ words to describe the product. In some cases, it is obvious an engineer wrote the paper and someone – it still isn’t clear to me who does this – goes back through and adds in extra words. Those papers always have the same characteristics.
The paper is filled with multiple compound sentences strung together in way to barrage the reader with attributes, rather than communicate. The features of the product are adorned with seemingly elaborate, yet empty, words. These descriptive phrases are often comprised of a set of 3 attributes, all separated by commas and all equally meaningless. These words are used at least once: solution, capabilities, quickly, fully functional, time to market, complete, integration, scalable, flexible.
(As I write the sentence above, I’m reviewing an actual paper. Yes, it contained all of the words above.)
In the beginning, when white papers were first being used, those words might have meant something. Today, they are empty and make the paper unnecessarily complicated. When you write simply, your ideas flow off the page and the reader effortlessly understands. Not only do simply written paper take less effort to read, they do a better job of convincing the reader.
When you have completed the 2nd draft of your paper, I would make a specific pass to eliminate those empty words.
Then I would make another pass, pausing after each sentence and asking “Is this as simply as I could write this sentence?”
In the end, you do more work. But the rewards in new customers will be amazing.
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