Brilliant Business Writing

I. Introduction: the trouble with business writing



II. Think before you write: finding a structure that works

* Who are you talking to?: thinking about your reader, and what they're really interested in

* Why even an e-mail can need contents

* Why everything you learnt at school is wrong: turning conventional structure upside down

* Being clear about the most important messages

* He dies in the first line: the order of events

* Starting in the middle: why you should never start with background

* How many paragraphs?

* Thinking like a website: using sub-headings for navigation

* The 5 Ws: the most useful types of sub-heading

* In short: Why a summary always helps

* Uniting a piece: how a theme can help

* Telling stories: what stories tell us about structure

* You were saying: how explaining your structure makes it even stronger



III. Learning to speak human: making your language clear

* Writing more like you speak

* The importance of reading aloud

* Why actors invented punctuation

* The curse of the long sentence

* Getting to the point

* Hello, hi, you: the writing choices we never think about

* Writing German not Latin

* Writing normal not legal

* Getting personal

* Writing active not passive

* Using verbs not nouns

* A never-ending game of boardroom bingo: avoiding corporate cliche

* Writing to your sisters: having someone in mind when you write

* Q&A: how questions can transform you're writing

* Really is a magic word: why certain words have special powers

* And, but, so: how you can break the rules once you know them

* Bad grammar: what to say to the language sticklers




IV. Just add magic: making your writing memorable

* The clocks were striking thirteen: the importance of the first sentence

* Thwack!: unusual vocabulary

* Education, education, education: the power of repetition

* From Stalin to Mr Bean: how metaphor helps

* Poetry from the police: using alliteration and rhyme

* The rhythm method: the importance of sound

* Solo: how one word makes a difference

* The friendly straitjacket: how constraints can make your writing stronger

* Thinking like an actor: being present in your writing

* Honestly: saying what you're reader's thinking



V. Fight the good fight: stopping what will stop you

* Why people might resist

* How you win them round

* A final checklist



Each point will be introduced with the writing tip, and backed up with an example either in the text or at the end.



A sample page follows at the end.