We write to be read. If you write well the reader will read, listen and hear what you have to say. He will identify with what you have to say and agree with you. And he will be glad to have read your writing. You would have communicated. You would be one of the few who writes well.

If however your writing is unstructured, unplanned, unfocussed with rambling thoughts, longwinded, ponderous and confusing he will put it away to read it another day and curse you.

Every time you write you have unique opportunities – a chance to make a significant number of people think of you. It is a wonderful way of capturing the attention of the reader and to communicate. Sometimes these writings are the only exposure you may have to top management. You must therefore, through these writings, show them your character, your expertise, your professional strengths, your logical deductions, your thinking, your investigative skills, your creative solutions and your ability to express your ideas clearly and effectively.

The aim of good writing is to convey information as clearly and accurately as possible. If it is written interestingly and concisely it will be effective. And this is the crying need of the hour – clear, simple, meaningful communication.

An oral communication is by its very nature, transient. Most of the details of an oral communication are forgotten overnight and even the basic concepts are forgotten or become distorted in memory within a few days. Written communication has the advantage of being permanent. Until the reader finishes reading – no matter how long a period it takes, the written communication will be there for him to pick up and read. And until it is disposed off it is readily available for him to re read or review at any time.

The advantage of written communication for a writer is that he can work on it. He can present his arguments in as much detail as he wishes and if written well can be sure will be read by the reader. It is an opportunity too to impress the reader.

A disadvantage is that the reader being busy may not read the report and he may not get the time to read it or he may forget about it. As time passes it becomes less and less important. Another disadvantage is that unlike the oral report, the written report cannot be presented in person by the writer. The information contained in the communication has to be read and interpreted and understood by the reader. The writer cannot be present to reason with the reader on points which he challenges or does not understand.

Writing is an art that must be worked upon and cultivated. It takes time and effort. And it is also very often a skill that is not adequately developed or even paid heed to. Charlene Andolina, a Director of the Pittsburgh Reading and Writing Center emphasises this when she writes, " We get people who are swamped by their work because they need a whole hour to compose a simple, one-page letter". William E. Blundell supports this in the Wall Street Journal,  "Some writing at fairly high corporate levels leaves you astonished that the company is still functioning. Its atrocious".  He continues " A few years ago an oil company chemicals unit spent a bundle reinventing from scratch a selective pesticide one of its own researchers had found five years earlier; he'd buried the news 25 pages deep in a hopeless gumbo of report prose that no one apparently could get through". Another luckier company accidentally stumbled on a similar in house report about a new production process just before it began building a plant using the older, costlier way. "we damn near put up the wrong thing, " an official says.

 I came across an instance of a Bank that was threatened with a fairly large non performing asset (bad loan). The bank in question had been discounting accommodation bills (bill of exchange without an underlying commercial transaction - a bill of exchange drawn to accommodate someone). When this was discovered the question was asked, "What were the Internal Auditors doing?" Surprise. Surprise. The auditors had pointed it out. But they had mentioned it in the 23^rd page of a 40 page report. Presumably none of the addressees to the report had the patience to reach upto that page.

 Misinterpretation can be just as expensive. Fuzzy instructions can add thousands of rupees of additional costs. The omission of a single hyphen omitted by a supervisor at a government run nuclear installation cost the US Government a lot of money. He ordered rods of radio active material cut into 10 foot long lengths. He got 10 pieces each a foot long instead of the 10-foot length required.

 Pedantic writing was once appreciated. No longer. Clarity and ease of understanding is what one wants. Clarity comes from using language your audience understands. Much can be achieved by deleting legalese/ professionalese. The style should be illustrative. The reader must be able to empathise. He should be able to visualise. The writing should paint pictures. Give as many examples as is reasonable. People identify with this.

 Malcolm Forbes, "A good business letter can get you a job interview, get you off the hook or get you money. It's totally asinine to blow your chances of getting whatever you want with a business letter that turns people off instead of turning them on."

 A well written letter/ report/ memo will help you communicate your feelings, your thoughts and your ideas and make you more effective in your career.

• Written by REBECCA THOMAS.
• In category English Language.
• 14 years ago.

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