Some
people write the same way as I learned to cook spaghetti.
When
I was at university, I was taught a surefire way of cooking
"perfect" spaghetti: Add noodles to a large
pot of rapidly boiling water. When you think the pasta
is about ready, use a fork to remove a strand from the
pot. Flick the strand at the wall. If the noodle falls
behind the stove, the spaghetti is not fully cooked. If
it sticks to the wall, get ready to serve.
This
is the same method some people use to write a report.
They have a vast number of facts boiling in their minds,
and they believe if they throw out enough of them, some
will eventually stick in the reader's mind.
Bonnie
Stern, the gourmet guru, claims the "throw the spaghetti
at the wall" trick is useless — spaghetti will
stick just before and just after it is "a le dente."
(She claims tasting is the only way to determine if pasta
is perfect.)
And,
I believe throwing ideas into a report for the sake of
covering off any potentiality is just as bad. All you
end up with is a lengthy report filled with irrelevant
information — and frustrated readers. People are
busy; they don't have time to wade through an unwieldy
mass of details searching for what interests them and
for what they need to know.
Good
writers take time to analyze their readers before they
begin to write. They take into account the following details:
If
you don't know this information, you are not ready to
begin writing. Not only will you waste your reader's time
in providing irrelevant or incomplete information, but
you will waste your own time and weaken your professional
image.
What
If Your Reports Are Too Short
Some
people have a problem with writing too concisely. They
are told their reports don't have enough detail. The reason
for this is that they are starting their reports in the
wrong place. They are starting from what they know about
the topic and from what they feel.
I
once made cookies using only 1/8 cup of butter instead
of the 3/4 cup required. (It was all the butter I had.)
I rationalized this decision well: it would cut back on
cholesterol. Despite my reasoning, the cookies were dry
and tough.
You
can't cut corners with writing either. If your reports
are too short and lack necessary details, you must go
back to the questions mentioned earlier. Always ensure
the reader has enough information so he or she can comfortably
take action.
If
You Write for Multiple Readers
Be
alert to secondary audiences. These are the people the
primary reader may send your report on to. This audience
usually has less background information and technical
knowledge than your primary reader does.
If
you write for multiple audiences, I recommend you chunk
the information in sections according to needs. For example,
you might explain the benefits of a new type of widget
to all the readers. In the next section, you could explain
why you need a widget and how it works for the less knowledgeable
people.
Then
write informative sub-heads for each of these sections
so the reader can determine the sections he needs to read.
Organize your reports so busy readers can "jump-skip"
through the information to get the details they need to
make a decision.
Remember,
good writers can be compared to good cooks. They both
have to end up with products that meet their audience's
needs and tastes.
Jane
Watson is a trainer, speaker, consultant and author in
business communications. She writes better than she cooks.
