 | Get to the Point! Painless Advice for Writing Memos, Letters and Emails Your Colleagues and Clients Will Understand, Second Edition |
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Product Description
Thousands of readers have gained from reading this witty, no-nonsense guide to powerful business writing. Hailed as "The Elements of Style for the 21st century" by New York Times best-selling author Michael Levin, Danziger's book carries readers through the entire writing process, from the moment they wish they could run screaming from the job until they complete a polished, clear document. An extensive section on writing for email and social networking sites sets the second edition apart from the first. This is a quick, easy read that provides a vital reference for all business readers.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #360357 in Books
- Published on: 2010-02-18
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 266 pages
Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
Take Your Writamins!
Whether you're an executive whose writing is too stiff, a highly trained professional who can't string together two coherent sentences, a technical expert who wants to communicate in plain English, or an assistant who needs to brush up on writing basics so you can clean up your boss's work, you need help. Here, finally, is the fun, informative book you've been looking for. Corporate writing coach Elizabeth Danziger presents the entire writing process, from procrastination through proofreading, briefly explaining each key point in a witty, easy-to-read manner. This accessible guide to effective workplace language includes:
* Tips on clear and concise writing
* Secrets of editing and revising
* Simple explanations of the most useful elements of grammar and punctuation
* Frequently misused words and how to remember their correct meanings
With practical information and plenty of good humor, Get to the Point! is the only writing book you'll ever need.
About the Author
ELIZABETH DANZIGER is the founder of WorkTalk Communications Consulting, which services such clients as Ernst & Young, Norwest, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. She is a frequent contributor to magazines such as Glamour, New Woman, Self, Family Circle, and Reader's Digest, as well as many professional publications. Danziger lives in California.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Part 1.
Mastering Your Mental Barriers About Writing
Your mind is your most powerful word processor. If it is not working clearly and efficiently, having a super-charged computer will not increase your work output at all. Your great technology will just enable you to produce bad writing more quickly--and in more fonts--than you could before. Effective writing depends on mindset, attitude, emotional state, expectations, and ability to cope with self-criticism. That is why we will begin with the issues that are usually the first ones to confront the writer: fear, loathing, and the overwhelming urge to do anything other than write.
The second part of this section addresses some broader issues that cause writers to stumble. These points appear here because they are part of the mindset that enables you to write more clearly.
Overcoming your fear of writing
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear--not absence of fear.
--Mark Twain
If fear, unconsciousness, and a compulsive urge to return phone calls, water plants, or eat cookies are preventing you from sitting down to write, you are not alone. In fact, the only people who never feel apprehensive about writing seem to be the ones who've had frontal lobotomies. These suggestions will help you relieve your fear of writing--without having brain surgery.
1. Take a few deep breaths.
Fear and anxiety cause the abdominal muscles to tense up, forcing the breath to become fast and shallow. This is a throwback to the happy days when our ancestors fled from saber-tooth tigers instead of writing deadlines. Neither fight nor flight are viable options anymore. We must bypass our primitive instincts and get some oxygen into our brains where it might help us think of something to write. Take a few really deep breaths. Slowly. Exhale completely and then inhale completely. You will feel calmer--I promise.
2. Weigh the costs and benefits.
Ask yourself, "What is the worst thing that could happen to me as a result of writing this?" Sure, you could write the letter and then get fired or die, but how likely is that? As much as you may dread writing, odds are that the consequences of not writing will be far worse than the consequences of writing. That's a cheery thought, isn't it?
3. Reward yourself after you've reached a certain point in the work.
Take a break or call someone you love or read the next chapter of a trashy novel. (Just make sure that your "break" doesn't eat up the rest of the time you'd set aside for writing.) Don't wait until every last detail is done before you take a brief time-out. Interim incentives and interim rewards will help you nurse yourself through the project. You can still celebrate when the job is complete.
4. Try to allow yourself enough time.
Time pressure only adds to your anxiety. Whenever possible, create a schedule that will have you finishing your project several days before the deadline. Then if you hit an unavoidable delay, you won't lose your mind.
5. Schedule time for writing every day.
Professional writers know that if they wait for the writing urge to strike, they might spend the rest of their lives at Starbucks. You cannot wait until you "have time" to sit down and write. You and I both know that there are always other things you could do. If you must finish a writing task, then reserve an hour or so in each day's schedule during which time you will do nothing but write. Try to schedule your writing time at the time of day when you are most alert.
6. Just do it!
Customer Reviews
Don't bother with it
Elizabeth Danziger in her book Get to the Point attempts to offer readers a game plan to reduce stress and anxiety in an effort to write more effective memos, letters, and e-mails. Danziger is the fonder of WorkTalk, an organization dedicated to improving the communication of individuals and organizations, & she has written for popular magazines such as: Readers Digest and Family Circle. In this book, Danziger offers solid advice on how to deal with writer's block, & in some chapters, she gives visual checklists to help guide readers in the writing process.
However, readers will find the book unfocused; for example, in Chapter2 entitled: Planning your Writing, she has too many headings & subheading; one heading is: Analyze your reader before you start, which is about a half a page, then on the next page, she talks about how to connect with your reader using a 3 level formula. Yet, no where in the 3 level formula does she go into any detail, then jumps to a topic called "hot buttons" in which she offers little examples of how to determine the "hot buttons" of the writer's audience.
In addition to the lack of focus, you will find that the book is poorly organized. Some chapters have visual examples, and others do not. Chapter 6, Choose words Wisely, Chapter 7, Help for the Grammar Phobic, & Chapter 8 Mark my Punctuation should have all been combined as they deal with many of the same topics.
All in all, Danziger's book is a good example of a person that might be able to write magazine articles but does not have the ability to write a book. It's ironic that on the back of the book cover it says, "Get to the point! Is the only writing book you'll ever need" and I am saying this is the only book you should run from don't waste your money on this.
Eschew Obfuscation
Elizabeth Danziger's advice on using clear, clutter-free language is consistent with the classic On Writing Well by William Zinsser, but this book is more useful as manual, whereas Zinsser's book is more conceptual.
For a book on business writing, the grammar review feels too elementary at times, but the well-organized layout makes it easy to skip ahead. I found the section on frequently misused words particularly valuable: affect/effect, discreet/discrete, disinterested/uninterested, premier/premiere, etc.
When is it appropriate to use which or that? The author provides an informal "just do it" rule and a formal "grammar police" rule.
"The fundamental purpose of language is not to avoid all grammatical errors. It is to convey meaning," Danziger explains. "If bending the rules is the best way to get your meaning across, then bend them. All I ask is that you know what you are bending."
Clear, Practical and engaging - highly recommended
I actually really like this little book. Not only is it clear, practical and very thorough, but it is also written with humor and personality. It really speaks to the reader in an engaging and personable tone, which made the topic come to life for me. Well done!
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