4 ways to write with style
Everything you need to know about writing, you can learn from Charlotte’s Web. Or perhaps, from its author. The Elements of Style—much like style itself—is deceptively simple. It is also an indispensable 85-page guidebook for writing well.
Let’s back up a moment.
Charlotte’s Web (which, until the Harry Potter series dethroned it, was the best-selling children’s paperback of all time) was written by E.B. White. Prior to dreaming up Charlotte and Wilbur, White took a writing class at Cornell. The professor, William Strunk Jr., was famous for his “little book” about writing. White ultimately took this book, perfected it, and published it. For more than six decades, writers have used The Elements of Style as a north star.
What it means to write with style
Strunk’s philosophy is this:
The reader is in serious trouble most of the time, a man floundering in a swamp, and it [is] the duty of anyone attempting to write English to drain the swamp quickly and get his man up on dry ground, or at least throw him a rope.
I could not agree more. The more complex a topic, the more compelled we feel to throw words at it, creating a swamp of explanation that does anything but explain. Financial writing gets extra swampy.
The good news is you can create a respite for your clients by writing well. I recommend you use all 85 pages of The Elements of Style as a guide. But there are four summary takeaways that can help you start.
Plan ahead.
Too often, we write without a plan. This isn’t a sin in and of itself. It’s hard enough to put words on paper, so why add another obstacle? However, without a planned structure we tend to ramble and repeat ourselves. With financial topics, this often means the reader has to do more work to follow your train of thought. Ask yourself:
· What’s the best way to explain this to someone?
· What order should I go in?
· What do they need to know first, in order to understand the rest?
Use active voice.
Generally, active voice means you avoid the verb “to be.” “Being” is a passive state, whereas other verbs denote action. I disagree with some of the passive hate. There are times, particularly when you are describing institutions or concepts, that it’s imperative to use “is,” “was,” or similar. I would, however, suggest you avoid using the past participle.
· NOT: He has eaten.
· INSTEAD: He ate.
· NOT: The law was changed in 1996.
· INSTEAD: The government changed the law in 1996.
Be specific.
Consider an example from the book:
· NOT: He showed satisfaction as he took possession of his well-earned reward.
· INSTEAD: He grinned as he pocketed the coin.
If the “NOT” example sounds more natural than the “INSTEAD,” it’s possible you’ve been reading too much financial copy. While it’s important to hedge statements, it can create the toothless and vague statements Strunk warns against.
When vagueness is required (hello, compliance!), you can create specificity other ways. I’m a big fan of using examples for this, but anything you can do to create a concrete frame of reference for the reader is helpful. Illustrations, charts, and other visual elements can do this as well.
Choose your words carefully.
Strunk and White focus on omitting needless words: instead of “make it possible to more easily…” try “can make it easier to...”
To this I’ll add: avoid jargon. In the financial world, we all speak a kind of code. Spoos, basis points, vol, margin… we volley these words around without realizing we may be making anyone outside of the industry go cross-eyed. Whenever possible, write simply. The topics we cover are complex enough in their own right. You will have to write complicated sentences with big words at some point. So when you don’t have to, don’t.
My favorite, and famously controversial, example of this is the word utilize. Utilize means to use well. We often use it poorly, as a synonym for use. It’s so commonplace that many people don’t realize the words have different meanings. Funnily enough, it’s rare to say utilize out loud outside of a professional setting. We tend to use it when we’re trying to sound smart. It doesn’t help the reader, though, and may actually distract from your point. Check your ego and use “use.”
To quote Mark Twain, “Don’t use a five-dollar word when a 50-cent word will do.”
Drain the swamp
There are numerous and abundant jewels in The Elements of Style that I won’t get in to here. But I will rely on Strunk to once again summarize an important point, via White:
I remember a day in class when he leaned far forward, in his characteristic pose—the pose of a man about to impart a secret—and croaked, “If you don’t know how to pronounce a word, say it loud! If you don’t know how to pronounce a word, say it loud!”
We are guilty of this in financial services. Instead of learning how to pronounce a word and breaking it down for our clients, or the world at large, we just repeat the word louder and louder each time. We’ll add additional words we may or may not be able to pronounce in order to compensate. Is it any wonder the client is confused?
Your value as a financial advisor comes from yelling, “Stop!”
You can reset the volume and explain the pronunciation. The four concepts summarized here should help. Plan what you’ll say, write with an active voice, use specifics when possible, and for God’s sake, avoid jargon. Your reader will thank you for draining the swamp.