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How To Say It: Business Writing That Works_ (Prentice
Hall Press, 2007) ". . . is an amazing book for business
writers.
Adina [Gewirtz] took the narrative structure -- complication,
development, point of insight, resolution -- and applied it to
writing everything from how-to books to letters to proposals to
performance evaluations.
Adina explains story structure in clear, simple language,
then shows how to apply this to the types of memos and reports
everyone needs to write at work.
For example, she starts out with probably the most dreaded
type of business memo: a request for a budget increase. Before
you start ventilating, she urges you to think through the
audience for the request and what he needs to know in order to
make a decision. Then she shows you how to build the memo by
outlining in story structure: Identify the problem, build the
developmental focuses to the point of insight in which it's clear
that only a budget increase will solve the problem, and conclude
with the resolution.
By the end of the book, the reader will have a step-by-step
formula for tackling any writing at work and should feel much
more comfortable doing it.
But what's truly astounding is how much fun this book is to
read. Jon [Franklin] has been saying for years that how-to books could be
written in narrative, and Adina has done this. Crack open the
book at any page and you want to read on.
One of my favorite examples is from Chapter 10, how to
write how-to manuals:
"You are Ursula, the snake lady at Top Hat Traveling
Circus. Binky, your beloved (but temperamental) 150-pound
Burmese python, is your pride and joy. Unfortunately, you're
needed out of town to tend to a family emergency, and Binky
doesn't travel well. To see he's fed while you're away, write a
how-to manual for fellow circus workers. Your goal is to keep
Binky (and the circus workers) healthy while you're gone."
While the book will help people who are already out in the
work force, it would also make a welcome graduation present for
anyone who'll be working in an office."
-Writer and coach Lynn Franklin, editor of WriterL
{Adina Gewirtz's} 10-step process . . . eases you through the system. And she hammers it home with seven chapters of examples, each targeting a common writing challenge, from basic reports to requests for proposals.
She holds the reader's attention with some creative examples, such as: the letter Thomas Edison's principal might have written warning the youngster would fail if he didn't start paying attention; the performance evaluation Attila The Hun's supervisor might have, with some trepidation, offered; and the proposal Mercenary Security, a fictional firm, might have developed to gain the contract to guard Julius Caesar on the Ides of March.
It adds up to an inspired, comprehensive package that can help you improve your business writing, based on the logic that drives great writing.
-- Harvey Schachter, The Globe and Mail
I really enjoyed Adina's writing style, and the book walks you through a helpful outlining system to make your business writing better.
-- Mignon Fogarty, "Grammar Girl" -- quickanddirtytips.com
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