Welcome to the Weekly Branding and Writing Tips newsletter from Brand It Write!

Each week, Brand It Write will bring useful information and helpful links to small business owners who see the written word as an important tool for their business. We'll also have a rant or two about not-so-good writing and editing trends and how to avoid them.

This week, we're taking a look at better writing.

4 Tips to be a Better Writer -- Right Now!

Writing comes naturally to some. To others, it is a completely unnatural and uncomfortable process. The majority of business professionals out there fall somewhere in between. They consider themselves decent writers but find it a challenge to continually locate the right words and tone for their releases, newsletters, white papers and so on.

Here are 4 tips that can help experienced and novice writers alike build their skills and their confidence:

1. Scrutinize everything you write. It doesn't matter if it's an email or a birthday card, take your time with what you're writing, and reread what you've created at least twice. Get a sense of what works and what doesn't, and think about ways to improve. Should the content be more descriptive? Less wordy? Do you need a refresher course in some grammatical rules? Are you taking up several sentences to say the same thing, just in different ways? But don't make it all negative. Focus on what's good about your writing, too. Do you turn a nice phrase? Is your tone professional yet approachable? Do you feel that others will get a crystal-clear image of what your trying to say? The more you analyze your writing, the more aware you'll be of your writing strengths and weaknesses. Then, you can capitalize on the former while minimizing the latter.

2. Read the content of others. Look at your competitors' website and blog; reread emails sent to you by colleagues; dig out that industry newsletter from last month. Note words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs and whole articles that are well written and make an impact. Does your writing have that same power? It's not that you want to copy someone else's writing style; instead, you want to recognize good solid business writing and find ways to enhance your own

3. Read your writing out loud. This is a really good tool that even accomplished writers use. When you read aloud, you get a better feel for the tone of the piece. You're also likely to catch errors like this: She is is a good friend.

4. Trust yourself. As a skilled professional, you are an authority in your field. Write with authority (but don't be preachy), and others will admire and respect your prose.

The Weekly Pet Peeve

What's making the editorial blood boil this week?

Fluff and Stuff

Gibberish, word salad, gobbledygook, whatever you want to call it, we're seeing a lot of phrases and sentences that take up space but don't have much meaning. If you have to read halfway through a sentence to finally get to the subject, or if the main idea of a paragraph doesn't come through until the second or third sentence, the meaning is lost. 

Mark Twain offered the advice below to someone long ago. His advice is still good.

"I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice."

What's your writing/branding challenge?

Brand It Write is about to start a Q & A session on the weekly newsletter. This is your chance to ask a question about style, grammar and tone, as well as questions about branding your business through the written word. If you've always wondered if it's okay to speak in the first person when writing a newsletter, or if you need tips on how to get what's in your head onto the computer screen, you've come to the "write" place. In addition to the Brand It Write experts, we'll seek answers and advice from industry professionals.

Please submit your question to copywriter@dianedipiero.com, and be sure to mark Q&A in the subject line.

Please visit the Brand It Write website for more information: www.branditwrite.com.

Could you use the services of a professional writer and editor? Contact Diane DiPiero at copywriter@dianedipiero.com or (216) 551-1764.

If you would like to stop receiving the Weekly Branding and Writing Tips newsletter, please send an email to copywriter@dianedipiero.com, and you will be removed from the list.