Most people in business these days are, to some degree, business writers. If you send emails, make notes in an employee’s or customer’s file, compose formal memorandums or casual notes, prepare reports or do any of a number of other work-related tasks that require putting words together in a coherent written sentence, you’re writing. And your ultimate success may depend on how well you do it.
Writing Well for Business Success: A Complete Guide to Style, Grammar, and Usage at Work by Sandra E. Lamb is a great resource for people who don’t consider themselves writers but who must write in the course of their work.
How many books have been written on writing? I don’t know—probably thousands. And I’ve got more than a few on my bookshelves because, even after 30 years of writing professionally, I still occasionally have to look something up to be sure my work is correct (although I admit I’m more likely to turn to Google for a quick answer than I am to pick up my print edition of the Chicago Manual of Style).
Writing Well for Business Success combines the best of contemporary style guides with a basic writing course to address just about every business writing situation that you’re likely to face. Lamb’s style is easy to read and her sense of humor is often apparent.
She includes lots of lists of words to use and words to avoid. I particularly liked the list of jargon and buzzwords (see Chapter 6) that you should delete from your writing vocabulary.
The information in Chapter 10—”Misused, Confused and Abused Words”—can save you from a professional faux pas that could be anything from mildly embarrassing to career-ending.
This isn’t a comprehensive style guide, but it includes plenty of correct usage tips. And it also has a chapter that discusses when it’s okay to break the rules. Another a great chapter is the one on contemporary business writing etiquette—a must-read for anyone who has fallen victim to the PC police.
Lamb spends a lot of time discussing various aspects of writing email and it’s all worth reading. She also covers what she calls the “other shapes of business communication.”
Writing Well for Business Success is a book that managers may want to consider giving their employees—but savvy employees won’t wait to receive it as a gift. Click here to get your copy now.
Jacquelyn's latest book is Christian Business Almanac: The Ultimate Daily Guide for Kingdom-Driven Entrepreneurs and Leaders.
She is the author of the nonfiction books Simple Facts About Self-Publishing (Second Edition), Words to Work By: 31 devotions for the workplace based on the Book of Proverbs and Finding Joy in the Morning: You can make it through the night as well as the novel Choices (A Joyful Cup Story). With her husband, she is the co-creator of several coloring books for adults and the novelty My Book About series.
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