Writing: Your most powerful tool
Writing is a simple but powerful tool. Like money it wields huge influence, probably a lot more than we give it credit. Most of you are trolling social media more than the news and stockmarket. Written down words can certainly capture an audience for a lot longer than videos. The world still quotes Jane Austin and Shakespeare and will for a long while yet, not sure Netflix productions will be able to boast that. There is no doubt about it, words shape our worldview. Everyone is also time poor so as a writer how do you make your sound bite count? My answer: Editing so ruthlessly that you’ve done 99% of the work for your reader.
We aren’t in school anymore, please don’t give me a 5000 word essay
So many people tell me they want to be a writer “some day”. Newsflash, we are all writers (and influencers for that matter). My advice, recognise that fact and make each word you write count. Too many words and you’ll likely lose your audience. Not enough and you may miss some key points. So start with the question, why are you writing. If you don’t know what you need to say (need and not want) then stop and think. If you have a harmonious theme in your writing it’ll help me as your reader process what you’re saying faster. That’s a key ingredient if you’re going to influence others. If it helps, practice writing a Tweet first before breaking out that new empty page you’ll be tempted to quickly fill.
If I don’t get something from this, I am moving on
Second tip is to stay relevant. Most of you have probably stopped reading at this point. For those still with me, then my question to you is can you influence people without laying down all the facts? These days people should seek out their own sources of information. They don’t always do that, but that’s on them. Unless you’re writing a thesis, financial report or academic article, I don’t want to spend a long time reading what you have to say. Put it in the footnotes if necessary. My email and news feeds are backed up with thousands of things to read so sorry, but can I read this quickly? What’s the single most important thing I need to know and then full-stop that thing baby.
So what?
Third tip is to have values in your writing. I believe writing should engage head and heart equally. When working in foreign policy I wasn’t writing down my feelings, but the world I saw and the way I wrote was underlined with faith. Your peers and colleagues may not always agree with your viewpoint, and that’s OK, but being able to express it in a logical and objective way whist listening to those internal red flags is empowering (for you and them). What happens next is not always up to you. Get good at sticking to your values in your writing and you’ll be wielding some good influence right there. I don’t mean pushing aggressively, I mean putting stakes in the ground and establishing some boundaries. For me, I choose not to tear down other people in my writing. Even some obvious targets with a bright red bullseye on their backs. Don’t get me wrong, it’s tempting but I prefer to build rather than tear down.
In summary, ain’t nobody got time for too many words. Give it to me straight and don’t leave your heart out of the process.