Business Writing in the Importance of Writing

Business Writing

In "The Importance of Writing Well," Nelson Fabian (2001) notes that we constantly communicate with others about ourselves. As we take pride in how others see us, their good impressions of us depend on how well we communicate that we are people worthy of their trust and respect (Fabian, 2001). But at the same time, people who write for business purposes should write with brevity. This can make it hard to include the personal style that will communicate to the reader something about the writer (Anderson, 1997). Other writers note that some have become far too proud their writing and have "fallen in love" with their own words, while others dislike writing and see business writing as a "necessary evil" (Anderson, 1997).

The truth is somewhere in between. Business writing is not like writing the great American novel, but nonetheless, good business writing is important to good business. There is no doubt writing has changed over time; Powell (2003) notes that the medieval monks toiled over manuscripts for many years. By comparison, today, computers let us write quickly and send the information halfway around the world within seconds. Powell believes that this ability to write quickly has resulted in sloppy writing that may lack some humanity. Fabian (2001) notes the trend, stating that he often gets email from people who don't even bother to use spell check. Such people give him the impression that they are careless, do not attend to details and do not take their work seriously. He also notes that when he receives critical comments they often are not well thought out or supported well (Fabian, 2001).