Business Writing: What Works, What Won't

Wilma Davidson's _Business Writing: What Works, What Won't_ is that rare book that fully addresses its title's premise. This book will have you writing more effective business correspondence and documents right away.

As a freelance commercial writer, my work depends on skillfully communicating on point. This book shows how to do just that. Davidson minces no words, either. She finds the current state of business writing deplorable, filled with pointless buzzwords, passive voice, data overload, and too much pomposity. She gears her book to addressing those major problems and does so effortlessly.

You'll learn how to

* Restructure documents for quick reading
* Tighten sentences and paragraphs by eliminating extraneous words and phrases
* Use "real English" instead of business buzzwords that hinder communication
* Move from dull, passive voice to a more natural active voice that holds readers' attention
* And much more.

Best of all, the author provides numerous outstanding examples of the distinctions between poorly written documents and their more professionally written counterparts. The book includes quizzes, asking readers to fix broken paragraphs and sentences. Unlike some other books that test readers, Davidson provides her suggestions for those fixes so the reader isn't left to wonder what the repair might be. Her section on switching from passive to active voice may be one of the best I've ever read, offering illustrations and clever examples that help beginning business writers grasp the concept.

Considering I work as a writer and have read on the topic widely, it's a rarity for me to pick up a book on the subject of writing and say, "What a superlative book!" _Business Writing; What Works, What Won't_ is just that, and I recommend it without hesitation. If business writers read this book and put its recommendation into practice, we'll have a whole lot less of "It is suggested that we leverage a paradigm shift" and more of "Let's try a new direction."

Business Writing: What Works, What Won't is a business writing book that indeed does work very well. The author gets right to the point and gives just the right amount of information on most business writing aspects, with a terrific section on e-mail and letters. She uses humor throughout the guide, making an otherwise dry subject more entertaining. More importantly, the book is full of useful examples that illustrate the rule, technique, or principle discussed. For example, she doesn't just urge the reader to use the active voice, she includes almost a dozen examples of the proper way to use the active voice (and avoid the passive voice). Highly recommended.

The open, inviting and easy-to-read format was the first thing that attracted me to Wilma Davidson's book. Next was the content. She covers all the major areas that most people need to work on to become more effective and efficient writers. Her book provides solid, practical information right up front, with a of easy-to-understand examples. Last but not least is the endorsement given in the forward by Janet Emig, who revolutionized the approach to writing being taught in school systems around the world today. I use Business Writing, What Works What Wont to supplement the principles and techniques I teach in my writing workshop, which is aimed at professionals in technical fields, and they love it too, saying it is a great help and excellent resource.

With business people today spending an average of 30% of their work time writing, this book offers simple techniques (along with practice situations) to make your message more clear and powerful. This book was helpful to me because most writing skills taught in business schools today are not comparable to the writing demands faced by these same students in the business world. This book also helped me discard my academic view that writing features lengthy paragraphs and big words and taught me to use concise paragraphs to get the job done. Look at me now! This review was originally five pages!