I have a secret 🤫. I’ve always viewed myself as a bad writer.
And today, some people call me a prolific writer—which, given my history, baffles me.
But reflecting on where I’m at today, I can see it. I wrote over 70 articles and 400 LinkedIn posts in the past year and a half. That’s a lot of practice!
Looking back at my first few posts and articles, I can see how I’ve grown as a writer, which ties into one of my favorite compliments I’ve received:
Improving my writing has helped me in more ways than I can count.
A few that come to mind are:
Solving my problem of being verbose
Stronger technical design docs at work
Explaining ideas and influencing outcomes
With that said, I’m not a perfect writer. But I’ve learned a lot in the past 2 years. So today, I’ll share some of that with you.
In this article, you’ll learn 10 tips to improve your writing at work.
🎤 New Podcast Feature
Quick aside: I was recently featured on the Beginner Maps Podcast where I shared my journey to 50k+ subscribers and $35k in 1 year as a creator with a full-time job.
If learning in public interests you, especially after this article on how to write better, check out the podcast! I share how I made all this happen in 1 year.
Ok, let’s get back to the article!
1) Use a framework
When you write, you have time to structure your thoughts. One of the best ways to add structure is to use a framework. Frameworks are “packages of structure,” often with scientific backing which structure your thoughts into a narrative.
Here’s an example from a past article where I share how Alex Chiou uses the “Problem-Agitate-Solution” framework to achieve his goal in his LinkedIn post:
Problem-Agitate-Solution is one example framework, but there are others, like Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF). I wrote about BLUF in my Guide to Leading Meetings. Here’s the excerpt…
Using BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) ensures people hear your message.
The idea is to start with what you need rather than providing a ton of context, allowing people to get lost, and then only putting your ask at the end.
Below is an example of not using BLUF. It’s hard to understand what I’m asking.
Compare this to converting using BLUF below.
A few other writing frameworks are:
General purpose
The facts (What) → Why it matters → Now what
Getting buy-in
Problem → Solution → Benefit
Point → Reason → Example → Repeat your point
Storytelling
Freytags pyramid: Exposition → Rising action → Climax → Falling action → Resolution
It’s good to have a repertoire of these you can pull from.
Examples for every framework would make the article too long. However, to give you something, here is a quick set of examples from GPT.
If you want to learn more about frameworks, I recommend watching Vicky Zhao or reading Farnam Street.
2) Cut. Cut. Cut ✂️
Use fewer words. Assume every word has a cost and you’re paying for each one you use. Then try to spend less!
One of my favorite quotes about writing is:
“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”
Once you finish your initial “draft,” wait! Don’t hit send. Read it over and shorten it. You can usually make your content 30% shorter and retain the same message.
Three ways I do this are:
(1) Replace groups of words with a single word
❌ is able to
✅ can
(2) Shorten groups of words using a stronger verb
❌ make it shorter
✅ shorten it
(3) Look for words and sentences I can delete because they don’t provide value
❌ If you want to learn more about frameworks in general, I recommend watching Vicky Zhao.
✅ If you want to learn more about frameworks, I recommend watching Vicky Zhao.
These examples are straight from my editing process in this article. You can even search this article for each of the “after” states.
3) Use Grammarly and Hemingway
This tip is actually, “Use proper grammar,” but that felt obvious. You should use proper grammar, but grammar is hard. Even as a native English speaker, I mess up my English a lot 😂.
I purchased Grammarly Pro and have never looked back. Some of its advice is bad, but I like how it provides a lot of specific, actionable feedback. I agree with about 75% of the feedback it gives me.
If you’d like a free month of Grammarly Pro, you can use my referral link.
Hemingway is another tool I use to check the readability score.
Here’s a screenshot of this article inside Hemingway. The “Readability score” is 4. A lower-number score means it’s readable to a broader audience. I aim for a score of less than 8.
4) Avoid passive voice
I was so confused about passive voice for the longest time. It’s still hard for me to recognize it sometimes, but Grammarly helps a ton.
Passive voice is when you lead with the verb, rather than the noun.
To use “active voice” instead of “passive voice,” lead with the person (noun) performing the action (verb).
Here are a few examples with the noun and verb bolded:
❌ I was told by Sean
✅ Sean told me
❌ The doc was written by the performance team
✅ The performance team wrote the doc
❌ The data was analyzed by Christina
✅ Christina analyzed the data
When you read the passive version, your brain converts it to the active version, so by writing in the active voice, you’re forcing your reader to do less work.
To learn more about active vs. passive voice, check Google’s guide on it.
5) Write short sentences
Use short sentences. It’s one of the best ways to improve your readability score. A formula I use is “1 thought = 1 sentence.”
Here’s an example: