If you listen to people out in the so-called “real world” outside the university system, the most recent graduates do not seem to be able to write their way out of a paper bag. A fellowship program launched by Great Britain’s Royal Literary Fund identified flaws ranging from students not knowing what the different parts of speech are to not being able to express in writing the things that they want to say (“University Students..”). However, according to other critics, they are able to throw around the ten-dollar words when they should just be using more basic words. As David Silverman notes, “the long-winded version of any document is encouraged[b]etter to make every possible point, use three words where one will do, and even be redundant, than leave out something that might win the boss over” (Web). So students do know something – they know how to find the most luxurious alternative in a thesaurus and plunk it down onto a page; they might just not know where it belongs in a sentence, or they might build sentences that are far too unwieldy for comprehension.
Then there are people who decry the use of IM (instant messaging) for communication, saying that it takes away from the quality of their writing. If they are communicating informally in short bursts, then they cannot switch back into the modality of formal communication for writing reports (Associated Press).
When writing is done well, it communicates the ideas of the writer in ways that the audience can understand them. In the case of the business world, the writer is often trying to take findings from research and present them in such a way as to make a case for a certain course of action. Persuasive writing can be difficult, not just in the business world but also in other realms, because sometimes there are situations when the data does not necessarily support the course of action, or it at least requires a great deal of massaging before it supports that course of action. Sometimes this massaging takes the form of obfuscation, or the use of language that conceals the flaws in a position so that the audience is less able to object to the flaws in a proposal. It is crucial that business writers have the skills to write well, because there are many cases when companies make major decisions on the basis of recommendations and reports, and when those documents are poorly written, the decisions that companies make on their basis can end up harming the company.
I can honestly say that I work to avoid obfuscation in my writing. There are times when my structure can get somewhat wordy, and I could work on breaking my sentences down into shorter units of thought – not to “dumb the writing down” but to make it easier on those reading my thoughts. There is a difference between writing for business and writing, say, literary analysis, and I need to recognize that in my writing style more effectively. I feel that I am improving in this area, but as I take more writing courses, I feel that I will be able to hone my writing more toward the needs of the business marketplace, and that when I enter the business world, I will be an effective communicator.
Works Cited
Associated Press. “Business Schools Take Aim at Bad Writing.” NBC News 5 December 2006.
Web. 9 March 2016.
Silverman, David. “Why Is Business Writing so Bad?” Harvard Business Review 10 February
2009. Web. 9 March 2016.
“University Students: They Can’t Write, Spell or Present an Argument.” Independent 24 May
2006. Web. 9 March 2016.
