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How to be a better writer

I have this idea that the quality of an ebook can be judged by the hyperbole used to market it. The more excessively shouty and lurid the sales blurb, the less valuable the advice itself is likely to be.

You’ve probably seen the worst offenders. Over-excitable, garish web pages employ capital letters, bright colours and phrases like “THE BOOK THE PROFESSIONALS DON’T WANT YOU TO HAVE!!!!!!”  Making unfeasible promises about unimaginable wealth, they only say one thing to me: run away.

Once you’ve seen a few of these it’s easy to tar every ebook with the same brush. Easy, yes. Unfair? Definitely.

One ebook worth reading

I say this because over at Bad Language, old pal Matthew Stibbe has released a comprehensive ebook to help make you a better business writer.

There’s no guarantee of lifelong wealth and a conspicuous lack of garish promotional graphics on Matthew’s site, yet this excellent guide offers some of the best business writing advice I’ve seen.

Grounded firmly in the real world, the book is packed with practical information to help you write better. It explains how the principles of good journalism are just as important to business writing. It’s all about telling an interesting story and geting under the skin of your audience.

Structured as a 30-day course, (but almost as useful read as and when you get the chance), Matthew’s book is free, well-written, and useful regardless of whether you write a bit, write a lot, or just work with writers.

Rather than listen to me bang on about it here, just go and take a look.

I have this idea that the quality of an ebook can be judged by the hyperbole

used to market it. The more excessively shouty and lurid the sales blurb,

the less valuable the advice itself is likely to be.

You’ve probably seen the worst offenders. Over-excitable, garish web pages

employ capital letters, bright colours and phrases like “THE BOOK THE

PROFESSIONALS DON’T WANT YOU TO HAVE!!!!!!”  Making unfeasible promises

about unimaginable wealth, they only say one thing to me: run away.

Once you’ve seen a few of these it’s easy to tar every ebook with the same

brush. Easy, yes. Unfair? Definitely.

I say this because over at Bad Language, old pal Matthew Stibbe has released

a comprehensive ebook to help make you a better business writer.

There’s no guarantee of lifelong wealth and a conspicuous lack of garish

promotional graphics on Matthew’s site, yet this excellent guide offers some

of the best business writing advice I’ve seen.

Grounded firmly in the real world, the book is packed with practical

information to help you write better. It explains how you can apply the

principles of good journalism to business writing so you tell an interesting

story that really gets under the skin of your audience.

Structured as a 30-day course, (but almost as useful read as and when you

get the chance), Matthew’s book is free, well-written, and useful regardless

of whether you write a bit, write a lot, or just work with writers.

Rather than bang on about it here, I urge you to take a look.

Best of the web for writers: 7 November

It’s been a bit of a strange week. Having arrived back from holiday on Sunday, I feel like I’ve been playing catchup for the past few days.

No matter – I’ve still managed to spot a few things you might find interesting. One or two of these might date back a month or so – I just noticed them late ’cause I’ve been away:

Best of the web for writers: 4 October

This week I’ve mostly been reading about usability, excessive flying and events for writers that are happening vaguely near me. Here goes…