The problem with most so called good writing books is that they are… poorly written. This is because they concentrate on use of language and not on the fundamentals of writing itself. Philip Yaffe, a former reporter-feature writer with The Wall Street Journal and marketing communication consultant, teaches a course on good writing and good speaking in Brussels. Because most of his clients use English as a second or third language, his approach is somewhat different from conventional communication coaches. As he points out, The principles of good writing and speaking are few and easy to understand. Unfortunately, in most books they are buried under an avalanche of verbiage about technique. In the I of the Storm clearly separates principle from practice. The theoretical part is less than 40 pages, supplemented several appendices of illuminating examples and exercises. Almost everyone agrees that a well-written text must be clear and concise; however, hardly anyone can state what they mean in any practical, applicable way. For example, if you try to define clarity, you would probably do something like this: Question: What makes this text clear? Answer: It is easy to understand. Question: What makes it easy to understand? Answer: It is simple. Question: What do you mean by simple? Answer: It is clear. You end up going around in a circle. The text is clear because it is easy to understand… because it is simple… because it is clear. However, what you think is clear may not be clear to someone else. Mr Yaffe describes objective tests for clarity and conciseness. If the text fails these tests, then it needs to be revised. If it passes them, then-and only then-should you look at the subtleties of your particular language (English, German, French, Italian, etc.) to make your already good text even better. In the I of the Storm is booth deeply didactic-and fun to read!
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