The best of Writing Matters 2024

Disappointingly, the good people at the Oxford English Dictionary have chosen not to name Documentese as their 2024 Word of the Year. But as their pick was brain rot, I’m calling that a close second.

After all, one definitely leads to the other (or to whatever the corporate equivalent is).

In the last 12 months, I’ve tried to shine a light on the fact that most writing in the workplace takes little account of how the brain actually reads.

Writing matters more than ever. It’s now the main way we communicate at work. And it’s hard. That’s why so many people are turning to AI to do it for them.

(It’s also why the software giant Microsoft has baked a writing bot into Word, Outlook and PowerPoint – though with mixed results, according to our first tests.)

Yet we could all make everyone’s life a lot easier if we wrote for humans.

Our 12 must-read posts

So, in case you missed them, here are my picks for the 12 most important Writing Matters issues this year …

1. What using long words really says about you

Filling documents with flowery language could be damaging your reputation. And there’s even research to prove it. But it often takes courage to write clearly when everyone else puffs up their paragraphs with pointlessly long words.

2. This brain quirk explains why we misread documents

We often miss what’s right in front of our eyes – a fact that all magicians use to their advantage. But without this apparent flaw in our brains, reading anything would be painfully slow. Unfortunately, it’s also why we miss our biggest mistakes, as we explain here.

3. Is data dragging down your documents?

A little detail can work wonders. But abstract numbers rarely connect to the reader’s brain. So don’t stuff your reports with raw data. Do this instead.

4. Why shorter is not always better

We’re often told less is more. And it’s true that no-one has time to plough through endless pages of dense, poorly structured content. Yet we often focus for surprisingly long periods on things that engage us. The key is to grab attention – and hold onto it.

5. Never let the facts speak for themselves

Documents can move mountains. But even key information will be wasted if nobody reads it. It’s not enough just to let the facts do the talking. Instead, you’ve got to connect them to the voice in the reader’s head.

6. The easy way to write difficult emails

One in three of us is putting off writing an awkward email or message, according to a major poll. Here’s how to make life a little easier if you’re one of them.

7. Why my messy writing process works

Take heart if you find creating documents a bit of a grind. Even those of us who write for a living rarely find it easy. But did you know that the struggle could actually be a good sign?

8. The awkward request that transforms a meeting

Interrupting someone’s presentation to ask them this may feel strange. But the result will usually make up for those few seconds of discomfort.

9. How much information is too much?

Readers of your documents can handle far fewer facts than even many ‘experts’ claim. But there is a way around that.

10. The old editor’s trick that gets people reading

Whoever wrote this lurid newspaper headline clearly understood exactly how the human brain reads, even if they didn’t realise it. But surprisingly, it can teach us a lot about how to write in our professional lives.

11. Why you know more than you think

One of the biggest killers of great ideas (and even greater careers) has to be imposter syndrome. It also makes writing documents harder than it needs to be. Yet here’s why it’s usually misplaced.

12. Where AI writing goes wrong

There’s always one crucial thing missing from communication by bot. But there are some surprising ways in which AI can still make writing easier.

And that’s a wrap!

You’ll find all this year’s posts here. Feel free to share this one with anyone who might find it helpful.

We’ll be back with more Writing Matters in the new year.

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Author: Rob Ashton

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Rob Ashton is the founder of Emphasis and posts mainly about writing and the brain – a topic he's been researching for seven years. You can read more of his work in Writing Matters – our weekly bulletin of career-building writing advice backed by science.