Declutter Your Business Writing With Occam's Razor
One of my favorite new (to me) blogs is Leo Babauta’s Zen Habits. Among other topics, it covers productivity, organization and simplicity. As a business writer, I appreciate the practical guidance offered in posts like this one outlining 15 Can’t-Miss Ways to Declutter Your Mind.
Babauta’s insights often remind me of a writing lesson I learned in law school.
Lawyers and judges are known for producing written work that’s dense, convoluted and jargon-filled. I experienced this first-hand as a fledgling law student. I spent hours and hours trying to decipher the cases anchoring the curriculum and classroom discussion.
I struggled without much success until a friend suggested that I approach the task like an editor and re-write the case facts and law in plain English; reducing them to their simplest and most essential form. He backed his suggestion by citing the principle of Occam’s razor: given any two approaches to the same problem, the simplest one will be the best.
This is a principle that I still hold near and dear. I often refer to it when I help clients create content for their Web and print publications. No matter how it’s delivered, business writing benefits from simplicity. There are many ways to simplify your writing without diminishing its quality or impact. Here are some great tips from Mignon Fogarty’s Grammar Girl.
