Legal Writing

Our job as business writers is not to use words that mean the right thing to us. Our job is the find the best words to convey our meaning to our readers.

That's one reason why the revision stage of writing--even if it takes only a minute or two--is so important. It frees us from having to settle for the first word that came to our mind as we drafted. It gives us a chance to choose, from a number of possible words, the one word that best does the job.

Mark Twain said, "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning-bug." This week, don't settle for the lightning bug. Find the lightning!