My 2022 reading

Here are some of the books that I enjoyed reading during 2022.

Writing

Actually, the Comma Goes Here by Lucy Cripps.

The Plain English Approach to Business Writing by Edward P. Bailey—This book offers sound suggestions for good writing.

By the way, if you want to improve your financial writing, check out my book, Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients. Although it focuses on blogging, it teaches you a process you can apply to any type of writing.

 

Aging/health/transitions

Breaking the Age Code

Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long and Well You Live by Becca Levy—I discuss this and two other books in this section in my November “From the Editor” column in the NAPFA Advisor.

Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life by Louise Aronson

Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win by Marshall Allen—This book offers lots of suggestions for containing health care costs. For a taste of his advice, check out “When My Teenage Son Went to the Emergency Room He Put a Limit on What He Agreed to Pay.”

Stupid Things I Won’t Do When I Get Old by Steven Petrow

Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes by William Bridges—I was interested to read how there’s usually an extended period of transition.

What color is your parachute? for retirement: planning a prosperous, healthy, and happy future by John E. Nelson and Richard N. Bolles

Food

Bittman Bread

Bittman Bread: No-Knead Whole Grain Baking for Every Day by Mark Bittman and Kerri Conan—Since reading this book, my sourdough baking has switched to mostly using whole wheat flour. I love the scallion pancake recipe in this book, which I often make with chives from my garden. I also make Kerri’s sandwich loaf and whole wheat focaccia.

Flour: A Baker’s Collection of Spectacular Recipes by Joanne Chang and Christie Matheson

How to Cook Everything: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman

King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking: Delicious Recipes Using Nutritious Whole Grains by King Arthur Flour

Race

I received four of these books through The Wall Street Journal’s free book program, which I wrote about in my September 2022 e-newsletter.

Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora, edited by Bryant Terry

Dorothy Dandridge by Donald Bogle

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers—This is fiction, but it says a lot about race.

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography by Sidney Poitier—It was interesting to read this around the same time as Harry Belafonte’s memoir and the Dorothy Dandridge biography because they all knew and worked with one another.

My Song: A Memoir by Harry Belafonte and Michael Shnayerson

Raceless: In Search of Family, Identity, and the Truth About Where I Belong by Georgina Lawton

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry

Self-improvement

Better Each Day: 365 Expert Tips for a Healthier, Happier You by Jessica Cassity—This isn’t a book you’d sit down to read straight through. But it might be useful if you’re looking for a few small tweaks to make in your life.

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski

Find Your Unicorn Space: Reclaim Your Creative Life in a Too-Busy World by Eve Rodsky

Getting to Yes with YourselfGetting to Yes with Yourself by William Ury—This is a very sensible book by a renowned negotiator.

Making Space, Clutter Free by Tracy McCubbin

The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again by Catherine Price

The Power of Voice by Denise Woods

Fiction

These are several of the fiction books that I enjoyed this year.

Except the Dying by Maureen Jennings—This is the first of the Detective Murdoch mysteries that form the basis of the Canadian TV series. I find it relaxing to read well-crafted mysteries like this.

The FlatshareThe Flatshare by Beth O’Leary—This was very entertaining.

Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid—I also read Malibu Rising by the same author. I enjoyed both books, so I’ll probably read more by this author.

 

Disclosure: If you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I provide links to books only when I believe they have value for my readers.

4-step process to define your audience

Do you take the time to define the audience for whom you’re writing? Writers who don’t do this before writing may produce content that doesn’t hit the mark. On this blog, and in my financial blogging book, I suggest how to narrow down your audience. However, I’m always looking for new approaches. That’s why I was intrigued by the chapter on “How to Define Your Audience” in How to Write and Present Technical Information by Charles H. Sides.

Here’s how Sides approaches this challenge:

My systematic method for audience definition is divided into four processes: (1) defining who the readers are; (2) defining what the readers know; (3) defining what the readers need to know; (4) defining what the readers will do with the information.

Sides talks about his processes in the context of the technology industry where, as he says, “Because of the daily technological advances in high-tech industries, you are often writing in a vacuum without specific knowledge about your intended readers.” That challenge isn’t unique to technology. Financial writers often lack contact with their targets, a challenge I address in “How to capture investment client questions when you lack access?

Let’s look at the Sides method in the context of financial services.

1. Define who your readers are

For example, are your readers potential clients? If so, are they individuals or institutions?  Or, are you targeting the press, social media influencers, referral sources, students, professors, or members of your own organization? Are your readers members of one narrowly defined group, or are you targeting a mix of groups?

As Sides says, “Readers come to a document with different backgrounds, different levels of knowledge about the subject, and different needs for the information that is provided.” He suggests that, among other things, you look at the professional and educational backgrounds of your readers. For example, a recent college graduate who majored in finance will respond differently from a recent graduate with a Ph.D. in Japanese history who will respond differently from a Japanese history Ph.D. who has also earned the CFA credential and worked for an investment management firm (like me).

2. Define what your audience knows about your topic

Your readers’ educational and professional backgrounds will give you a general idea of what they know about your topic. However, they may not know many specifics about the narrow topic that you’re writing about.

In the tech context, Sides says, “they may know a good deal about game-design architecture, but would need to be led clearly through a report about a new kind of virtual reality (VR) headset that your firm has developed.” In an investment context, an international stock analyst is knowledgeable about non-U.S. stocks in general, but may not know about the frontier market where your firm is pioneering investments.

Sides suggests that you ask yourself how much background is necessary to introduce your topic. On the one hand, you don’t want to bore or insult your readers with overly basic information. On the other hand, you may lose many readers if you don’t provide some basic information. I’ve written about how to manage this challenge in “How to make one quarterly letter fit clients at different levels of sophistication.”

3. Define what your audience needs to know

Sides suggests two useful questions for this step:

  • What information does your audience need from your report or paper to do their jobs better?
  • Will the information that’s included need a technical slant or a managerial slant, a marketing or public relations slant?

Your answers to the first question will help you to delete unnecessary information. Your answers to the second question will help you focus your writing.

4.  Define what your audience will do with your information

For example, will your readers use the information to perform professional tasks, such as picking specific investments? Or, are they simply using your information to increase their knowledge of the field?

Summing up

Sides concludes that “We might not always tell readers what they want to hear, but we should always give them what they need—and should want—to know.” To achieve that, it helps to define your audience.

I like his philosophy.

 

Disclosure:  If you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I link only to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers.

Don’t be a monologophobe!

“A monologophobe…is a writer who would rather walk naked in front of Saks Fifth Avenue than be caught using the same word more than once in three lines,” wrote Theodore M. Bernstein in The Careful Writer: A Modern Guide to English Usage.

Bernstein admitted that “…avoidance of monotony caused by jarring repetition of a conspicuous word or phrase is desirable.” But, he said, “…mechanical substitution of synonyms may make a bad situation worse.”

Don’t overuse alternatives to “said”

I see this mechanical substitution most often when writers struggle to avoid using the word “said.” Bernstein illustrates this with a list of substitutes including “averred, asseverated, smiled, chuckled, grinned (plainly or mischievously), groaned, expostulated, ejaculated, declared, or asserted.”

But “said” is simple word that holds up well to repetition. Bernstein praised American writer Ernest Hemingway on this count. “If Hemingway did nothing else for American literature, he reestablished the virtue and dignity of say and exposed the folly of synonymomaniacs,” he said.

The investment world’s equivalent

In the investment world, the word “returned” is also subject to embellishment, as I discussed in “How to discuss index and portfolio returns: My case against synonyms for ‘return.’”

 

Don’t go overboard in introducing variety into your writing!

 

 

 

 

Brainstorm ideas for your publications

Have you ever struggled to generate topics for your blog posts, white papers, and other publications? You are not alone. I have some solutions to help you brainstorm.

1. Write about your clients’ mistakes and problems

The most powerful brainstorming advice I can give you is to start “Blogging the mistakes your clients make.” My post on this topic gives you a template for writing this kind of blog post.

2. Blog the questions your clients ask you

This approach relates to my first suggestion because your clients’ questions often relate to their mistakes and problems. Moreover, if one client asks you a question, there are probably many more with the same question.

A bonus of answering questions is that it can improve your online search rankings. After all, many prospects do online searches to find answers to their most pressing questions. Moreover, your helpful, narrowly targeted answer can convince a prospect that you’d be a great advisor for them.

If the answer to a client question isn’t right for a blog post, consider adding it to a “frequently asked questions” section on your blog, as I discuss in “Turn questions into blog posts.”

3. Draw a mind map about your clients

As I describe in the first chapter of my book, Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients, you can generate many blog post topics by creating a mind map centered on your target readers. Create branches that lead to each of your readers’ main areas of concern. Then draw sub-branches to narrower topic areas. Again, as I suggest above, focus on your readers’ mistakes and problems.

For an “outside the box” approach to using mind maps to generate topics, read “Photo + Mind Map = Blog Inspiration,” in which a Barbie doll plays a central role.

4. Use one of 20 topics I suggest

Jump start your list with my “20 topics for your financial blog.”

5. Draw inspiration from your reading

You can write blog posts spurred by insights you find in books or articles. You can also argue with points made in those books or articles.

Learn more about how to do this in “4 tips for turning books into blog posts.”

6. Clone your successful blog posts

Revisit approaches that have worked before to generate new topics, as I discuss in “Clone your blog posts.”

7. Save your trash

Save your trash to feed your blog,” as I’ve said on my blog.

Have you ever gone off on a tangent in a white paper or blog post, only to realize that you need to cut that idea to keep your publication focused?

Don’t leave that idea in the trash. Instead, make it the focus of its own blog post. Your initial enthusiasm about the topic suggests that you can generate reader interest in it if you make it the focus of a piece. Just make sure that your new piece includes the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) for your reader, as I discuss in “Focus on WIIFM, not the article.”

8. Look at the world around you

Things that you see in the world around you can inspire blog post ideas.

I’ve gotten quite a few ideas from museum visits, as I’ve discussed in “Museums can inspire your blog posts.” I think this works because art often provides analogies for problems that readers face.

I discuss a similar idea in “Photo + Mind Map = Blog Inspiration,” mentioned above.

What do sidebar and ESG have in common?

Do you know the answer to the question I posed in the title of this blog post? Both “sidebar” and “ESG” are words that people in some fields immediately understand, but they perplex many other people. “Sidebar” refers to area of text, often placed in a box, to the side of an article. “ESG” is short for “environmental, social, and corporate governance.” Being aware of people’s limited comprehension should influence how you write.

My research on technical terms

When I ask people if they know the meaning of “sidebar” and “ESG,” the results are mixed.

My writer friends mostly understand “sidebar,” and my financial colleagues mostly understand “ESG.” But I’m not convinced that those two populations overlap a lot. At least not outside of financial writers, writers who believe in socially responsible investing, and financial folks who work closely with editors as they write for publication. I imagine that far fewer members of the general public understand both words.

What’s a writer to do?

I’m a big believer in briefly defining technical terms, as I’ve discussed in “Plain language: Let’s get parenthetical.” Thus, I write “environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)” when using the term with any audience that may not be familiar with the term. Sure, many audience members may understand the abbreviation, but my short definition won’t hurt their reading experience. They’re probably used to glossing over the spelled-out version of ESG.

I could explain “sidebar,” but I’ve found a solution I like better. Instead, I now use a handy workaround. I replace “see sidebar” with “see ‘TITLE OF SIDEBAR ARTICLE’ below.” It’s easy for the reader to scan for the title, without wondering, “What the heck is a sidebar?”

Down with meaningless claims!

Business BlatherThis blog post was inspired by a section in Business Blather: Stop Using Words That Sound Good but Say Nothing! by Jerry McTigue. As you know, I agree with the mission of this book.

Delete meaningless claims

In a section called “Enough with the platitudes already,” McTigue criticizes the “litanies of clichés and banalities writers believe exude a corporate luster simply because virtually every corporation proclaims them.” He adds, “Unverified off-the-shelf pronouncements are innumerable—as many bloated corporate documents attest to.”

In the world of financial advice, this means statements such as “We provide superior customer service.”

Turn meaningless claims into meaningful claims

What’s the solution for this kind of writing? McTigue says, “Prove it. Illustrate it. Support it.”

In the area of customer service, do you have a case study documenting how your firm’s service truly goes beyond the ordinary? That’s a good place to start.

As McTigue says, “Replace those threadbare boasts with real substance, solid evidence, credible endorsements.”

You may enjoy this book

Overall, McTigue’s book is an entertaining, easy-to-read book. It has many powerful before-and-after examples of bad writing transformed into effective writing.

 

Note: I received a free review copy of this book.

 

Disclosure: If you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I provide links to books only when I believe they have value for my readers.

 

When to send an article to the expert, not an editor

If you work in a marketing or editorial group, the pieces that you work on may get comments from many different people. Sometimes your next step should be to send the piece to an editor to clean up or proofread the writing. Other times, you need to send the piece back to the subject-matter expert—often called a SME in the marketing world.

When to send to the expert

Send the piece to the expert when reviewers raise questions that can only be answered by an expert. For example, “Which S&P 500 sectors does this technique apply to?” That’s not a question to which an editor is likely to know the answer.

The answer is less clear when one of the reviewers has written, “Please rewrite more simply.” Then it’s a judgment call whether expert knowledge is required to implement the reviewer’s request. If you’ve worked a long time at your company, you may know enough to make that call.

When to send to the editor

If reviewers have mainly made line edits to an article, you can send the piece to your editor. Cleaning up the grammar or word usage is unlikely to require a subject-matter expert.

When you’re not sure

When you’re not sure about the best next step, I suggest you ask your editor for advice. An editor to whom you’re important as an internal or external client is likely to respond more quickly than a subject-matter expert who views your work as tangential to their role. Also, smart editors will tell you when they lack the expertise to resolve an issue.

YOUR tips?

Do you have tips on how to handle this issue? Please share them.

My five favorite reference books for writers

A printed book is sometimes the best place to find a solution to your question about writing style, punctuation, or grammar.

Here are my five favorite reference books. I have updated this list because my favorites have changed over time, most notably with the elevation of Garner’s Modern American Usage from the “honorable mention” list.

  1. Edit Yourself: A manual for everyone who works with words by Bruce Ross-Larson. Everyone should own this small, inexpensive, easy-to-use book. I use Part II, the back of the book, the most. It lists troublesome words in alphabetical order. It’ll help you cut pretentious words and resolve problems such as deciding between “which” and “that.” Part I describes and offers solutions to problems common in everyday writing. Buy it today!
  2. Garner’s Modern American Usage by Bryan Garner. This book runs over 900 pages in length, so it covers just about any question you may ask. When I first published this list of favorite books, I wrote: “But it’s so darned technical I only turn to it as a last resort.” How times have changed! Now it’s the first book I turn to when tackling problems such as “Treasurys vs. Treasuries — Which is the right spelling?” I rank it behind Ross-Larson’s book only because I think Edit Yourself will be much more useful for most of my readers.
  3. The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications by Amy Einsohn. I didn’t own this book when I first compiled my list of favorite books. Like Garner’s book, this delves more into the nuances of different grammar issues than book readers who aren’t grammar nerds.
  4. The Associated Press Stylebook. If you’ve ever heard an editor say, “We follow AP style,” they’re talking about the print or online edition of this style book. I rarely check my print edition because I prefer the constantly updated online edition, which I complement with a subscription to the online Webster’s New World College Dictionary. There’s also subscription software, Styleguard, for checking adherence with this guide. (I stopped using the software for reasons described in my blog post about Styleguard.) You can follow AP style on Twitter at @APStylebook or on Facebook.
  5. The Grammar Bible by Michael Strumpf and Auriel Douglas. This book gives plain English explanations of vexing issues of grammar and more.

Honorable mention

  • The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) was my favorite reference book for many years. If you’re writing a book or Ph.D. dissertation (as I was doing when I bought this book), rather than blog posts, articles, or other marketing pieces, this is an essential reference. It’s also useful for topics such as tables and other exhibits, which aren’t addressed by AP style. You can also subscribe online to the manual, get it integrated into PerfectIt proofreading software (which I’ve blogged about in “My three main software tools for proofreading,” and follow it on Facebook or Twitter.
  • Words into Type, based on studies by Marjorie E. Skillin, Robert M. Gay, and other authorities. Like CMOS, this book is aimed at individuals preparing manuscripts for publication. This fat classic from 1974 used to be my second “go to” reference book when flummoxed by a question of style, punctuation, or grammar. The importance of this book fell for me when I became a convert to AP style.
  • The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White. If you care about good writing, you should read this classic at least once. An early edition is online at Bartleby.com.

Your favorites?

If you’re passionate about good writing, you’ve probably got a favorite reference that I’ve overlooked. Please tell me about it by answering this poll question.

 

Disclosure: If you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I provide links to books only when I believe they have value for my readers.

Updated: November and December 2021

Top posts from 2022’s first quarter

Check out my top posts from the first quarter!

They’re a mix of practical tips on grammar (#1, #5), social media (#2), blogging (#3), and writing (#4).

My posts that attracted the most views during 2022’s first quarter:

  1. Pronoun question: is the Fed “it” or “they”?–This is an ongoing issue. I feel strongly about the right answer, but some investment professionals feel strongly about using the other pronoun.
  2. Why I’m not using LinkedIn Creator Mode
  3. Legal danger for financial bloggers: Two misconceptions, three resources, one suggestion
  4. Go from short to long!
  5. So at the start of a sentence

Why I write for you

You can reach more clients and prospects when you put your useful ideas into writing. However, many investment and wealth managers lack the time—or maybe the skill—to put ideas into writing persuasively. That means your audience loses an opportunity to benefit from your expertise.

When your writing isn’t as strong as your ideas, you may gain from a good editor or writer with industry knowledge to shape your ideas into compelling prose.

Why I write for you infographic

 

While you may get your thrills from helping your clients reach their financial goals, mine come from cracking the mystery of how to communicate your information persuasively. I’ve developed my skill through a variety of experiences.

  • As  a writer-editor for leading investment and wealth management firms and former director of investment communications at Columbia Management, I understand your industry and your vocabulary. Between real-life experience and the studies that led to earning my CFA charter, I know that if you talk about a bond’s “duration,” I must translate that into simpler language for the average investor.
  • As editor of the NAPFA Advisor, a monthly publication for financial advisors, I know how to communicate with that audience, which may be an important target for you.
  • As a former reporter for a weekly mutual fund publication, I know that you’ve got to grab your reader’s attention at the beginning of your story. I’ll question you until I understand your “hook.” I also understand the importance of deadlines.
  • As a corporate trainer and public speaker, I’ve developed the ability to help you become a better writer and editor. It has been exciting to speak across North America on “How to Write Investment Commentary People Will Read” for the CFA Institute and about “Writing Effective Emails ” for chapters of the Financial Planning Association. I’ve captured many of my techniques in my book, Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to enjoy helping you!

 

 

Note: This post was originally published in September 2009 and updated in June 2014 and November 2021.