In my guise as a corporate writer and teacher of corporate writing, one of my goals is to reduce the amount of corporate speak and corporate spin. I collect examples of over-the-top corporate jargon and spin (so feel free to send in any examples you come across) and have decided to create an annual award – the Corporate Clown Award. This will go to the person or company that provided the best (or should that be worst) piece of corporate jargon or spin during the year.

My first nomination is Geoff Parker, Chief Executive of the Australasian Bottled Water Institute. He was reacting to the decision by the University of Canberra to ban the sale of bottled water on its campus, a move that is estimated to reduce the amount of bottled water by 140,000 a year. Instead, the University is going to install water vending machines for use with refillable bottles. Sounds like a sensible idea, right? Well, according to Mr Parker, the ‘jury is out’ on whether refillable bottles are better for the environment than the production of plastic bottles.  

Say what? I have emailed Mr Parker as follows:

Dear Mr Parker

I was interested to read your response in the article in the Age on the University Canberra. Apparently you said that ‘the jury was out’ on whether refillable bottles were better for the environment than the practice of purchasing plastic bottles of water. To someone not in the industry, this seems a puzzling statement, and I was wondering if you would be willing to clarify it – which research could possibly support your view?

As a corporate writer and teacher of corporate writing, I try and impress upon both clients and students that ‘corporate speak’ and ‘corporate spin’ often undermine an organisation’s position and credibility. Surely a quote such as yours makes it less likely that you will be taken seriously next time – unless ‘the jury’ really is out.

Regards

Nicolas Brasch

I am awaiting a reply.

Despite the year being only a few weeks old, Geoff’s contribution sets a high (or should that be low) standard for the year.

Nicolas Brasch
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I was recently interviewed and asked what advice I would give to unpublished writers. I replied that my first piece of advice would be that writing is ‘bloody hard work’. This is a message that I stress time and time again to my writing students. Thomas Mann said it a bit more eloquently when he wrote, ‘A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.’

Many times I have been handed a first or second draft of a manuscript and asked which publisher it should be sent to, and how best to approach them. The truth is that a publisher should not be approached with a manuscript until the writer has squeezed every bit of sweat out of their brow; and they have put their characters, plot, structure and dialogue through so many changes that they can’t even remember what the first draft looked like.

Of course, this is not the place to explain how to do this – there just simply isn’t the time or space – but I will say the following:

• a first draft is simply the process of getting some ideas from your head to the page;
• a second draft helps you refine and add to these ideas and start to get a sense of character and plot;
• the next three or four drafts are an opportunity to try different things with character and plot (throw your characters into different situations and see how they react) – don’t just tinker;
• the next few drafts …. etc etc.

You get the idea?

To be honest, anyone who sends a manuscript to a publisher before it is as ‘perfect’ as they can get it risks losing any chance of success with that publisher. Publishers keep records of manuscripts sent to them and if they’ve rejected it at an early stage, their first response on receiving a later version (no matter how good it is) will be ‘we’ve seen this before and didn’t want it then, so why would we want it now?’

So spend the time getting your manuscript perfect. Use manuscript assessment services, workshop it at writers’ groups, attend courses and have others analyse and provide criticism. Above all – rewrite, re-write and re-write.

It is bloody hard work but it’s worth it.

Nicolas Brasch
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Welcome to my blog. I feel as if I have finally entered the 21^st century. This must be what it felt like for someone having a phone installed in their house in 1910.

Why did I set up this blog? It is partly out of curiosity, I guess. To see if I am disciplined enough to add to it each week (or even more regularly). But the main reason is that I wanted a place to deposit thoughts, quotes, ideas and insights into writing and the writing process.

So ‘who am I?’ and ‘what right do I have to share my views on writing’?

I have been a full-time freelance writer since 1996. I have written more than 300 books for children and young adults, several of which have won major awards, and many of which have been published internationally. In addition, I write the corporate market. In this area, my output includes speeches, video scripts, internal newsletters and fact sheets, website content, advertising and marketing copy, HR material, articles, and heaps more. My corporate clients have included small businesses, blue chip corporations, state and federal government departments, local councils, peak bodies and more. In short, I write just about anything and for anyone who is willing to pay me.

Over the past few years, more and more of my time has gone into teaching writing, something I love. In 2011, I will be teaching:

• Fiction, scriptwriting, corporate writing, writing for PR & digital media, and industry studies at Swinburne TAFE
• Corporate writing at Box Hill Institute of TAFE
• Corporate communications at Gippsland TAFE
• The Advanced Year of Writing for Children and Young Adults course at the Victorian Writers Centre.

While most of the ideas in this blog will be generated by me, I am more than happy to comment on your views or answer questions or offer advice. So feel free to contact me at nic@writer.com.au

Nicolas Brasch
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