Words worth

The greatest short story ever written is just six words long by Ernest Hemingway. ‘Baby shoes. For sale. Never worn.’ The power of six words.

Opening lines are so important in business writing. Whether it’s the subject line in an email or the first sentence in a presentation, these words will grab or lose your reader’s attention in a moment.

One of my favourite examples of punchy headlines comes from Sir Harold Evans, former editor of The Sunday Times. He said: ‘If I choose to head an article “An Inquiry into the Conditions of Mycean Civilisation in the Heroic Epoch, with Special Reference to the Economic and Domestic Functions of Women Before and After the Conjectural Date of the Argive Expedition against Troy” … I really have no right to complain if (when I send it to the Chicago Daily Scoop) they alter it to “How Helen Did the Housekeeping”.’

Consider some of the best opening lines in novels. From LP Hartley’s The Go-Between: ‘The past is another country: they do things differently there.’ Or Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina: ‘All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’

So how can we use these lessons in literature for writing in business?

1. Write your headline (your email subject line) last. This helps reduce writer’s block.

2. Spend as much time on the beginning as you do writing the rest of your text.

3. Start writing whichever part you feel most comfortable with. Just get the words down.

4. Put the most important information first and then provide the context.

5. Avoid beginning with clichés like, ‘as you know’ or ‘I hope you are well’. Make it specific and relevant, include the details.

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