In a business context, the world of writing is amorphous: ill-defined (if defined at all). Murky. Obscure. In fact, although I refer to it as “business writing,” business really isn’t the correct word. But I can’t think of the right word because, in this context, it’s a wide variety of writing. Or so I’ve found.
The reasons for this are probably many but, as far as I’ve been able to tell, there’s an unarticulated notion in the world that any educated person should be able to write, so why would you need a writer? So businesses don’t have a writer/editor on salary because it’s an unnecessary cost. Besides, if the need arises, you can always contract out – at a minimal cost.
The reality, however, is very different, which a lot of businesses discover. Yes, a great many people can write but, unfortunately, not many can write well. And of the people who can “write,” in the sense that they can compose a coherent sentence, they find it really, really hard, anxiety riddled and hugely time consuming.
So, they look for a writer. Contract time. But, oops, since we tried to keep the cost down and paid very little for the job (because so many people out there are willing to write for almost nothing – supply and demand), we got what we paid for: a load of crap.
This discovery leaves many managers with a problem: We really do need a writer. The company doesn’t have writers on salary. What to do?
The answer probably explains my curious career: on contract, on salary as a union employee, on contract again, on salary as a manager, and on contract again. And all doing the same job: writing and editing. At no time when I was on salary was I listed as a writer/editor. When unionized I was a “voice systems operator.” As a manager, I don’t recall what I was listed as but it was something like, “Web marketing.” Some such thing.
While I refer to it vaguely as “business writing,” what I’ve done through the years was marketing writing (brochures, catalogues, travel guides), technical writing, copywriting (radio, TV), Web writing (text for various pages), business letters, responses to RFPs, even the editing of contracts (legal writing). Whatever came along, that’s the writing I did. And still do.
The easiest thing for me, and frankly for the companies I’ve worked for, is to be on salary. But because there is this hesitancy to actually have a writer on staff, everything gets muddled, a lot of time is wasted, and money is “saved” at great expense.
So perhaps it’s time we did some marketing/PR flim flam and we found a new word or phrase for writers. How about, Manager, Language Structure. Or maybe, Text Content Manager. Or, my personal favourite, Manager: Clarity and Meaning, Text Division.
Listen
Follow Writelife on Twitter
