Business Writing: 10 Great Authors
Great business writers combine narrative skills with sound judgment to create classics that help both the beginner and the mid-career professional.
Writing's completely subjective. What interests you may not interest me. But if somebody told me I could read the wisdom of only ten business writers, these are the ones I'd choose:
1. Socrates - He was likely history's first "self-help" writer. He taught people to seek ultimate truths by questioning conventional wisdom and examining their own beliefs. He said folks shouldn't accept opinion as fact.
2. Sophocles - Another guy with no last name. He created plays that usually centered on a single heroic character who chose an unpopular course of action. This dramatist may have been the first "niche" marketer.
3. Benjamin Franklin - This multi-talented American championed succinct writing, and his epigrams became part of our national heritage. Ben warned, "He that speaks much is much mistaken." Franklin succeeded in multiple business ventures.
4. Mark Twain - He's been called America's finest author because he wrote in American dialect, using phrases and speech unique to the United States. He punctured pompous prose, and laced his stories with regional references. (Many say Twain was also America's greatest lecturer.)
5. Claude Hopkins - This researcher wrote "Scientific Advertising" in 1923. He's among the first to discuss the use of product samples and demonstrations.
6. Edward Bernays - This nephew of Sigmund Freud is called the "father of public relations." He authored the classic book "Crystallizing Public Opinion" in 1923.
7. Dale Carnegie - His book "how to Win Friends and Influence People" is one history's greatest guides. He discussed the value of developing one's personality, and wrote beautifully.
8. David Ogilvy - This brilliant copywriter and ad agency executive believed in the value of brand image, and valued advertising research and testing.
9. John Caples - His wonderful books like "Tested Advertising Methods" serve as a great source of information on powerful words, phrases, sentences, headlines, and much more.
10. Al Ries and Jack Trout - They wrote the classic "Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind," which discusses ways to get your product or service remembered. (It's my favorite business book.)
Rix Quinn wrote "Words That Stick: A Guide to Short Writing with Big Impact." It's a writing book to help people who hate to write. It's available from your local bookstore, or from http://www.tenspeed.com/catalog/all/item.php3?id=1661
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'Becoming Americans': Immigrant writing San Francisco Chronicle ... short stories, novel excerpts, poems, letters and bits of memoir that this anthology of "Four Centuries of Immigrant Writing" collects. ... |
Local man wins prize in writing competition Iowa City Press Citizen A local man has won a runner-up prize in an international competition for writing. Zach Falcon, 37, of Iowa City, earned the recognition for his story "The ... |
Writings left behind by Vonnegut Philadelphia Inquirer As for writing left behind at his death, here we have Look at the Birdie, a collection of previously unpublished works that Vonnegut wrote in the 1950s or ... |
Idaho writing Race to the Top application KIVI-TV AP - November 22, 2009 9:04 AM ET BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Idaho hopes to win $75 million or more in competitive federal grants for public schools, ... |
Teacher 'suspended over 9/11 creative writing task' Telegraph.co.uk ... Oxclose Village Primary School in Washington, Tyne and Wear, after their children reportedly came home in tears following the creative writing lesson. ... |
West Ottawa implements curriculum that focuses on writing skills HollandSentinel.com Lucy Calkins writing curriculum — already in use by Holland Public Schools — is one of the latest trends in writing education, as teachers instruct students ... |
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Prof finalist for fiction writing Sioux City Journal Tricia Currans-Sheehan's "The River Road: A Novel in Stories" was named a finalist in fiction and received Honorable Mention in the Nashville Book Festival ... |
 Hindu | 'Writing is a solo pursuit' Hindu I really believe what happens in the writing experience happens in the reading experience. If there is velocity in the writing, then there will be the same ... |
 Baltimore Sun | An appreciation for Sister Maura Baltimore Sun Here's an excerpt: Sister Maura considered writing to be work, and if nothing else, I was going to learn the value of that work during my numerous courses ... |
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