Write to Doris

"There is one golden rule to bear in mind always: that we should try to put ourselves in the position of our correspondent, to imagine his feelings as he writes his letters, and to gauge his reaction as he receives ours."

Inland Revenue staff instructions

When Warren Buffet writes letters to his investors, he lovingly addresses them to his sisters, beginning a first draft with “Dear Doris and Bertie”.

Once written, he replaces their names with “Dear Shareholders” leaving his letter jargon-free, familial, empathetic, and ultimately, warm.

Whether you’re writing to your sister or your boss, you’re writing to another human. So, don’t try to be professional or educated or intellectual.

Avoid the complex, cold, insipid, formal stuff that oozes out when you try to sound important, the style of writing that suffocates intellectual essays or professional emails.

By addressing someone you love, you set the tone from the first few words. Those words keep you human. In fact they save you from assuming a character. The one whose costume lots of writers put on when they sit down to type that professional email.

If you start with “Dear”, you'll surely work your way to “it has recently come to our attention that” and perhaps on to “additionally, it was interesting to note”, finally winding up at “Yours Sincerely”, and no reply.

But if you begin with “Hi Mum” or “Hi mate”, you'll naturally use language, ideas, and a tone that suits someone you care to make things honest and simple for.

Address someone you love to force:

• simple concepts
• a friendly tone
• familiar words
• integrity
• honesty
  
  

You'll replace “are you experiencing pain?” with “does it hurt?”.

You'll replace “due to the fact that” with “because”.

You'll replace “£20,000 per annum” with “£20,000 a year”

You'll reach for the shorter word, and not for brevity's sake, but because the short word is usually the familiar word. The one that’s easiest to process. You'll spend time checking it over because you care that this reader understands your meaning.

You want this reader to succeed because you love this reader.