I have come across managers who pass their judgments on a piece of writing. They normally come from their own background, and have an idea of what they know to be good writing. They use their parameters to judge whether the writing passed on to them is good or bad. This is what I would call is looking at things from your glass and not from a neutral pair of eyes.
Every writer may have developed a style of writing that comes naturally to him or her, over a period of time. Normally, for experienced writers, it is very difficult to make major changes in the style they have. In that case, how should somebody judge the piece of writing offered for review? What are some of the parameters on which one should judge a piece of writing? I have tried to explain some of them below.
Writing has to be simple. Verbosity and the use of complex construction and complicated sentences do not make for a great writing. The idea is that any audience should not struggle to understand what the writing is all about. What we want to convey has to be conveyed as simply as possible. No reader likes to rack his brains to understand a written piece of prose.
Writing has to be to the point. There is not point beating around the bush. Nobody is going to admire a writer who starts saying what he has to after a few paragraphs. Come straight to the point. Related to this is using minimum number of words to convey your points. Verbosity makes for a dense writing, which may be difficult to understand.
Write short sentences. Long convoluted sentences may leave a reader lost. By the time they reach the end of a compound sentence they may have lost the track of what the sentence is all about. Some writers say that longer sentences may be allowed sometimes. I would say, chop if you can.
Write grammatically correct sentences. In any writing, even when you are writing emails, avoid incorrect grammar and slang. A nicely written piece of content catches the eyes and is appreciated. Incorrect grammar is a reflection on your personality. Make sure whatever you pass on is checked from grammar. Use a free grammar checker if you can. Same is the case with spelling mistakes.
Cover all points. When you write about something, make sure that you address all the important points. This goes on to show that you really know the subject well. Moreover, ensure that you are able to say something about each point covered. Nobody likes half-baked writing.
Structure your writing. The content for your writing must be logically sequenced. Normally one has an introduction, body and conclusion. There are different methods available to structure your writing. Learn about them and make the best use of them. Incoherent and incohesive writing is same as blabbering, even when writing emails.
Keep it short. Nobody pays you brownie points for the number of words you put on the paper. Keep your writing short. Cut out all the unnecessary words and phrases. This would reduce the amount of time readers would need to read your content.
Revise and revise again. You will be surprised when you read the draft you have written for the first time. When you reread your piece of content a couple of times, you will automatically improve on what you have written. Revise for at least three times. Compare the revised versions with the draft and see the difference yourself.
These are some of the points that go into making a good writing. Individual choices of words and phrases, and other preferred construction choices may vary from writer to writer. When you are reviewing a piece of content passed on to you, always look for neutral parameters on which to judge the writing. Space must be given to the writer to use their own style, except when it is some technical document which is very tightly constrained.