Is business writing an art or a science? That was the question that launched the debate that launched the books at this week’s evening for The Writer.
What a grand setting we had. We gathered at Dr Johnson’s house, tucked away in Gough Square just off Fetter Lane. Some fifty people packed in and there was the constant likelihood of wine spilling onto a precious printed example of the good doctor’s work. Actually I’m not a big fan of Johnson as a writer. Has anyone tried reading “Rasselas”?
So, hey, step aside, doctor J, and let today’s authors have a say. There we were, with two new books in hand. In the Arts corner, I limbered up by languidly lifting a copy of 26 ways of looking at a blackberry. In the Science corner, Neil Taylor pumped the computer until a Powerpoint presentation and a copy of Brilliant business writing pulsated with a luminescent aura.
To be honest, it’s a false debate. Business writing is neither art nor science; but it’s both art and science. Neil and I enjoyed the pretence of disagreeing. The fact is we both believe that writing is better when it’s more natural, has personality and enjoys a bit of play.
To maintain my art stance, I read my Shakespearean sonnet from 26 ways and the commentary that followed. The commentary, drawing on academic research from two universities, is surprisingly scientific. The academics argue that electroencephalograms prove that “Shakespeare excites your brain”. A puzzle a day keeps Dr Johnson away, as well as other kinds of turgid writing.
Neil’s science came through artfully in the form of figures proving (scientifically and beyond a shadow of doubt) that good business writing is massively more effective than bad. Big %s and positive £s make the case. Like all good science, the figures can be passed into the public domain for further research and the development of future knowledge. Just apply to Neil at The Writer.
So with Boswell looking at his watch and suggesting a final nightcap, the last question came from Ezri Carlebach of Lifelong Learning UK. He suggested that what really united art and science was the idea of craft. Would you agree?
I would. In fact I might have written a blog about it, or even a book.
So pink is what all the handsome young writers are wearing these days, eh?
Good choice of adjectives
Yes, I thought long and hard about them.
If writing is a science, it’s a mystic one. The occult. Or quantum theory. It bends the rules of nature.