Blog - COMPLETE WRITING... Cayman Islands

I must admit that I have, on more occasions than I care to remember, disobeyed the recommendation I'm about to make.  Admittedly not my proudest moments, but what's done can't be undone.  Remember this always when you write something other than for yourself. What's done, can't be undone.  So write with a smile...or at the very least, a grin.  Be honest, be forthright, be detailed, but be these things with sensitivity to what your audience will read or hear. If you seek an audience that is receptive to your words rather than defensive, then write with a smile.  

I chose this topic today because I am haunted by a text I sent to a colleague last September.   She had sent me a text which was rude and superior, or at least I thought so.  I had a choice.  I could have taken the higher ground and responded with a message that made the same point but delivered with a smile.  Instead, I chose to respond with the same tone of her text.  Ughhhh. And what did I achieve by writing with a snarl rather than a smile?  Squat, other than venting my anger and adding to my ocean of regrets.  

Having said that, I do, more often than not, make a concerted effort to write with a smile.  I remember this one time, when writing a speech about the preservation of historic homes, filling it with thoughts of how I REALLY felt - yes, a cathartic exercise,  but not a message that would have inspired my passion for preserving old buildings, which was the purpose of the speech after all.  Draft #1 - check.

My final draft said the same thing, but with a smile.  No the smile did not produce the much needed change to legislation. That would have been a far stretch for one little ole speech.  But it did inspire two property owners of historic houses to offer their homes up to the National Trust for relocation to another property.  

Keep in mind that your audience is not the villain.  Shower them with smiles if you want your communication to be persuasive.  Or in the words of my very wise Italian father, "Fa la rufiana!" Translation?  Kiss...well...you know what.

I've had many a philosophical discussion about this subject as there are those who would argue there are times when you simply can't write with a smile.  I would argue that barring suicide letters, a smile is requisite for just about anything most people write in the course of an average work/personal day.  Of course professional writers, follow a substantially different set of rules depending on what they're writing, but this blog is for the non-writer.  So smile!