The Workplace Writer’s Process: A Guide to Getting the Job Done

Janzer (The Writer’s Process) leverages her extensive experience as a copywriter in the tech world to create an extremely practical and easy-to-digest guide to writing on the job. The book focuses on “the neglected part of the job of writing: planning and scoping, strategies for collaboration, and risk reduction.” Although a few aspects of writing mechanics are included, the vast majority of the text deals with managing the external realities of writing in a busy workplace with a variety of stakeholders. Janzer uses an informal and conversational tone, and her prose is refreshingly lean. The book covers aspects of writing from the practical (e.g., the benefits of an in-house style guide, the perils of shrinking deadlines) to some lightweight theory (e.g., on cognitive strain and cognitive empathy). The book’s short, discrete chapters lend themselves to hopping around in the text, and the advice can be applied to a variety of professional formats: emails, blog posts, user manuals, internal reports, and so on. Janzer includes real-world anecdotes to complement and illustrate her advice. The book closes with checklists and planning templates, along with a list of additional readings. The content often feels like common sense, but Janzer has packaged it so effectively that this guide will be invaluable for many a professional library. [em](BookLife) [/em]