You’re on staff, so you’re also a writer.  You pull out a pen or a laptop and compose prayer letters, eMails, thank you notes, blog posts, Bible studies, books, and more.  Your writing in any of these ways is a ministry to others.

Whether or not you enjoy writing, do you take any time to improve your writing?  Good word choices, proper punctuation, and accurate spelling all add credibility to your writing, while a dash of spice in your writing invites others to continue reading.  In her delightful way, Heather Holleman offered us five tricks for adding spice to our writing in How to Write with Flair:

Eliminate feeble verbs… These verbs don’t show anything happening. Use exciting verbs. I love verbs like grapple and fritter. Grapple with strong verbs to fritter away the feeble ones.

(After this great advice, I better examine my verbs on this post!)

We want to help you be a better writer, so here’s some more of the many recommendations you’ll find on eQuipping for eMinistry. . .

Stephanie Reeves encouraged us recently to consistently use Campus Crusade for Christ’s style manual:

Whenever we are writing as representatives of Campus Crusade for Christ, whether in prayer letters, blogs, ministry communications or whatever, it is important for our professionalism as a ministry that we keep our terms consistent.  ( Read more at In GOS We Trust)

So, even though I may think I’m writing well, I may be slipping up in the way I’m representing Campus Crusade.   Downloading and using the style manual would be a minimum action point I’d hope you take away from this post.

We learned from Michael Hyatt’s Tips about Email Usage and Abusage:

Don’t discuss multiple subjects in a single message.

(Ouch!  I know I’ve done that!)

I know you’re busy, but well-crafted written communication is important for effective ministry. Try taking one idea from this post and working on that area.

Where do you go for answers to your grammar, punctuation, and just good-writing-style questions?

Other Recommendations

• Heather’s book, How to Write with Flair. Heather is on staff at Penn State.
• My Fun, Creative Outline for Writing and Speaking by Judy Douglass
• I enjoyed reading today How Blogging Taught Me to Be a Writer and recommend it even if you aren’t blogging.
• Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Lynne Truss’ dry, British wit makes learning punctuation enjoyable.
• Strunk & White’s “The Elements of Style” is a good reference book to have on your shelf for whenever you need to refresh your English skills.