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Writing for Business
and Pleasure

by Stephen Wilbers


Quote of the week
“Modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking out words for the sake of their meaning and inventing images in order to make the meaning clearer. It consists in gumming together long strips of words which have already been set in order by someone else, and making the results presentable by sheer humbug.”
– George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”


Two 30-second exercises (updated weekly)
Weekly error: What's wrong with the following sentence?
“We encountered some unexpected problems, however, we decided not to increase our fee.”

Weekly tip: Revise the following sentence to good effect.
“I asked for more money. Sometime this week or next the planning committee will consider my request.”


Tuesdays with Wilbers
Please join me in St. Paul for my regular Tuesday afternoon workshop.
October 14

Technology Management
Please join me in Rochester for a program sponsored by the University of Minnesota's Center for the Development of Technological Leadership and the University of Minnesota Rochester. I'm offering one course in a series of eight one-day courses.
September 22-25; October 20-23
 

 



to the Loft Literary Center. Support a good cause.
Thank you!
 

Weekly word
 

Monthly tip
free advice

Weekly column
by e-mail


“Better Writing in Six Weeks”
an e-mail course

 


To my Minneapolis Star Tribune readers
Look for me on the first, third, and fifth Mondays of each month.

Click here if you'd like to receive my column every week by e-mail.

Take the Grammar, Proofreading, Punctuation, and Word Choice Challenges

Keys to Great Writing
(my most recent book,
now available in
paperback)

Writing for Business
(collected columns,
winner of a Minnesota
Book Award, back in print!)
 

This Northern Nonsense:
Poems on the Life of Ernest Oberholtzer

(on submission)

A Grammatical Affair
(in progress – vote on a title)

30 Tips for Writing with Style
(in progress – order the first 10 chapters)


Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness: A History
for students, teachers, and writers interested in
nature and the environment

Nature's Gallery
Photos from poet John Caddy,
downloadable for use as wallpaper

I’d like to hear from you. You can reach me by e-mail
or by U.S. mail at Stephen Wilbers,
P.O. Box 19114, Minneapolis, MN 55419.

 
In memory of three beloved Minnesota authors


  Paul Gruchow
(1947-2004)
 

Carol Bly
(1930-2007)

John Hassler
(1933-2008)

About the author

Stephen Wilbers is a writing consultant, author, and syndicated columnist. Since 1983 he has offered training seminars in effective writing to more than 6,500 business, technical, legal, and academic writers.

In addition to offering on-site training seminars, he has taught in the University of Minnesota’s Management of Technology Program in the Center for the Development of Technological Leadership, the Carlson School of Management’s M.B.A. Program, the Program in American Studies, and the Program in Creative and Professional Writing. In 1995 he won an Outstanding Faculty Award for his teaching in Hamline University’s Graduate Public Administration Program.
 

His syndicated column on effective business writing appears in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Orange County Register, and other publications.

He has published two collections of his columns, Writing for Business (winner of a 1994 Minnesota Book Award) and Writing by Wilbers. In addition, his most recent book, Keys to Great Writing (advice on how to write with clarity, emphasis, and style), is now available in paperback.

He recently completed a collection of poems on the life of Ernest Oberholtzer, the gentle giant who helped save the Boundary Waters Canoe Area from development, and he is now working on a humorous book of writing instruction, A Grammatical Affair: A Romance with Language, which offers a review of common writing errors in the form of a sexy, wildly romantic, heartbreaking, sappy love story.

Dr. Wilbers earned his B.A. at Vanderbilt University and his M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. He was a Visiting Fulbright Fellow at the University of Essex in Colchester, England. At the University of Minnesota he directed one of the largest student academic support services operations in the country before serving as Associate Director of the Program in Creative and Professional writing. He lives in Minneapolis, where he serves as board chair of the Loft Literary Center.

For additional information, see his résumé.


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