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Advice from C.S.Lewis

Whilst you may not consider C.S.Lewis, the fantastic writer behind The Chronicles of Narnia could advise greatly on running a club, his comments regarding writing, written to a young fan in June of 1956, are completely relevant to clear and simple communication. A critical skill when it comes to management. 

What really matters is:– 

1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn’t mean anything else.

2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them.

3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.”

4. In writing. Don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, “Please will you do my job for me.”

5. Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say “infinitely” when you mean “very”; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

Point 4 is rather interesting when relating back to club management, building a club in which the community will be proud of and will talk excitedly about without your marketing input is one well worth building!

    • #C.S.Lewis
    • #management
    • #team
    • #club
    • #association
    • #abstract nouns
    • #clear language
    • #simple language
    • #direct wording
  • 1 year ago
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