Improving the Skill of Writing for Athletic Administrators [NIAAA]

By: David Hoch, CMAA (Retired)

Communication is an extremely important and unavoidable aspect of athletic administration. When you consider all the tasks and responsibilities involved with the position, most involve some form of communication - verbal, body language, and writing. Of the three elements, writing may be the most overlooked and, in many cases, the one which needs the most attention and improvement.

In presentations to groups or in one-on-one conversations, missed items or mistakes can quickly and easily be restated and corrected. With written documents, it isn't always this simple even for those items which are posted on websites and social media. It is even more difficult for hard copy reports or articles. This means greater attention to detail and effort must be given to written materials, and this represents a challenge for many administrators.

While very few find grammar to be exciting, it is an important place to start when trying to improve one's writing. The reason for is good, professional writing must be grammatically correct. After all, you function within an educational setting and there will be individuals in your community who will notice any mistakes. Whether it is right or wrong, you will be judged on your ability to communicate in written form - reports, guidelines, articles or letters, and even with e-mail.

The following grammatical aspects are meant to be a good refresher of your studies - whether that's high school, college, or post-grad.

1. Make sure that your sentences have a subject, verb, and predicate. This does not mean, however, that you should start every sentence with the subject. As a matter of fact, the constant use of the subject to verb format would represent a very elementary style of writing.
2. Check that your verbs agree with the subject - singular or plural - and use the appropriate pronouns which relate back to their respective nouns.
3. Take time to select and use the correct preposition, adjective, and adverb. These words form a working relationship with nouns and verbs. Also, it is important to appropriately use coordinating conjunctions - for example, 'and, for, but.'
4. Use the correct punctuation. A sentence needs to end in a period, question mark, or exclamation point. Commas are used to break up a string of adjectives and to set off a subordinate or dependent clause.
5. Capitalize proper nouns and the word which begins a sentence. Proper nouns are the names of people and places, and capitalization is not to be used indiscriminately to emphasis common nouns.
6. Use Parallel Construction. This is particularly relevant and necessary when using bullet points. They should start with all verbs, or you could use nouns, but it must be consistent. All points need to start the same way.

While you can easily Google grammatical questions which might occur, there are many easy-to-understand textbooks on the market. For any professional who will be called upon to do some writing in connection with their position, it would be wise to purchase or borrow one from your school's English department.

Beyond the grammatical aspects, the following are some practical considerations and hints which should help to improve your writing.

• Choose your words carefully and wisely! All are important and extremely powerful. Words can, for example, inspire, hurt, clarify and invoke a wide range of emotions. A poor choice can change the meaning or ultimate intent of a passage or article.
• Use clear and concise sentences. The goal of every author should be for the reader to easily and fully understand what is communicated on the page.
• Work to keep your paragraphs four or five sentences - research has found that this length produces the best comprehension. If you occasionally stretch to 6 or 7, that works. But have you ever gotten to the end of an extremely long paragraph and had to go back to reread it? This defeats the ultimate purpose of easily understanding the content.
• Restrict a paragraph to one central theme and utilize only one verb tense throughout. If you have more to say than what can fit into five concise sentences, use a link or bridge to another paragraph. Words or phrases such as 'in addition' or 'furthermore' allow you to add more points, while still maintaining paragraphs which are easily understood by the reader.
• Try to avoid repeating the same word several times in a paragraph or throughout a document. In some cases, you may not have a choice. But finding synonyms or rewriting a sentence is a much better alternative. Instead of using 'athletic director' multiple times, for example, try athletic administrator, leader of the program, or supervisor. To help with this task, one should get accustomed to regularly using a thesaurus.
• Use second or third person for professional writing. While there may be an occasional exception to this expectation such as a personal retrospective piece, first person should be avoided. It would be natural and easy to say, "I did something..." when you have created or established a new initiative at your school. However, take the additional time and effort to present concepts, accomplishments, and ideas in an accepted, skilled manner.
• Utilize the Journalist Cues of who, what, why, when, where, and how. The better an author answers these questions, the better appreciation or understanding the reader will have. This does not mean that you should bluntly raise each question before providing the reasons. Proficient writing simply weaves the answers into the content.
• Avoid using Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) words. You might remember getting a weekly list in your high school English class and the assignment was to use each one in a sentence. Using them sparingly is acceptable. Some authors try to use these words to impress the reader, but only use them if they are the absolute best and most appropriate choice.
• Completely write out all acronyms the first time that you want to use them in a document. Example: National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).
• Avoid using absolutes such as 'all,' 'every,' or 'always.' Nothing in life is 100%, but this statement itself is absolute. It would be better stated, "Most things in life do not represent 100%..." You might also want to replace verbs such as 'must,' which is an absolute, with '...you should consider...'
• Stay clear of jargon, which involves words or phrases which are specific to a profession. While you, or perhaps coaches as well, will understand this specialized language, the reader may not. Any time someone isn't familiar with the vocabulary, it raises the risk of misunderstanding.
• Be specific whenever possible and state the exact number instead of using 'approximately' or 'about.' Providing a range is a better alternative if you can't supply the exact number.
• Don't embarrass the reader by stating 'In conclusion' or, likewise, 'the purpose of this article is...' Instead, simply put together a good, logical summary which will occur naturally near the end of an article or report. Most readers understand this is how it is done in a written document. You don't have to point out the obvious.
• Give credit and use proper references when you mention or incorporate the work of someone else. Please don't take the approach that "...well, everyone borrows materials in our field." Failure to give credit represents plagiarism and this is unacceptable. It is dishonest to present the work of others as your own.

Is this an exhaustive or all-inclusive list? No, it is not. However, the suggestions provide a few basic things to get you started.

After reading this article, will you miraculously become a better writer? Most likely, no. If you try to incorporate a few of the suggestions, however, you may eventually see some improvement. This should be your goal.

An iconic editor once stated, "If you want to write better, you have to write."

This could be interpreted as practice. This is no different from most other aspects in life. However, it also means that you must want to continually progress, be willing to take advice, avoid repeating mistakes, and work at the craft. Writing is not necessarily a gift. It is a skill which can be improved through time and concerted effort. Are you ready to get started on your journey to expand and develop? Athletic administrators should write well in order to be understood and taken seriously as a professional.

Sidebar - Writing for Publication

Once you have a handle on some of the basics of writing, the thought of possibly trying to get an article published may occur to you. Beyond the technical aspects of putting a draft together, there are some steps and ideas which should help in meeting this goal.

First, there are two basic classifications or categories of articles - solicited and unsolicited. If an editor or committee asks someone to write an article on a specific topic, this is a solicited article. When this draft is submitted, it is still subject to editing. Unless the document is very poorly constructed and misses the parameters of the topic, the chances of it being published are usually high.

When an individual has an idea, works on refining a written copy, sends the final draft to an editor or committee for consideration, this is an unsolicited article. The submission is reviewed, and a final determination is made on whether it's accepted for publication, rejected, or returned for a rewrite. This process could take several months, and, with a rewrite, the article will be reviewed again after it is resubmitted.

How do you get started?

• Read through several issues of the magazine to which you intend to send your article. While you may pick up something from the content, you are really trying to see how other successful authors have written their articles. All publications have a unique style and it is important that your submission will be a good fit.
• Select a topic. It is usually best to write about something you or knowledgeable in or for which you have a passion. It is also a good idea to see what else has been published on the subject, because your chances are better if you take a different twist or slant instead of rehashing the same topic.
• Start by writing the ending. This means establishing the conclusion or major point of view that you want the reader to reach. Then go back and determine what individual facts or considerations you must make to reach your ultimate objective. While you don't necessarily have to produce an official, rigid outline, it is helpful to jot down some ideas and notes in order to organize your thoughts.
• Begin your manuscript with 'the hook.' This is where you reel in the reader and convince him or her to continue reading and possibly finish the article. Writing the hook should ideally occur in the first two paragraphs. It should provide the answer to, "Why do I want to read this?"
• Be careful trying to use humor, because it is very individualistic. Your approach may not always be shared or well-received. You should also avoid sarcasm. If you are unsure, don't use humor.
• Review your initial draft to detect misspelled words, incorrect or missing punctuation, and areas which aren't clear or concise. The process of rewriting and refining should continue with as many subsequent drafts as necessary in order to produce the best possible copy.
• Read your draft aloud. Many authors may get so close to the material that they routinely skim over obvious missing words or apparent mistakes. Taking this step also helps to identify areas in which something needs more clarity and improvement. You are going through the article much as the reader would and you can also get a sense of its flow.
• Have one or more individuals also read through your draft to identify mistakes or areas in need of more work. An extra set of eyes makes all the difference to detect things which you may have missed.
• Plan ahead to meet your deadline, whether it is self-imposed or established by the magazine. You want to give yourself enough time to think, revise, and rewrite your initial draft. Quick, hasty efforts rarely produce quality results.
• Submit your manuscript to only one professional publication at a time and await notification of its determination. In the industry, this is known as the Principle of Singular Submission. Most magazines expect original, unpublished material. If your article is rejected, you are then free to send it to another outlet. Please don't take this step, however, until you first hear back from the initial editor or committee.

While getting an article published is not necessarily easy or guaranteed, it is normally exciting and a thrill for most authors once it occurs. If you have a great idea, give it a try.