If you're operating a business, eventually you will be required to write a business document. It could be a business letter, a business proposal, a business plan, a marketing strategy, copy for your web site, a white paper, a job description, an inter- office memo, a Board report, a press release, or…?

There is good news if writing is not your strong point. Writing is a skill that can be learned. With practice, almost anyone can learn to write an acceptable document.

Why is good writing important? First, some people will judge you by your writing. Why risk losing customers or investors because of a poorly written document?

Secondly, good business writing is easier to read and easier to comprehend than poor writing. Clarity is always a goal when writing business documents. Flowery prose is best left to those who write fine literature.

Many written documents show dramatic improvement when a few common writing errors are corrected. Try this test. Find a letter or document you have written, and go through it making changes listed below. You could be surprised at improvement when you follow these basic guidelines.

Use Active Voice Write in active voice instead of passive voice. That is, rather than writing, "The computer that belongs to my brother," say, "My brother's computer." Rather than writing, "The merchandise that was delivered yesterday," say, "Yesterday's merchandise delivery."

Many people find that by making this one change, they can improve their writing substantially.

Tip: Use MS Word's Spell and Grammar feature to help find passive sentences. It's found in Tool menu.

Use Tenses Consistently Changing tenses through a document is a common mistake. Decide which tense you want to write in, then stick to it. "Tense" refers to past, present, or future.

At age 17 he announced his intention to be a writer. It was a decision bitterly opposed by his parents, partly because Brazil at that time was under a military junta that persecuted writers and intellectuals.

Coelho's rebellious behaviour led his parents to have him confined to a mental hospital in Rio de Janeiro where he received shock treatment. He escaped - and was returned - three times.

With arrival of 1960's Coelho threw himself energetically into counterculture of drugs and rock-and-roll.

In his 20's he fulfilled his ambition to be a writer and worked as a playwright, a theatre director, a journalist, and a song-writer for Brazilian pop music stars such as Elis Regina and Raul Seixas.

In 1974, says Coelho "my life collapsed".

That year he was arrested three times, first time as an innocent bystander at a bank robbery, second time for speaking out against establishment at a pop concert. After being released by police he was arrested a third time by paramilitaries who tortured him for a week.

In late 1970's his life was back on track again and he became artistic director for CBS in Brazil.

But in 1979 he was suddenly sacked without explanation and he spent next 2 years knocking on doors trying to get back into music industry.