Expand and Grow

When I changed jobs a few months back, I typed up a long email to a friend telling her about what was going on in the department I had left. I was trying to give her the background to be able to ask good questions in the interview. Basically, the email centered on some major projects that were starting in the company and what the impact would be. She did not get the job, but that email has gone on to become a much bigger document.

I took the information in that document and added other corporate project I had learned about in my new job. These projects all pointed at using the data the company has in more efficient ways. If there are fewer sources to draw our results from, it would stand to reason that these sources should be audited and maintained in a more efficient manner. I explained why auditing a specific type of data would become important. And, I went on to show how the audits could be done.

After several drafts of this document, I even came up with an impressive title for the project. I won’t share that here, but there is a point to all of this. To finish with this document, though, it won’t make any difference if we can’t get everyone on the same page with similar motivation.

Okay, so, my point is that even an email to a friend can be changed to become an important and significant piece of writing. Look over some of the things you’ve written in the past. Can you add to any of them to create something new and different? I’ve often heard how someone would take an article they’ve written, add a bit to it, and submit it to an entirely different market. This is what I’m getting at.

I have, in the past, taken comments I’ve made on a poetry board and used that comment to start a blog post. If you’ve got something good to say, why not expand on it? Make your writing work for you.