Writing, for want of a better metaphor, is like a journey in which you, the writer, do the traveling, and your reader views the slide show once you are home. Almost always, writing occurs after the journey or event--the event being research, a project, a meeting, an internship, thinking and planning--you name it. In most academic writing, the writer attempts to reconstruct the journey and take the reader along.
Generally, business writing differs from academic writing in a significant way. If you are writing an essay, you usually lay out your foundation then proceed to expound on your thesis--allowing the essay to grow and develop as you take your reader, step-by-step, through your thinking process, your journey. Business writing is usually not like this. It is not a travelogue of your journey, allowing the reader to travel with you; rather, it is a detailed account of the end of the journey and a description of the milestones.
For example, if you are writing a report about a business decision, you do not describe all the intricacies of the peaks and valleys of your journey to reach that decision. You do, however, give your reader a report on your decision, an overall view of the trip, and a listing of the alternatives with an explanation as to why they were discarded. Your reader is not given the whole slide show recreating your trip but only sees the highlights and the final destination.
Business writing, then, is briefer and more concise than many other types of writing. Business is busy--your letter, memo, or report may only have a thirty second reading (if that) with no time for mulling or pondering. You had better get to the point quickly, support your reasoning, and finish fast.
Business writing is often like an inverted pyramid, also. You begin broadly and finish with a narrow focus--a focus directing your reader's attention to where you want it--convincing or persuading your reader of your facts, reasoning, decision, etc.
There are some niceties involved with business writing, however. When delivering bad news, for example, you don't leap right in but work up to your message using diplomacy and tact. Furthermore, you don't waste the reader's time by being obscure nor do you patronize.
Finally, business writing has some accepted formats, such as how to organize memos, reports, and letters. In addition, business writing has some generally accepted practices: writing concisely, using bullets and headings, employing short sentences, creating brief paragraphs, and getting to the point quickly.
In brief, business writing must be reader friendly. If it's not, your efforts to communicate may fail. I wish you the best of luck on your writing journey--perhaps the following links can offer some help.
