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How to write clearly and concisely
How to use proper grammar and punctuation
How to structure a business document
Writing well: getting to the point
Writers must constantly ask: "What am I trying to say?" Most of the time, they don’t know. Then they must look at what they have written and ask: "Have I said it?"
If something isn’t important enough for your writing, then remove it. In fact, most first drafts can be cut in half and still get the point across without losing anything important.
2.31K
9.26K reads
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Writing well: the perfect ending
- Give as much thought to choosing your last sentence as you did to your first.
- Bring the story full circle: strike an echo of a note that was sounded at the beginning.
- The perfect ending should take your readers slightly by surprise...
2.07K
5.57K reads
“You learn to write by writing. It’s a truism, but what makes it a truism is that it’s true. The only way to learn to write is to force yourself to produce a certain number of words on a regular basis.”
WILLIAM ZINSSER
2.05K
6.44K reads
A reader's attention span
- A reader's attention span is about 30 seconds. And this is usually a person assailed by many forces competing for attention.
- In the past, those forces were relatively few: newspapers, magazines, radio, spouse, children, pets.
- Today they also include multip...
1.98K
10.2K reads
Eliminate words with no purpose
Writing improves in direct ratio to the number of things we can keep out of it that shouldn’t be there.
Consider all the prepositions that are draped onto verbs that don’t need any help. Examine every word you put on paper. You’ll find a surprising number that doesn’t serv...
2.06K
7.95K reads
Writing well: choosing the right words
- Avoid at all costs the cliches of the thousands of writers who have gone before you.
- When you’re choosing words and stringing them together, be aware of how they sound.
- Use words you enjoy and that are vivid.
2.06K
5.68K reads
Writing is learned by imitation
"The race in writing is not to the swift but to the original."
Make a habit of reading what is being written today and what was written by earlier masters.
1.93K
5.86K reads
Write for yourself
You can’t predict what people will want to read. So don't worry about pleasing others.
Don’t try to visualize your audience; every reader is a different person. Don’t try to guess what sort of thing editors want to publish or what you think the country is in a mood to read...
2.02K
4.95K reads
“Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it’s because it is hard.”
WILLIAM ZINSSER
2.1K
8.15K reads
The principle of simplicity
There are many methods for writing nonfiction, but the most effective method is to find what works for you. Whatever helps you is the “right” way.
However, there are key principles to good writing, and one of them is simplicity. Writers often use complica...
2.08K
6.86K reads
The most important sentence in any writing: the first one
- If it doesn’t induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your work is dead. Of such a progression of sentences, each tugging the reader forward until he is hooked, a writer constructs that fateful unit, the “lead.”
- Do not count on the reader to st...
2.06K
6.09K reads
Rewriting is the essence of writing
Professional writers rewrite their sentences over and over and then rewrite what they have rewritten.
2.2K
18.4K reads
"But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components.”
WILLIAM ZINSSER
2.08K
13.3K reads
Write in the first person
- Writers at their most natural when they write in the first person.
- Better to have an opinion and say 'I', 'we', 'us', 'me' than to take everything into a passive voice.
- If you aren’t allowed to use “I,” at least think “I” while you write, or write the first draft in the fi...
1.99K
5.27K reads
2.27K
12.6K reads
Don’t inflate what needs no inflating
Clutter doesn’t make your writing stylish; in fact, trying too hard makes your writing seem fake.
Just write naturally and clearly; don’t try too hard with fancy words or complicated sentences that are just confusing.
1.99K
6.72K reads
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Getting to know the workplace
At a new job, in order to get to know more about how the palce overall works, most new employees talk to lower-level people because they perceive that they are more attentive to social norms.
- What are typical work hours?
- Do teammates do things together outside of work?
Why accepting emotions is helpful
What is the point of trying to accept your emotions, and wouldn’t it be easier to simply get rid of them?
Well, no, it isn’t easy to get rid of emotions. In fact, most people with BPD have tried to get rid of their emotions with little success. What they have learned, and what rese...
Using Rules And Filters
- Filters help us prioritize and figure out what makes sense. When we know what we want, we need criteria to evaluate alternatives. Ask: What are the most critical (and knowable) factors that will cause what I want to achieve or avoid? Criteria must be based on evidence and b...
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