Writing That Works

another advantage of the active voice is that it tends to push you to decide precisely what you want to say, to be more specific.

End with a summary. And keep in mind that a summary is not a conclusion. Your summary should introduce no new ideas; it should summarize, as briefly as possible, the most important points you have made.

yourself whether if you were the reader, would you take action on the basis of what is written.

Take the time to boil down what you want to say, and express it confidently in simple, declarative sentences. Remember the man who apologized for writing such a long letter, explaining that he didn’t have time to write a short one.

you have distilled your thinking to its essence, you will probably be able to express it in simple words.

Had the copywriter written, “He always acted as if he knew what he was talking about,”

it would have seemed both natural and literate. The old rule is simple: Don’t use “like” in any case where “as if” or “as though” would fit comfortably.

What you write should sound just like you talking when you’re at your best — when your ideas flow swiftly and in good order, when your syntax is smooth, your vocabulary accurate, and afterward you think that you couldn’t possibly have put things any better than you did.

Yet another advantage of the active voice is that it tends to push you to decide precisely what you want to say, to be more specific.

not all readers will detect your lapse. But those who do may be the ones who count.