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

putting down first what you want the reader to do, next the three most important things the reader needs to understand to take that action, then starting to write.

There are only 266 words in the Gettysburg Address. The shortest sentence in the New Testament may be the most moving: “Jesus wept.”

Take the time to boil down what you want to say, and express it confidently in simple, declarative sentences.

Three major articles start at the top of the front page of every issue of The Wall Street Journal. The first paragraphs of these articles are never more than three sentences long. Many paragraphs contain only a single sentence. The first sentences themselves are crisp and compact: It all began to crumble the afternoon Mom’s Best Cookies, Inc., fire

People seldom act on what they cannot understand. Good results are even less likely if you flood the reader with information that isn’t organized to lead to an action or isn’t relevant to a grasp of the subject.

First you must know where you are going yourself. Make an outline of your major points, placing supporting details in their proper position. Then, in your paper, use your outline to signal the major points for your reader. Underline and number each important section heading. This serves the same purpose as chapter titles in a book. End with a summa

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

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.