Book summary : On writing well

Why should you read this book ?

Two things happened with the advent of word processors. Good writers became better and bad writers became worse. It became easier to write/rewrite/edit allowing good writers to improve their craft. For bad writers, it became easier to write longer sentences and verbosity crept in, even though their style didnt really improve.

Hopefully, I have caught your attention by the above statement. This post is divided into 4 sections like the  book is :

• Principles
• Methods
• Forms
• Attitudes

I will cover the key takeaways from each chapter of the section and add some of my interpretations and thoughts.

Princinples

Simplicity

Writer's must constantly ask themselves : what am I trying to say ? A clear sentence is no accident, very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. With each rewrite I try to make what I have written tighter, stronger and more precise, eliminating every element thats not doing useful work. The message has to be crisp and clear. 

Clutter

Most first drafts can be cut by 50% without losing any information or without losing the author's voice. 

Style 

The fundamental rule of style is to be yourself. The writer must relax and be confident. Often the first 3 paragraphs of the first draft can be let go and the author gets comfortable from the 4th paragraph. This also depends on the audience and context. Are you writing for the internal team, external FYI, business analysis, VP presentation, etc. Something that I have seen work for internal team memo's is to come across as we are in this together and we are one team. This is where we were, this is where we are going and this is still day one. You always need to paint a picture and a story. 

Audience

Who am I writing for. The audience is the customer, you have a 30 sec attention span. You have to get them hooked, sell your value proposition. They will read on after that. 

Words

Remember that words are the only tools you got. Choice of words is very important - use them with originality and care. Also remember, somebody out there is listening. So read aloud what you read.