-•- HomeOfficeDigest.com Newsletter - Issue 166 -•-
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THE HOME OFFICE DIGEST NEWSLETTER
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WEALTH WARNING
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In spite of the fact that the chances of winning the lottery are 
usually worse than a million to one, it seems that most Americans 
use lottery tickets to plan for their retirement. The irony is 
that a large percentage of people who win the lottery end up in 
serious trouble, if not dead broke.


FEATURED ARTICLE
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16 TIPS FOR BECOMING A BETTER WRITER
By Michael Angier

Whether you're writing a memo, a letter, an article or a
full-length novel, there are a few basic rules to keep in mind
that will help your message first to be read and then to be
better understood and accepted.

1. Never Be Boring
Your reader will forgive almost anything except you being
boring. They don't have to agree with you, but they should at
least be intrigued. Make the reader care. Don't be afraid to be
"edgy." Look at every sentence and ask yourself, "Why will they
care about this?"

2. Write in Short Sentences
The reader shouldn't have to work hard to understand what you're
saying. If they have to go back over a sentence because of poor
structure, it's not their fault, it's yours. Read what you've
written aloud or have someone else read it aloud to look for
sentences that are too long or convoluted.

3. Write TO the Reader
Use "you" often. Look for ways to eliminate or reduce "I" and
"me." Present tense, second person is always best. It feels more
to the reader like you're talking to THEM.

4. Go Active
Use active verbs as much as possible. They're more engaging.
They move the reader along and take fewer words to get your
message across. "John loves Mary" is much more powerful than,
"Mary is loved by John."

5. Keep it Simple
The front page of The Wall Street Journal and all of USA Today
is written for the eighth grade reading level. Why should we be
any different? People aren't interested in things they don't
understand. Make your points quickly and succinctly. Make your
words work and use as few of them as possible. You want to use
the right word, but make sure you're using it because it's the
right word and not just to show off your vocabulary--or your new
thesaurus.

6. Tell Stories
Facts tell and stories sell. The best writers and speakers of
the world have always been good story tellers. Your own stories
are the best. What you are sharing is wisdom from your point of
view and stories can illustrate this better than anything else.

7. Know Your Subject
Write on things on which you've earned the right to write. Know
100 times more about your subject than you write about, but
don't write about all of it. The more you know, the more
confidence--and credibility--you'll have.

8. WIFM
This is the radio station that everyone listens to. The call
letters stand for What's in It For Me. People want to know what
they'll get out of what you're writing. Appeal to what they want.

9. Write Like You Talk
Or at least the way you'd LIKE to talk. Too many times, I see
people who are good verbal communicators try to put on a
different air in their writing. It doesn't work. It's much
better to be conversational.

10. Paint Pictures
We think in pictures and should write in ways that create these
pictures in the mind of the reader. Be descriptive. Use
examples. Describe the unfamiliar by using some of the familiar.
"Jennifer's first day at her new job reminded her of the
freshness and unfamiliarity she experienced on her first day of
school."

11. Sleep On it
It's a rare individual who can sit down and write something well
at the first attempt. Any writing of import should be written
and then reviewed later--preferably at least a day later. Some
things should be edited several times over an extended period of
time.

12. Write and Read Extensively
This advice is from Stephen King--a prolific writer. If you want
to be a good writer you have to do two things--read a lot and
write a lot. Enough said.

13. Break it Down
Where appropriate, use bullet points. Use them for summaries or
outlines. Think about someone who may only start out by scanning
your text. Let your bullet points draw the reader in. 

A Few Added Points for Email Writing
Keep your lines to 60-65 characters maximum. A column that's too
wide taxes the eyes of the reader and appears overwhelming. 

Keep paragraphs to no more than six lines. Short paragraphs
provide white space to the text. They break up the page and make
it appear less formidable to the reader. Like in music, the
space between the notes is as important as the notes themselves.

Don't use all caps. Capital letters are harder to read than
upper and lower case. They also can be perceived as SHOUTING! A
little uppercase usage is ok--using all caps doesn't work and
looks amateurish.

---------------------------------------------
Copyright 2002 Success Networks International. Success Net's
mission is to inform, inspire and empower people to be their
best--personally and professionally. Free subscriptions,
eCourses, memberships, eBooks and SuccessMark Cards available at
http://www.SuccessNet.org   --  InfoPlease@SuccessNet.org

  
Treasure Tip 
^^^^^^^^^^^^

No matter what your education or resources, the key to building 
wealth is to compose and follow a plan of action you design to 
meet your specific needs and goals. Your plan should identify 
and combat your weakness.


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