On Clear Writing

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  - Nobody can write a book or an article “about” something. Tolstoy couldn’t write a book about war and peace, or Melville a book about whaling. They made certain ==reductive== decisions about time and place and about individual characters in that time and place—==one man pursuing one whale==. **Every writing project must be reduced before you start to write.**
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- As for what point you want to make, every successful piece of nonfiction should leave the reader with one provocative thought that he or she didn’t have before.
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- For clear writing, answer these questions
- 1. What Am I Really Trying To Say
- 2. Why Should People Care
- 3. What Is The Most Important Point
- 4. What Is The Easiest Way To Understand The Most Important Point
- 5. How Do I Want The Reader To Feel
- 6. What Should The Reader Do Next
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- “In what capacity am I going to address the reader?” (Reporter? Provider of information? Average man or woman?)
- “What pronoun and tense am I going to use?”
- “What style?” (Impersonal reportorial? Personal but formal? Personal and casual?)
- “What attitude am I going to take toward the material?” (Involved? Detached? Judgmental? Ironic? Amused?)
- “How much do I want to cover?”
- “What one point do I want to make?”