{"id":83,"date":"2011-05-16T16:35:20","date_gmt":"2011-05-16T16:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/?p=83"},"modified":"2011-05-17T16:51:22","modified_gmt":"2011-05-17T16:51:22","slug":"the-ten-commandments-of-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/the-ten-commandments-of-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ten Commandments of Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Props to the academics at Edit911<\/a>, the guys who were instrumental in editing our book<\/a> a few years years ago, for inspiring today’s post. You can read the full Monty here.<\/a> Below, our<\/a> expurgated version. <\/p>\n

I. Use shorter sentences.<\/strong> Your readers will not only thank you, they’ll be much more likely to read you.<\/p>\n

II. Read it aloud.<\/strong><\/strong> If it doesn’t sound right, it’s wrong. If it sounds good, it reads well. <\/p>\n

III. Give it to someone else to read.<\/strong> Preferably someone known for their candor. This is the essence of test-marketing.<\/p>\n

IV. Outline your thoughts.<\/strong> This ensures a beginning, a middle and an end. It also guards against repetition and rambling. <\/p>\n

V. In lengthier pieces, use subheads.<\/strong><\/strong> Another way to ensure that you follow your outline. <\/p>\n

VI. Make your main idea your compass or “true north”.<\/strong> If you need reminding, put it on the corner of each page as you write.<\/p>\n

VII. Think of possible objections.<\/strong> If you’ve ever taken a class in debate, this is like the exercise of arguing both sides of an issue. Anticipating objections enable you to build in persuasive counter-arguments. You want your opinion to make a difference in someone’s thinking, not just make your point. <\/p>\n

VIII. Know your audience.<\/strong> Never stop asking and reminding yourself exactly who your readers are as you write to them. <\/p>\n

IX. Use spell check and grammar check.<\/strong> They are heavenly tools.
\n
\nX. If there is one thing worse than underestimating (insulting) your reader’s intelligence, it’s overestimating their knowledge of your subject.<\/strong> It’s no coincidence that the best writing happens to be the clearest and simplest. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Props to the academics at Edit911, the guys who were instrumental in editing our book a few years years ago, for inspiring today’s post. You can read the full Monty here. Below, our expurgated version. I. Use shorter sentences. Your readers will not only thank you, they’ll be much more likely to read you. II. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,30,8],"tags":[26,31,33,32],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-online-content","category-readers","category-rx-for-content","category-testing-content","tag-content-creation","tag-edit911","tag-net-value-book","tag-stan-devaughn"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Ten Commandments of Writing - The Write Stuff<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/the-ten-commandments-of-writing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Ten Commandments of Writing - The Write Stuff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Props to the academics at Edit911, the guys who were instrumental in editing our book a few years years ago, for inspiring today’s post. 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