Objectives:

• Content: designed to accomplish writer's purpose: complete and appropriate for intended audience

• Tone: neutral to positive, desirable reflection of writer and writer's opinion of reader

• Style: clear, concise, precise, interesting enough to keep reader's attention but undistracting

• Appearance: attractive; professional; appropriate to audience, situation, and purpose

Method:

• Concentrate on content; design the document to fit reader's concerns and level of understanding.

• Emphasize important ideas by working with position, heads, space, phrasing, sentence structure, etc.

• Write completely but concisely.

• Write correctly; errors are distracting.

• Set a useful pace by spacing the frequency of key ideas; balance claims, support ideas, and information.

• Use active voice when you have no reason to use passive.

• Take care with the use and meaning of words.

• Vary sentence patterns and length.

• Use concise, well-organized paragraphs.

• Itemize key points and tabulate significant figures.

• Be willing to do several drafts.