Curated Resource ( ? )

Research: Simple Writing Pays Off (Literally)

Research: Simple Writing Pays Off (Literally)

my notes ( ? )

You can also heed other tactics that stem from what we’re rapidly learning about language processing in the brain. Here are a few I highlight in my upcoming book.

  1. Fewer ads: Use strong verbs and nouns. Adverbs and adjectives often disrupt clarity, like coughing at the opera.
  2. Break it down: Split up beefy thoughts and sentences. As a pro once said, “The period never comes soon enough.”
  3. Cut caveats: Every argument has exceptions. Every topic demands context. Still, unless you’re specifically citing disclaimers, minimize the fig leaves of hedging.
  4. Clean out residue: With each new draft, you’ll refine, reinforce, reiterate, and restate. Go back and strip out extraneous wording.
  5. Keep it short: Don’t write more than your audience needs.

When you sit down next to write, keep one thought foremost in mind. It’s what we might call the Levitt principle: The simpler the words, the higher your pay.

Read the Full Post

The above notes were curated from the full post hbr.org/2022/10/research-simple-writing-pays-off-literally.

Related reading

More Stuff I Do

More Stuff tagged clear writing , writing for web , copywriting

See also: Writing content

Cookies disclaimer

MyHub.ai saves very few cookies onto your device: we need some to monitor site traffic using Google Analytics, while another protects you from a cross-site request forgeries. Nevertheless, you can disable the usage of cookies by changing the settings of your browser. By browsing our website without changing the browser settings, you grant us permission to store that information on your device. More details in our Privacy Policy.