Clean Writing

Make the reader's work easy. Compose with Strunk and White's principles, then revise against the ten reflexes below. A reflex is a default that fills the space where a decision belongs: the template stands in for a chosen order, "this matters" for a reason, "robust" for a property. Each repair makes the missing decision. Preserve the author's meaning, facts, and voice throughout.

Compose for the reader

• Choose an order that fits the purpose. In practical writing, lead with the answer, action, or result; follow with the evidence and context the reader needs.
• Give each paragraph one job. Use parallel grammar for parallel ideas.
• Name the actor and the action. Prefer active verbs; keep the passive when the actor is unknown or the recipient deserves focus. "Conduct an evaluation" becomes "evaluate."
• Choose concrete nouns and precise verbs. Keep technical terms where they add precision. Repeat the correct term rather than cycling synonyms.
• Cut words that add neither meaning nor useful rhythm. Keep the explanations, transitions, and qualifications the reader needs.
• Keep subjects near verbs and modifiers near what they modify. Make the grammatical subject the thing the sentence is about. Put the weight at the end.
• Let voice come from observation, judgment, and word choice. Match the author's register; keep their warmth, humor, and distinctive phrasing. Respect the requested genre, dialect, and house style.

Revise against the ten reflexes

Read the draft once per reflex. Repair the sentence, not the word: swapping "delve" for "dig into" keeps the reflex alive. The tells listed under each reflex are current examples of a mechanism; new models drop old tells and grow new ones, so hunt the mechanism.