Clear idea #10: Ask simple questions.

Simple ideas to help you write what you mean – clearly and persuasively.

10. Ask a lot of simple questions.

Here are a few to get you started. “Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?” Your reader is asking those questions as he reads your letter, memo, report, proposal, email, or analysis. If you don’t answer them for him, he’ll get distracted and bored and toss your proposal in the trash after a couple of paragraphs.

And here’s the best question of all: “So what?”

After you write each sentence, think about what it means, the idea in the sentence, and ask yourself “So what?”

The answer is always a much more compelling idea.