• State your purpose explicitly. Make your issue very clear.
  • Make the topic of each section and paragraph visually prominent.
    • Use headings and subheadings appropriately and correctly
    • Place topic sentences in the beginning of paragraphs
  • Maintain the topic in the reader’s mind by referring to it frequently
    • Readers (especially with lengthy, dense material) prefer an explicit organization of topic sentences in beginning of paragraphs
    • Place topic (use synonyms strategically) in beginning of sentences
  • Try to anticipate the reading style of the reader (skimming)
    • Use visual guides
    • Use graphs or tables to explain data
  • Structure the text according to the nature of the information you want your reader to pay attention to most.
  • Be consistent with language
    • Create a list of key terms and their synonyms, and use them to vary word choice.
    • Maintain a consistent voice through word choice
  • Know your reader: When writing for specialists, do not over explain.
    • Rely on language/terminology of the field
    • Use citations
  • Keep computations, long definitions, data, derivations in the appendix