1. Think before you write

What are you trying to achieve?

What is the purpose of your document? After reading it, what will your readers have to do?

• make a decision?
• handle a certain situation?
• solve a particular problem?
• change their attitude towards something?

What points must the document cover?

• Decide on your message
• Make a list or bubble diagram (see illustration) containing all the points you expect to make, in no particular order.
• Cross out the irrelevant points.
• Link the remaining points into related groups.
• Fill any gaps in your knowledge: make a note of facts you will need to check and/or experts you will need to consult.

This approach applies to practically all non-literary texts: memos, reports, letters, user guides, etc. For formal documents such as legislation, specific draft­ing rules must be followed.


An alternative is the ‘7 questions’ approach.

This is a structured method of covering relevant information:

WHAT? My essential message

WHO? Persons concerned

WHEN? Days, hours, timelines, deadlines

WHERE? Places

HOW? Circumstances, explanations

WHY? Causes and/or objective

HOW MUCH? Calculable and measurable data