Part I: Principles

The Transaction

The essence of writing is rewriting

Principles cannot be taught, but they can be learned

Simplicity

We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargons

Be a relentless simplifier, remove extraneous words

Clear thinking becomes clear writing. One cannot exist without the other

Writing is hard work. A clear work is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or the third time

Clutter

Clutter is the official language used by corporations to hide their mistakes

Put brackets around any words that aren't doing anything in the writing

Are you hanging onto something useless just because you think it is beautiful?

Style

You must strip your writing down before you build it back up

Few people know how bad at writing they are

Relax and have confidence when writing

A writer will do anything to avoid the act of writing

Use personal pronouns: "I" "we" "us" — don't use "you" "one" "it"