Writing for Busy Readers

communicate more effectively in the real world

We were all taught the fundamentals of writing well in school. But how do we write effectively in today’s hyper-interactive world?

When The Elements of Style and On Writing Well were published in 1959 and 1976, the internet hadn’t been invented. Since then, there has been a radical transformation in how we communicate. The average adult receives over 100 emails and tens of text messages each day. With all this correspondence, gaining a busy reader’s attention is now a competition.

Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink, both behavioural scientists, offer practical writing advice you can use today. They begin by outlining cognitive facts about how busy people read, then detail six research-backed principles for effective writing:

• Use fewer words
• Lower the reading level
• Use formatting judiciously
• Make the purpose clear for skimmers
• Emphasise value for readers
• Make responding as easy as possible.

Including many examples, a checklist, and other tools for the most effective writing, this handbook will make you a more effective communicator. Rogers and Lasky-Fink bring conventional ideas about text-based communication into the 21st century’s radically transformed attention marketplace.

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