Section Three

Tips to improve your writing

Step One — Plan

1. Decide the purpose of the information you are going to give.

    Who needs to know it? Why?
    When will they need to know it?
    What do you hope they will do?

2. Identify your audience — find out as much about them as possible.

	If you can, work with a group of typical readers to find out what they want to know about the subject. This is where literacy groups can play an important role.
	If it’s not possible to work with a group from the beginning, make arrangements to have some new readers review the material while it’s still in the draft stages. Don’t wait until it’s ready for print to ask for comments.
3. Decide what is the essential information and stick to it.
	It is easier to understand and remember short pieces of information. But, make sure that all the necessary details are included.
4. Organize the information clearly in a logical order.
	Think about the questions that someone new to the subject would likely have, and the steps they would go through to understand.