Rules of Thumb

Writing Heuristics

Before You Write

• Name one target reader before you open a blank document — without a named audience, you default to writing for yourself.
• Name one takeaway; if you cannot state it in under 12 words, declarative and jargon-free, you are not ready to write.
• Say the message aloud first — to another person or to yourself; spoken conversation activates quality controls that the keyboard removes.
• Ask: "If this is the only thing the person sees or hears, is it exactly what I want to stick?" If not, do not start writing yet.
• If you're editing an expert's report, use the "Ask the Author" technique: ask them what's most interesting. Their verbal answer is almost always the lede their written version buried.
• Over-writing is a symptom of incomplete understanding — when the core message is fuzzy, length becomes a defense mechanism.
• Define audience (WHO, WHAT, WHY) in 60 seconds; if you cannot, the piece is not ready to write.

Tease & Headlines

• Aim for 6 words or fewer in subject lines and headlines; mobile screens truncate longer ones, cutting the signal before it lands.
• Use strong, active, one-syllable words wherever possible — shorter words are more universal and process faster.
• State the reason for writing as provocatively as accuracy allows; provocation must stay within accuracy or open rates reverse.
• Use a well-known name or brand in a subject line to borrow existing audience recognition (name-as-hook).
• Read the headline aloud — auditory verification catches what silent reading misses.
• Self-test: "Would I read this if I hadn't written it?" If no, rewrite.
• Remove irony, cryptic phrasing, jargon, and SAT vocabulary from teases; these create friction, not intrigue.

Lede

• The lede is the one thing you want people to know, stated in one strong sentence at the top. Everything else is secondary.
• Don't restate the tease verbatim — the opening sentence must add a distinct new detail.
• Skip anecdotes, jokes, and showing off in the first sentence; the acid test is whether it is the total message, not a path to it.
• Use the Elevator Shout Test: imagine the reader is headed out the door — what is the one thing you would shout? That is the lede.
• Remove adverbs, weak qualifiers, and modals ("could," "may," "might") — replace with precise status verbs: planned, considered, feared, expected.
• "Just tell me something I don't f@$&ing know." (John Bresnahan's standard for every first sentence)

Axioms & Formatting

• Bold "Why it matters:" immediately after the opening sentence; it is the nut graf moved to where it belongs.
• The Axiom must add perspective — what will change, what does it signal — never restate the lede in different words.
• Use custom Axioms to make the format feel owned: "The bottom line:", "By the numbers:", "What's next:", "The big picture:".
• Apply bullets for three or more related items; dense text blocks cause dropout where bullet spacing lets key facts surface during a scan.
• Bold key facts mid-paragraph; bold is more detectable than italics and does categorization work for the reader.
• Keep paragraphs to 2–3 sentences maximum; long uniform blocks create visual fatigue.
• Use "Go deeper:" links to offer opt-in depth — most readers won't click, but the offer signals you did the work.
• Read headline + lede + Axiom together as a three-part test: if this is all someone hears, do they get what matters most?

Word Choice

• Use the Bar/Beach Test: "Would I say this word in casual conversation at a bar or the beach?" If no, kill it.
• Purge three word categories: fancy words ("avociferous" → "vocal"), journalese ("discourse" → "talk"), and business jargon ("price point" → "price").
• Strong words are vivid and physical — something you can see, touch, photograph, or taste. Weak words are abstract: "process," "paradigm," "civics."
• Apply the Subject-Verb-Object structure; interruptions (clauses, qualifiers, inversions) force the reader to hold partial information and increase dropout.
• Apply the One-Fewer-Syllable Test to every word in the opening sentence; every move toward fewer syllables is a move toward a stronger word.
• Prefer active voice: "The Taliban captured Afghanistan" beats "The situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate."
• "Tell me a story. Don't tell me about a story." — active vs. passive at the narrative level.
• One sentence is better than two is better than three; be even more ruthless with paragraphs than with words.
• Brevity nirvana is saying something with no words — a well-chosen emoji primes the reader's mental frame and can increase open rates.

The Quick Self-Tests