Principles and resources for writing concise professional updates.
URL: https://paulgraham.com/simply.html
Core idea: The less energy readers spend on your prose, the more they have for your ideas.
Key points:
- Use ordinary words and simple sentences
- "Saltintesta" - ideas should leap into the reader's head; they barely notice the words
- Fancy writing doesn't just conceal ideas; it can conceal the lack of them
- Simple writing keeps you honest - if you say nothing simply, it's obvious
- Simple writing lasts better (future readers, non-native speakers)
- "I write simply because it offends me not to. Complexity seems clumsy, not fancy."
URL: https://paulgraham.com/useful.html
Core idea: Useful writing = importance x novelty x correctness x strength
Key points:
- Being correct isn't enough - vague statements are technically correct but useless
- "Useful writing is bold, but true"
- Don't publish weak sentences. Delete them.
- Qualifications aren't weakness - they express degree of certainty
- "If you write a bad sentence, you don't publish it. You delete it and try again."
- Simplicity is consideration for the reader
URL: https://www.animalz.co/blog/bottom-line-up-front/
Core idea: Military communications standard - put the most important details first.
Key points:
- Don't tease or delay your main point
- Include all context needed to act - reduce back-and-forth
- Bad: "Do you have time to chat?" / Good: Full question with context in one message
- "Information higher up in the visual hierarchy is more likely to be retained"
- First drafts reveal your thinking process - revise until that's off the page
- "Assume your readers are extremely busy people"