Joshua Bernoff

Treat the reader’s time as more valuable than your own.

“If you can’t write clearly, you can’t think clearly.”

We spend all day long reading on screens, and what we read is unedited text created by poorly trained writers.

Treat the reader’s time as more valuable than your own.

Use fewer words

Don’t tell us that many people do something, tell us which people do it.

I want you to take a different path. When you want to write a general statement, write it as boldly as you can. Eliminate adverbs, wimpy adjectives, and vague quantities like “millions” and “many.” Replace them with the boldest statements you can make, with actual numbers, or with specifics.

If you’re afraid of generalizing—if you think there’s a good chance you’re wrong—then don’t generalize.

If the exceptions are important enough to consider, write about them explicitly. (

In this example, “you” refers to customers, and “we,” to the company.