Principles

Good content is clear

We should write in a way that’s easy to understand. One way to do this is keep your writing as close to speech as possible. Read your work aloud and if it feels forced, rephrase it. Keep in mind that a large part of our audience doesn't speak English natively.

Good content is concise

We should be respectful of our users time and attention. If there’s a shorter way to say what you mean, use it.

As The Elements of Style so eloquently puts it: “A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short, or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.”

Keep an eye out for modifiers like:

a bit
kind of
sort of
really
fairly
pretty
a little
more or less
somewhat
quite

Good writing is friendly

Friendliness and positivity should trump conciseness. If saying it in a concise manner makes it sound sharp or abrupt, consider rephrasing. Instead of saying “It’s not possible to…”, try to provide an alternative positive approach.

In informal settings (social media, conversational tickets), emojis can be used to convey intent. But don’t overdo them.

Good content is appropriate

The tone should be appropriate to the message. When handling bad news or apologies, the tone should be sincere and honest. And probably best to avoid any jokes.

Good content is useful

It’s important to define a clear, specific purpose for each piece of content. If the purpose isn’t clear, perhaps it shouldn’t exist?

Good content is honest and considerate

Write content that helps people. Use words they understand, and treat them with the same level of respect you’d give them in person. People will know when you’re lying to them. As Anne Lamott says, “take out the lies and the boring parts”.

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