Writing

Scott Adoms on Good Writing

1. Business writing = clarity + persuasion. Keep it simple.

2. Short sentences work best. Cut extra words.
   For example, “He was very happy” → “He was happy”.

3. First sentence should grab the attention of the reader. Rewrite until it is perfect.

4. Brain imagines the object before the action. So write in an active voice.
   For example, “The boy hit the ball” is better than “The ball was hit by the boy”.

Sal Altman on Writing

1. Writing is a tool for thinking.

2. Handwriting helps in retaining information.

Amazon’s Writing Tips

1. Use less than 30 words per sentence

2. Use shorter sentence:
   “Due to the fact that” → because, “Totally lacked the ability to” → could not

3. Replace adjectives with data.
   “We made the performance faster” → “We reduced server-side p90 latency from 10ms to 1ms”

4. Eliminate weasel (ambiguous) words “Nearly all customers” → 87% of Prime members, “Significantly better” → +25 basis points (bps)

5. Test your writing with the “So what?” test. After writing a sentence, ask “So what?”. If you don’t have an answer, your point is weak.

6. Answer questions with one of the four Amazon answers: Yes, No, A number or I don’t know (and will follow up when I do).

I carry two small physical notebooks: one for writing my tasks and another for writing notes. I write whenever an idea comes to my mind.