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I thought you might like to see what I mailed to the 20 members in my
group. I had trouble with your last two rules too, so here's what I came up
with (these are also online in our internal Web pages). --debbie
1. Know Thy Audience.
2. Omit needless syllables, words, and ink.
3. Go from the known to the unknown.
4. Make it understandable (see 1-3).
5. Make it consistent, unless that interferes with 4.
6. Make it technically accurate -- but not necessarily precise, unless that
interferes with 4 or 5.
7. Make it grammatically correct, unless that interferes with 4, 5, or 6.
-- adapted from "The Golden Rules of Writing," by Chris Benz, and "The Elements
of Style."
