With practice, most writers can create first drafts that do not need to be revised.

With more complex messages, it is a good idea to set aside a first draft for a day or two before beginning the revision process.

The middle section of a message has the greatest impact on the audience.

Skilled business writers keep all their sentences as short as possible.

Although you should vary the length of paragraphs in your business messages, in general you should strive for short paragraphs.

Items in a list do not need to have parallel construction.

Headings have only one function, which is to break up long blocks of type.

Readers can understand descriptive headings without reading the rest of the document.

"Take an action" is an example of a camouflaged verb.

The subject and predicate of a sentence should be kept as close together as possible.

In business documents, items in a list should always be numbered–using bullets or other graphics is unprofessional.

Short words are generally more vivid and easier to read than long words.

"Future plans" is an example of a redundancy.

The sentence, "It is imperative that we hire more employees," begins with an indefinite pronoun and should be shortened.

Using a spell checker guarantees that your documents will be free of spelling errors.

Today's powerful grammar checkers can easily determine whether your document states your message correctly and communicates it clearly.

Because the first thing that readers will notice about your message is its appearance, you should pay special attention to design and page layout.

To make your message more interesting and accessible, you should use as many design elements and decorative touches as possible.

To draw attention to important points or terms italic type is more effective than boldface.

If you find graphics, photos, videos, and other elements online, you can use them in your own documents without worrying about copyright violations.