Writing for busy readers : communicate more effectively in the real world / Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink

Includes index.

Part one. Engaging the reader -- Get inside your reader's head -- Think like a busy reader -- Know your goals -- Part two. Six principles of effective writing -- First principle: less is more -- Second principle: make reading easy -- Third principle: design for easy navigation -- Fourth principle: use enough formatting but no more -- Fifth principle: tell readers why they should care -- Sixth principle: make responding easy -- Part three. Putting the principles to work -- Tools, tips, and FAQs -- Our words, our selves -- Now what? -- Checklist -- Appendix: words and alternatives.

We were all taught the fundamentals of writing well in school. But how do we write effectively in today's hyper-interactive world? When The Elements of Style and On Writing Well were published in 1959 and 1976, the Internet hadn't been invented. Since then, there has been a radical transformation in how we communicate. The average American adult receives over 120 emails and over 100 text messages each day. With all this correspondence, gaining a busy reader's attention is now a competition. Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink, both behavioral scientists, offer practical writing advice you can use today.