Best Practices for Professional Writing

From the contractor to the engineering consultant, one thing should be very clear in the era of screens.  Every organization is a publisher.  Since we are all publishers, we need to start thinking and acting like professional writers.  This is my list of best practices for engineers:

• Write a lot and read a lot.  Not just the engineering or technical journal.  Read good writing - things like the New Yorker.
• Practice.
• Read it aloud.
• Be direct and clear.  Get to the point.  Don't over write.  Tell the story like you would tell the story to your friends in a bar.  Be yourself. 
• Use active sentences.
• Eliminate needless words.
• Keep it simple.  Be specific.
• Write for scannability.
• Invite action - - give the reader a link!!!  When I read anything online anymore and the writer has not embedded links to take me to additional information - - very disappointed.
• Revise - - good writing is about good editing.
• Get the first draft 100% done before you start to edit and revise.
• When you catch an adjective - - kill it.
• Know when to violate some or all of the above.