A small reference notebook

Notes

Choose a subject below. Each note can be read on its own.

Give a working draft one clear purpose

Before editing individual sentences, describe what the reader should be able to do after reading. That purpose gives a useful test for each paragraph. A paragraph that serves a different task may belong in another document rather than in a longer introduction.

Use file names as small pieces of context

A helpful name makes a document distinguishable from its neighbours. Prefer a short description of the subject to a label that could apply to every file in a folder. The goal is recognition, not an exhaustive description of the document.