A Writer's Alphabet of Concepts and Clues

Brevity

Don't use any more words than you have to. Simplify, pare down. Ask yourself, what will be lost if I leave this out? What will be gained if I leave this in?

Buy and use Strunk and White's ELEMENTS OF STYLE and Zinsser's ON WRITING WELL.

Clarity

"Clarity" is a noun which means "the quality or state of being clear." To clarify is to free from confusion, to make [more] understandable.

Clarity is rarely accomplished in the writing of the first draft of any piece, barring a list of numbers--and even numbers can be misstated. Ask anyone who has had to balance a checkbook.

Revising for clarification is something you will always be doing, no matter what you are writing, no matter how proficient a writer you become.

Coherence

Maintaining your consistency of focus is one of the challenges of writing. Coherence, marked by the smooth transition from one thought to another, comes with practice.

Concisness

A thesaurus is invaluable as a source for finding the best, most concise, words to capture your ideas and their nuances.

And read. Stretch your vocabulary. That, too, will make it possible for you to write more clearly, more coherently, and with conciseness.

Content

Content and form are almost inseperable. If you want what you are writing about to be understood and to be taken seriously, you must fashion its form in such a way as to make it understandable and appealing.

Brilliant writing won't be seen as such unless it is done in workmanlike fashion.

Accuracy in writing, punctuation, grammar, usage and diction combined with a well-thought-out thesis and cogently developed argument will produce a good piece of work.

Context

That which surrounds and helps to make sensible. More often than not, you will hear, "don't take that out of context!" which means, look not only at a part, but at all that goes before and behind that.

Looking at the context will help you make more sense out of what someone else has written, Then, as you write, make sure that the logic of your piece is clear.