If you liked 10 Ways to Improve Your Writing, here are 10 more ways:

11. Don’t be a perfectionist, at least not every time. It’s great to know how to create a perfect document, but doing it every time is a lot of work. Not everything you write NEEDS to be perfect. The main thing is to make sure it’s good enough to achieve your purpose and meet the needs of your reader. Of course, it’s also important to know you CAN make it perfect for the times when you need to.

12. Show the bones of your writing. Your writing is clear when readers can see the shape of your message. There are many ways to reveal this shape—getting to the point, creating a hierarchical structure, writing talking headers, using layout to show how sections relate to each other, and using transitional markers to connect ideas. The more you use these tools to reveal the bones of your message, the easier it is for the reader to grasp your message quickly and easily.

13. Show the muscle of your writing. If bringing the bones to the surface clarifies your message, bringing the muscles to the surface improves the style and readability. Muscular writing is concise, uses strong verbs, is positive, conversational and active. Muscular writing energizes readers and propels them to act.

14. Be transparent. Try not to let anything distract your reader from your message. Distractions can be big things, such as a rambling structure or an offensive tone. It can be little things, such as an ill-chosen font, too many big words, sloppy spacing, and bad grammar or spelling. Transparent writing doesn’t draw attention to itself and lets the reader absorb your message effortlessly.

15. Be precise and concrete. The details make your writing memorable and vivid. Here’s one of my favourite examples from Strunk and White. First, the vague version: “In proportion as the manners, customs, and amusements of a nation are cruel and barbarous, the regulations of its penal code will be severe.” And the vivid example: “In proportion as men delight in battles, bullfights and combats of gladiators, will they punish by hanging, burning and the rack.”

16. Use a conversational tone, but don’t be conversational. A conversational tone is warm and personal. It captures the sound of your voice. You don’t want to replicate your actual conversation, because that would capture all the ums, ahs, redundancies and hesitations. The best way to create the warmth of your voice is by reading your writing out loud. If you know you’d never say the words in speech, you shouldn’t write them either. Worried you’ll be too chatty? Remember who you are writing to and use the degree of formality you’d use if you were speaking to that person. You’ll find that way you can easily balance warmth, formality and respect.

17. Assume ignorance but not stupidity. Many writers assume too much prior knowledge on the part of the reader. And when they write to a large group of readers, they alienate readers who are unfamiliar with the subject matter. It’s best to assume your readers are ignorant, but not stupid. The readers who are knowledgeable aren’t likely as close to the content as you are, and they appreciate a quick refresher. Readers who know nothing are not alienated and can get up to speed quickly.

18. Make sure important information stands out. Decide what’s most important and help the reader see it by using boldface, isolating it in white space, or using headings, visuals, lists or colour. Just don’t use all these devices at once. Remember that if you try to emphasize everything, you emphasize nothing.

19. Use a style guide. In a pinch, make it up, but be consistent. Readers love consistency. Style guides are a great way to be consistent, because they define usage. If your company has, or recommends, a style guide, great! Use it. If you don’t have one, or don’t have time to consult one, make it up. Just be consistent. Not sure if you should spell out numbers from 1 to 10 or 1 to 20? Make an executive decision, be consistent. You’ll fool 90% of your readers. (Okay, I made up that statistic, but it feels right.)

20. Keep your layout simple and elegant. Less is more. Only use as many text elements as you need. If you’re writing a complex document, like technical documentation, start by considering what kinds of information you need. Assign a look to each element and be consistent in how you treat it. For example, the title of every visual should be the same. Every bulleted list should look the same, and every Level 3 Heading should look the same. This gives the reader confidence that text that looks alike functions alike.

Any suggestions to add?