The 7 Simple Rules of Good Writing

The 7 simple rules of good writing from http://www.thehackeracademy.com/reporting-the-difference-between-good-and-great-penetration-testers/

1. Spell-check is mandatory. Even the first draft must pass spell-check before distributed.
2. Grammar-check is mandatory. It is not perfect but its better than 35% of writers.
3. use a consistent voice throughout the report.
4. Use a consistent tense throughout the report.
5. Use styles if writing in Word. This will enforce consistency and allow easy design changes throughout the document.
6. Appearance matters. Focus on margins, headers, footers and tables to ensure neatness.
7. Once the first draft is done, turn on track changes and leave it on until the release candidate.

Remember that writing is thinking on paper (or keyboards).

Writing is Rewriting:

• Read each sentence in the document. For each, ask the following questions:

1. Does this sentence add to the information in the document?
2. Does this sentence add to the reader's understanding of the information in the document?
3. For each word in the sentence, ask: Would the sentence have the same meaning without this word? If yes, remove the word.