John Adair's 100 Greatest Ideas for Brilliant Communication

Idea 48: Do a first draft

The golden rule in all writing is to get something down on paper or up on screen and then play about with it. An important business letter deserves that kind of careful treatment. Here are seven factors to consider in revising your draft:

Objective	The objective or message of the letter should be clear. What response you expect or would like from the reader – if any – should also be clearly expressed.
Order	You may want to revise the order of your points or paragraphs within the broad parameters of beginning, middle and end.
Style	Check the lengths of your paragraphs and sentences. Try reading the letter out loud. Take out unintended repetitions. Avoid jargon.
Word selection	Cut out obscure words and clichés, as well as adverbial ...