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Elements of a writer's style reveal to readers what sort of a person it is with whom they are spending time. These revelations are important because they are a mark of respect for readers. To develop style, follow these guidelines. Find a subject to care about and which others should care about. It is this caring which will be the most seductive and compelling element of style. Do not ramble. Keep it simple. Remember that two great masters of the language, William Shakespeare and James Joyce, wrote sentences which were almost childlike when their subjects were most profound. Have the guts to cut. If a sentence does not illuminate the subject in a new way, scratch it out. Sound natural. The most natural style for writers is to echo the speech they heard as a child. Say what is meant. If there is something worth saying and understanding, then it must be able to be understood. Pity the readers. They have to make immediate sense of thousands of little marks on paper, an art so difficult that most people don't really master it. For really detailed advice on literary style in a technical sense, see "The Elements of Style," by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White. (DC)

To write well, it is only necessary to write simply and clearly. To learn how, one must want to write clearly, be willing to work hard, and follow some basic guidelines. Before writing, create an outline by arranging ideas on note cards and putting them in a logical sequence. Write to the reader's level of knowledge about the subject. Avoid jargon. Use familiar combinations of words, but retain correct grammar. Use "first-degree" words--words that immediately bring an image to mind. Stick to the points contained in the outline. Be as brief as possible. Here are some ways to condense writing: (1) present points in logical order; (2) don't tell people what they already know; (3) cut out excess evidence and unnecessary anecdotes; (4) avoid word wasters and windy phrases; (5) look for passive verbs that can be made active; (6) look for positive/negative sections from which the negative can be cut; and (7) when finished, stop. (DC)

When conducting a job search, first decide what job area to go after, then find out more about it. Next write a resume. Name, address, and telephone number should go at the top. If the job objective is known exactly, list that next. Now comes work experience; begin with the most recent and work backwards. Don't just list what was done, tell how well it was done. Next, list education. Include high school only if there is no college. If there are no diplomas or degrees, tell about special training programs, courses, or activities. List military service. Now comes personal data, a chance to further the image that has been projected in the preceding sections. Keep the writing style simple and brief. Start sentences with action verbs. Make sure that grammar and spelling are correct and that there are no "typos." Have the resume professionally duplicated. When the resume is ready, track down job openings. Send the resume, along with a cover letter, to a specific person in the company. Arrive early for the interview and follow up with a thank-you note. Keep a list of contacts made and their results. (DC)

The following pointers can help people learn and remember new words. First, try to guess the meaning of the word from the way it's used. At least part of a word's meaning can be determined from the context of the sentence. To find out exactly what the word means and where it comes from, look it up in a dictionary. To get at the meaning behind the word, it is necessary to determine its roots. Learning roots: (1) helps with remembering words, (2) gives a deeper understanding of them, and (3) allows the learning of whole families of new words at a time. Another important clue to the meaning of a word is the prefix. There aren't many prefixes and they are easy to learn. Once new words have been learned, they should be put to work immediately. But be careful not to sound like a stuffed shirt; use them when they sound natural. (DC)

To make the most of a library, read and read and read. Here's a sure remedy for the television habit: pile a stack of library books on the television set and next time, instead of turning on a program, reach for a book. Some people limit themselves to reading current bestsellers, but the library is full of yesterday's bestsellers which are still compelling today. Learn to use the card catalog; this is where any book can be found. Learn to use the stacks; unknown books will turn up that are exactly what is needed. Learn to know the reference librarian. Learn to use "The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature." It is a guide to the latest information on any subject of interest. Four personal hints are: (1) take full notes when using magazines; (2) ask about the availability of reprographic machines; (3) keep a small notebook of identification numbers of frequently used books; and (4) learn how to use the reference books. The library can give help on any subject. Here are a few ideas for fun and rewarding library projects: trace family roots, find out what famous person slept nearby, cook a Polynesian feast, or take up photography. (DC)

Business letters should turn people on rather than turning them off. To write a good business letter, know what the goal is before starting to write, call the reader by name, tell what the letter is about in the first paragraph, refer to dates when answering letters, and write from the reader's point of view. Be positive, be nice, and be natural. Don't be cute or flippant, but don't be afraid to display a sense of humor. Be specific. Lean heavier on nouns and verbs and lighter on adjectives, and use the active voice instead of the passive voice. Make the letter visually appealing. Keep it short, use underlining and indentation for emphasis, and make it perfect. Make the meaning crystal clear, use good English, don't put on airs, don't exaggerate, distinguish opinions from fact, and be honest. Edit ruthlessly. Use the last paragraph to tell the reader what is anticipated as a followup. Close with something simple and sign legibly. (DC)

Three practical ways to get the meaning from printed words quickly and efficiently are: (1) previewing; (2) skimming; and (3) clustering. Previewing and skimming are ways of getting through a lot of reading material without reading every word. Previewing is especially helpful for heavy reading like long articles, business reports, and nonfiction books. When previewing, read the entire first two paragraphs, then read only the first sentence of each successive paragraph, and finally read the entire last two paragraphs. Skimming is good for short, light reading. The reader's eyes should sweep across each line of material, picking up only a few key words in each line. These techniques give a fast, general idea of content. To read faster and understand more, use clustering. Clustering is looking at groups of words instead of one word at a time. This takes constant practice. Pick up something light to read. Concentrate on clustering the first time through, then reread it normally to see what was missed. Practice this 15 minutes every day; it may take a week or more to pick up this technique. (DC)

A classic is a book that gives the exhilarating feeling that a part of life finally has been uncovered. It is a book that has stood the test of time, that people keep reaching for throughout the ages for its special enlightenment. Here are some suggestions to help open up the world of the classics: (1) know if what is being read is a novel, a drama, a biography, or a history; (2) don't read in bed (classics can be tough going); (3) don't be thrown by a lot of characters; (4) give the author a chance and don't give up on the book too soon; (5) read in big bites; (6) read what the author read; (7) read about the author's time; (8) read about the author's life; and (9) read the book again. The following are a few classics worth trying: Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey"; Rabelais's"Gargantua and Pantagruel"; Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales"; Cervantes's "Don Quixote"; Shakespeare's plays, especially "Hamlet,""Macbeth," and "Romeo and Juliet"; Charles Dickens's "Pickwick Papers"; and Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn." (DC)

Poetry comes to a person from outside, but for it to live, the person must come to it and meet it and complete it. Poetry is new every day because it is seen in different ways by different people. It makes possible the deepest kind of personal possession of the world. The first true encounter with poetry should be simple and should involve allowing oneself to think and to feel. Part of the spell of poetry is the rhythm of the language. Almost anything put into rhythm and rhyme is more memorable than the same thing said in prose. Writing poetry is a lot like a contest with oneself. Some of the best fun is making up limericks. When the rhymes "pay off," they give a sense of completion and inevitability that is so deliciously memorable that there is nothing else like it. The deeper the encounter wth poetry, the deeper will be the experience of life. Connections between things will exist in ways that they never did before. (DC)

It is helpful to know how to read a company's annual report if an individual is considering going to work for the company, investing in it, or selling to it. When reading an annual report, start at the back with the report of the independent certified public accountant and the footnotes. These can provide information that is not readily apparent from the figures in the report. Next, turn to the letter from the chairman. This should tell how the company fared this year and why, as well as giving insights into the company's future. Now it is time to dig into the numbers. One source is the balance sheet which offers information on the company's assets and liabilities. Important numbers to watch are stockholders' equity, long-term debt, and the ratio between these numbers. A second basic source of numbers is the income statement. The first number to look for here is net sales and the rate at which sales are changing. Watch out for net earnings per share; it can be misleading. Don't be smug about net earnings until finding out what is behind them and what might happen next year. The most important thing of all is to compare the annual report to past reports. (DC)