"In the broadest possible sense, writing well means to communicate clearly and interestingly and in a way that feels alive to the reader. Where there's some kind of relationship between the writer and the reader—even though it's mediated by a kind of text—there's an electricity about it."

• Urbane but not elitist: Assume an intelligent, curious reader
• Literary yet conversational: Balance formality with warmth
• Witty without straining: Humor emerges from observation, not forced cleverness
• Precise but not pedantic: Choose the exact word, not the impressive one

• Sentimentality or sensationalism
• Jargon without explanation
• Clichés and vogue expressions
• Excessive qualification ("very," "really," "quite")
• The passive voice when active would serve

"By 2000, the investigation of the helicopter-conversion industry was winding down, with disappointing results for Wales and the U.S. Attorney's Office. Only one case remained."

"Progress came slowly. Anderson remained the only suspect; in 2004, the Seattle Times reported that the F.B.I. had searched Anderson's home."

"Wales, an Assistant United States Attorney in Seattle, had planned to have dinner with his girlfriend. But that afternoon Wales called and said he had projects to work on at home."

"Neither Wales's romantic life nor the fender bender yielded promising leads in the murder investigation.

Wales's work on gun control also failed to produce suspects."

• "Three months before his death..."
• "About fifteen minutes later..."
• "Two weeks after the murder..."
• "Meanwhile..."
• "Not long after the meeting..."

"She bought apples, oranges, and pears."

"The proposal brought out the full might of the gun-control lobby, which spent four million dollars—primarily on television advertisements and direct-mail appeals—and voters rejected the measure."

"United States Attorneys establish the priorities for each of the nation's ninety-four judicial districts and announce significant indictments; Assistant U.S. Attorneys are more like civil servants; they perform the day-to-day work."

"The phrase was partly a joke, a bit of feigned grandiosity to justify a tendency toward excessive meticulousness: Wales did things slowly."

• cell-phone towers
• gun-control initiative
• death-penalty case
• law-enforcement official
• forty-year-old pilot
• highest-ranking official

• coöperate (not cooperate or co-operate)
• reëlect
• reëmerge
• reëxamine
• preëminent

• naïve
• élite
• résumé
• café

• focussed (not focused)
• travelling (not traveling)
• marvellous (not marvelous)
• kidnapped
• worshipped

• theatre (not theater)
• carrousel (not carousel)
• vender (not vendor)
• teen-ager (hyphenated)
• per cent (two words)
• good-by (hyphenated)

• inbox (formerly in-box)
• website (formerly Web site)
• internet (formerly Internet)
• cellphone (formerly cell phone)

"One of the things that's good about writing and practicing writing is it's a great remedy for my natural self-involvement and self-centeredness... I never forget there's someone on the end of the line, that I owe that person certain allegiances."

"I am not, in and of myself, interesting to a reader. If I want to seem interesting, work has to be done in order to make myself interesting."

• Verify every name, date, title, and statistic
• Question every quotation—is this precisely what was said?
• Check obvious "facts" hardest; familiarity breeds false confidence
• When uncertain, investigate rather than assume