The document discusses how writing should be tailored to the way the human brain processes language. It recommends using familiar words and structures so readers can easily identify words, understand meanings, and make sense of content. Sentences should be in an active voice with an actor subject and action verb to mimic how the brain perceives causation. Overview sentences and thesis statements should be placed where readers expect them to aid comprehension. Lists and bullet points should contain 7 or fewer items to fit working memory limits. Varied sentence structures and lengths make writing more engaging for the brain to "hear".

1. Writing is

2. Writing is
hard

3. Writing is
difficult

4. Writing is
demanding

5. Writing is
damned difficult

6. Writing is
terrifying

7. Writing is
excruciating

8. Writing is
a mystery

9. Writing is
a science, not an art

10. But first
you must write for your
reader’s brain

11. Reading and writing
by the numbers
$3.1 billion
amount American companies
spend annually to improve
employees’ writing

12. Writing is
the skill with the biggest gap
between what employers want
and what candidates offer.

13. 3
Challenges your reader’s brain
faces in every sentence

14. 3 Stages of reading
Lexical = Identify Words
Syntactic = Understand Meaning
Inferential = Make Sense of
Content

15. Write for your reader’s
brain
Use familiar words, phrases,
and sentence structures…

16. Write for your reader’s
brain
…so your readers move
through the three stages
easily.

17. Reading and writing
by the numbers
300 milliseconds
needed to identify a word

18. Write for your reader’s
brain
Avoid using pronouns like this,
that, these, those, and it …

19. Write for your reader’s
brain
….which send your reader
backwards to assess meaning

20. Reading and writing
by the numbers
6
decades of studies on our
brain’s bias toward perceiving
causation

21. Reading and writing
by the numbers
6 months
age at which infants first
perceive causation

22. Write for your reader’s
brain
Make sentences into micro-
narratives.

23. Write for your reader’s
brain
Use an actor as your subject,
followed by action verb.

24. Reading and writing
by the numbers
33%
Frequency with which readers
agreed that The dog was bitten by
the man was a plausible
sentence…

25. Reading and writing
by the numbers
33%
….due to passive construction.

26. Reading and writing
by the numbers
0%
Frequency with which readers
agreed that The man bit the dog
was a plausible sentence…

27. Reading and writing
by the numbers
0%
…due to active construction.

28. Write for your reader’s
brain
Avoid using passive
construction.

29. Write for your reader’s
brain
To check if a sentence is passive,
insert by zombies after the verb.

30. Write for your reader’s
brain
If the sentence makes sense with
zombies in it, you’re dead. (The
sentence is passive).

31. Reading and writing
by the numbers
225 words per minute
Speed used for close reading.

32. Reading and writing
by the numbers
500-700 words per minute
Speed used for skimming.

33. Reading and writing
by the numbers
Equal:
Accuracy of recall between
skimmers and close readers

34. Write for your reader’s
brain
Place overview sentences of
paragraphs at the beginning
of paragraphs…

35. Write for your reader’s
brain
…where readers expect to see
them.

36. Reading and writing
by the numbers
100%
Agreement among judges scoring
essays…

37. Reading and writing
by the numbers
100%
…when writers introduced overview
sentences at the beginnings of
paragraphs

38. Reading and writing
by the numbers
10%
Agreement among judges scoring
essays…

39. Reading and writing
by the numbers
10%
…when writers used no overview
sentences

40. Write for your reader’s
brain
Position thesis sentences at the
end of your introductory
paragraphs…

41. Write for your reader’s
brain
…where readers expect to see
them.

42. Reading and writing
by the numbers
25-30%
Content in lists readers
remember—at the ends of lists.

43. Write for your reader’s
brain
Put your most important items
last, not first, in lists…

44. Write for your reader’s
brain
You’re using emphasis from the
recency effect to get better
recall.

45. Reading and writing
by the numbers
7 ± 2
Number of items readers can hold
in working memory.

46. Write for your reader’s
brain
Limit the number of items in
lists to 7 for bulleted or
numbered lists.

47. Write for your reader’s
brain
Use only 5 or fewer items in
lists within sentences.

48. Reading and writing
by the numbers
6
Parts of the brain involved in
“hearing” written language.

49. Reading and writing
by the numbers
arcuate fasciculus
angular gyrus
Broca’s area
cerebellum,
supplementary motor area,
Wernicke’s area

50. Write for your reader’s
brain
Readers “hear” writing in your
sentence structure and length.

51. Write for your reader’s
brain
Variety in both makes your
writing sound more
sophisticated and polished—
and seem more pleasurable to
read.

52. For more on
the science
behind
writing

53. www.readersbrain.com
www.readersbrain.co.uk
Twitter: @neurosciwrite
Facebook: readersbrain

54. Available from Cambridge
University Press,
Summer 2015
Music under license to
ASCAP