The one-sentence test
If you cannot say what a piece is about in one sentence, the reader will struggle too. Here is how to use that as a check.
Before you publish anything, try this: say what it is about in one sentence. Not the topic, but the point.
"This post is about note-taking" is a topic. "Notes become useful only when you connect them to each other" is a point.
Why a sentence#
A sentence forces you to choose. A topic can stay vague forever. A sentence needs a subject, a verb and a claim. If you cannot produce one, the piece probably does not yet have a clear idea inside it.
Readers feel this even when they cannot name it. They finish a vague piece unsure what they were supposed to take away.
How to run the test#
- Write the sentence at the top of your draft before you start.
- When you finish, read the piece and ask: does everything here support that sentence?
- Cut or move anything that does not.
You can also run it backwards. After writing, try to sum up what you actually wrote in one sentence. If it differs from the one you planned, you have found where the draft drifted.
What to do when it fails#
If you cannot write the sentence, the problem is usually one of two things. Either you do not yet know what you think, or you are trying to say two things at once.
In the first case, keep thinking, or write freely until the point appears. In the second, split the piece in two. Two clear short pieces are better than one muddled long one.
A useful habit#
Keep the sentence. Use it as the summary line, the subject of an email, or the first line of a message. A point that fits in one sentence is also easy to remember and easy to share, which is most of what good writing is for.