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Half of You Will Make This Mistake: You’ll Neglect Blank Lines

Jonathan Rick
PRO
January 31, 2019

Half of You Will Make This Mistake: You’ll Neglect Blank Lines

White space is a writer’s best friend.

Jonathan Rick
PRO

January 31, 2019
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  1. Half of You Will
    Make This Mistake:
    You’ll Neglect
    Blank Lines
    for Business Writing

    View Slide

  2. How your work looks
    can be as important
    as what it says.

    View Slide

  3. How your work looks
    can be as important
    as what it says.

    View Slide

  4. Example #1

    View Slide

  5. 1. He’s extremely likable. While he is very smart, able, and
    passionate about all the work that he’s done, none of these
    words are the first adjectives that those who have worked
    with Pichai will use to describe him. In interviews with those
    who Pichai has worked for, who he has worked with, and
    those who have worked under him, all praise the new CEO
    as being extremely soft-spoken, captivating, and well liked
    in the professional environment.
    2. He’s loyal. Once Pichai started to rise up the ranks of
    Google, people started to pay attention. Not just people
    within the company, but high-ranking executives of other
    major tech giants were noticing this Indian executive and the
    alluring, yet precise way in which he conducted business.
    Both Twitter and Microsoft approached Pichai with upscale
    offers (Twitter has done this twice so far) before he was
    even given the title of Product Chief in October of 2014. Yet
    Pichai’s commitment and loyalty to his work and Google as
    a whole kept him zeroed in on the company’s mission,
    brushing away other offers without much of a second
    thought.
    3. He’s team-centric. Many savants, especially after
    realizing their skills and expertise, can become self-centered
    — sometimes to the point where it negatively affects their
    work. The opposite is true with Pichai.

    View Slide

  6. 1. He’s extremely likable. While he is very smart, able, and
    passionate about all the work that he’s done, none of these
    words are the first adjectives that those who have worked
    with Pichai will use to describe him. In interviews with those
    who Pichai has worked for, who he has worked with, and
    those who have worked under him, all praise the new CEO
    as being extremely soft-spoken, captivating, and well liked
    in the professional environment.
    2. He’s loyal. Once Pichai started to rise up the ranks of
    Google, people started to pay attention. Not just people
    within the company, but high-ranking executives of other
    major tech giants were noticing this Indian executive and the
    alluring, yet precise way in which he conducted business.
    Both Twitter and Microsoft approached Pichai with upscale
    offers (Twitter has done this twice so far) before he was
    even given the title of Product Chief in October of 2014. Yet
    Pichai’s commitment and loyalty to his work and Google as
    a whole kept him zeroed in on the company’s mission,
    brushing away other offers without much of a second
    thought.
    3. He’s team-centric. Many savants, especially after
    realizing their skills and expertise, can become self-centered
    — sometimes to the point where it negatively affects their
    work. The opposite is true with Pichai.

    View Slide

  7. 1. He’s extremely likable. While he is very smart, able, and
    passionate about all the work that he’s done, none of these
    words are the first adjectives that those who have worked
    with Pichai will use to describe him. In interviews with those
    who Pichai has worked for, who he has worked with, and
    those who have worked under him, all praise the new CEO
    as being extremely soft-spoken, captivating, and well liked
    in the professional environment.
    2. He’s loyal. Once Pichai started to rise up the ranks of
    Google, people started to pay attention. Not just people
    within the company, but high-ranking executives of other
    major tech giants were noticing this Indian executive and the
    alluring, yet precise way in which he conducted business.
    Both Twitter and Microsoft approached Pichai with upscale
    offers (Twitter has done this twice so far) before he was
    even given the title of Product Chief in October of 2014. Yet
    Pichai’s commitment and loyalty to his work and Google as
    a whole kept him zeroed in on the company’s mission,
    brushing away other offers without much of a second
    thought.
    3. He’s team-centric. Many savants, especially after
    realizing their skills and expertise, can become self-centered
    — sometimes to the point where it negatively affects their
    work. The opposite is true with Pichai.
    Insert blank line

    View Slide

  8. 1. He’s extremely likable. While he is very smart, able, and
    passionate about all the work that he’s done, none of these
    words are the first adjectives that those who have worked
    with Pichai will use to describe him. In interviews with those
    who Pichai has worked for, who he has worked with, and
    those who have worked under him, all praise the new CEO
    as being extremely soft-spoken, captivating, and well liked
    in the professional environment.
    2. He’s loyal. Once Pichai started to rise up the ranks of
    Google, people started to pay attention. Not just people
    within the company, but high-ranking executives of other
    major tech giants were noticing this Indian executive and the
    alluring, yet precise way in which he conducted business.
    Both Twitter and Microsoft approached Pichai with upscale
    offers (Twitter has done this twice so far) before he was
    even given the title of Product Chief in October of 2014. Yet
    Pichai’s commitment and loyalty to his work and Google as
    a whole kept him zeroed in on the company’s mission,
    brushing away other offers without much of a second
    thought.
    3. He’s team-centric. Many savants, especially after
    realizing their skills and expertise, can become self-centered
    — sometimes to the point where it negatively affects their
    work. The opposite is true with Pichai.
    Insert blank line
    Insert blank line

    View Slide

  9. Before
    1. He’s extremely likable. While he is very
    smart, able, and passionate about all the work
    that he’s done, none of these words are the first
    adjectives that those who have worked with
    Pichai will use to describe him. In interviews
    with those who Pichai has worked for, who he
    has worked with, and those who have worked
    under him, all praise the new CEO as being
    extremely soft-spoken, captivating, and well
    liked.
    2. He’s loyal. Once Pichai started to rise up the
    ranks of Google, people started to pay attention.
    Not just people within the company, but high-
    ranking executives of other major tech giants
    were noticing this Indian executive and the
    alluring, yet precise way in which he conducted
    business.
    3. He’s team-centric. Many savants, especially
    after realizing their skills and expertise, can
    become self-centered — sometimes to the point
    where it negatively affects their work. The
    opposite is true with Pichai.
    After
    1. He’s extremely likable. While he is very
    smart, able, and passionate about all the work
    that he’s done, none of these words are the first
    adjectives that those who have worked with
    Pichai will use to describe him. In interviews
    with those who Pichai has worked for, who he
    has worked with, and those who have worked
    under him, all praise the new CEO as being
    extremely soft-spoken, captivating, and well
    liked.
    2. He’s loyal. Once Pichai started to rise up the
    ranks of Google, people started to pay attention.
    Not just people within the company, but high-
    ranking executives of other major tech giants
    were noticing this Indian executive and the
    alluring, yet precise way in which he conducted
    business.
    3. He’s team-centric. Many savants, especially
    after realizing their skills and expertise, can
    become self-centered — sometimes to the point
    where it negatively affects their work. The
    opposite is true with Pichai.

    View Slide

  10. Example #2

    View Slide

  11. want to discuss and make them into a well-organized
    outline. This then allows me to often just take my main
    points directly off the outline and formulate them into
    well-structured sentences.
    Weaknesses
    1. Wall of Words. I often struggle to formulate my great
    ideas into sentences. This leads to overthinking a
    sentence and trying too hard to make a sentence
    “perfect.” Another other issue that often occurs in my
    writing is the wall of words that make my sentences
    seem laborious and tough to read. My writing sometimes
    seems dragged out and I often struggle to get to the main
    point that I am trying to make in the most efficient way
    possible. This may lead my readers to getting bored
    because my writing is not clear and concise.
    2. Proofreading. Proofreading seems like such an easy
    task, but when I often read over what I have written, I
    never seem to catch the obvious mistakes. These include
    simple errors such as sentence fragments, run-ons, and
    punctuation which are mistakes that should be easily
    caught while proofreading my paper. Sometimes when
    you are in the flow of writing you often focus more on
    what you say and don’t stop to check over what you
    actually wrote. This leads to many mistakes
    grammatically. Proofreading my papers has been
    something that I have consistently struggled with as a
    writer.
    Opportunities
    1. Newspapers and Magazines. I am always looking to
    improve my writing. Some ways that I can do this is by
    reading the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
    want to discuss and make them into a well-organized
    outline. This then allows me to often just take my main
    points directly off the outline and formulate them into
    well-structured sentences.
    Weaknesses
    1. Wall of Words. I often struggle to formulate my great
    ideas into sentences. This leads to overthinking a
    sentence and trying too hard to make a sentence
    “perfect.” Another other issue that often occurs in my
    writing is the wall of words that make my sentences
    seem laborious and tough to read. My writing sometimes
    seems dragged out and I often struggle to get to the main
    point that I am trying to make in the most efficient way
    possible. This may lead my readers to getting bored
    because my writing is not clear and concise.
    2. Proofreading. Proofreading seems like such an easy
    task, but when I often read over what I have written, I
    never seem to catch the obvious mistakes. These include
    simple errors such as sentence fragments, run-ons, and
    punctuation which are mistakes that should be easily
    caught while proofreading my paper. Sometimes when
    you are in the flow of writing you often focus more on
    what you say and don’t stop to check over what you
    actually wrote. This leads to many mistakes
    grammatically. Proofreading my papers has been
    something that I have consistently struggled with as a
    writer.
    Opportunities
    1. Newspapers and Magazines. I am always looking to
    improve my writing. Some ways that I can do this is by
    reading the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

    View Slide

  12. Mark Keystrokes Explanation
    Line Break
    (Hard)
    Enter Separates one paragraph
    from another (not visually,
    but technically).
    Line Break
    (Soft)
    Shift + Enter Moves the cursor to the next
    line but keeps the paragraphs
    together in the same “style.”
    Used often in headlines,
    to avoid breaking a phrase
    or leaving a short word
    on its own.
    Blank Line Enter + Enter Starts a new paragraph
    with space before the new
    paragraph.

    View Slide

  13. A Related Point

    View Slide

  14. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
    Integer eu cursus justo, sit amet ullamcorper massa. Morbi
    commodo felis libero. Aliquam porta magna quis turpis
    maximus auctor. Ut est ante, cursus quis leo placerat,
    sollicitudin mattis felis. Proin a ligula arcu. Aliquam
    elementum risus maximus elit maximus varius. Vivamus ut
    volutpat mi. Donec mauris nisl, tristique a dui nec, pretium
    sagittis nibh. Vestibulum placerat dui dui, nec blandit velit
    pulvinar in. Aenean mollis luctus ultrices. Class aptent taciti
    sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos
    himenaeos. Donec in metus pulvinar sem sodales tempor.
    Proin pharetra tristique diam eget egestas. Aliquam erat
    volutpat. Vivamus pharetra enim ac massa consectetur, vitae
    imperdiet magna scelerisque. Donec non dolor ut erat
    vestibulum convallis id et nisl. Donec vitae imperdiet dui.
    Etiam luctus ac velit vel malesuada. Ut neque nunc, sodales
    ac tellus a, semper faucibus diam. Mauris in rutrum eros, sed
    accumsan odio. Nulla facilisi. Nunc et tristique velit. Proin
    vulputate dignissim ligula quis rutrum. Sed scelerisque
    ornare convallis. Ut id faucibus mauris, ac efficitur felis.

    View Slide

  15. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
    Integer eu cursus justo, sit amet ullamcorper massa. Morbi
    commodo felis libero. Aliquam porta magna quis turpis
    maximus auctor. Ut est ante, cursus quis leo placerat,
    sollicitudin mattis felis.
    Proin a ligula arcu.
    Aliquam elementum risus maximus elit maximus varius.
    Vivamus ut volutpat mi. Donec mauris nisl, tristique a dui
    nec, pretium sagittis nibh. Vestibulum placerat dui dui, nec
    blandit velit pulvinar in. Aenean mollis luctus ultrices.
    Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia
    nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Donec in metus pulvinar sem
    sodales tempor. Proin pharetra tristique diam eget egestas.
    Aliquam erat volutpat. Vivamus pharetra enim ac massa
    consectetur, vitae imperdiet magna scelerisque. Donec non
    dolor ut erat vestibulum convallis id et nisl.
    Donec vitae imperdiet dui. Etiam luctus ac velit vel
    malesuada. Ut neque nunc, sodales ac tellus a, semper
    faucibus diam. Mauris in rutrum eros, sed accumsan odio.
    Nulla facilisi.
    Nunc et tristique velit. Proin vulputate dignissim ligula quis
    rutrum. Sed scelerisque ornare convallis. Ut id faucibus
    mauris, ac efficitur felis.

    View Slide

  16. Before
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur
    adipiscing elit. Integer eu cursus justo, sit amet
    ullamcorper massa. Morbi commodo felis
    libero. Aliquam porta magna quis turpis
    maximus auctor. Ut est ante, cursus quis leo
    placerat, sollicitudin mattis felis. Proin a ligula
    arcu. Aliquam elementum risus maximus elit
    maximus varius. Vivamus ut volutpat mi. Donec
    mauris nisl, tristique a dui nec, pretium sagittis
    nibh. Vestibulum placerat dui dui, nec blandit
    velit pulvinar in. Aenean mollis luctus ultrices.
    Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent
    per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos.
    Donec in metus pulvinar sem sodales tempor.
    Proin pharetra tristique diam eget egestas.
    Aliquam erat volutpat. Vivamus pharetra enim
    ac massa consectetur, vitae imperdiet magna
    scelerisque. Donec non dolor ut erat vestibulum
    convallis id et nisl.
    After
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur
    adipiscing elit. Integer eu cursus justo, sit amet
    ullamcorper massa. Morbi commodo felis
    libero. Aliquam porta magna quis turpis
    maximus auctor. Ut est ante, cursus quis leo
    placerat, sollicitudin mattis felis.
    Proin a ligula arcu.
    Aliquam elementum risus maximus elit
    maximus varius. Vivamus ut volutpat mi. Donec
    mauris nisl, tristique a dui nec, pretium sagittis
    nibh. Vestibulum placerat dui dui, nec blandit
    velit pulvinar in. Aenean mollis luctus ultrices.
    Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent
    per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos.
    Donec in metus pulvinar sem sodales tempor.
    Proin pharetra tristique diam eget egestas.
    Aliquam erat volutpat. Vivamus pharetra enim
    ac massa consectetur, vitae imperdiet magna
    scelerisque. Donec non dolor ut erat vestibulum
    convallis id et nisl.

    View Slide

  17. 6
    That’s how many lines
    you should limit each paragraph to.

    View Slide

  18. How your work looks
    can be as important
    as what it says.

    View Slide

  19. How your work looks
    can be as important
    as what it says.

    View Slide