Ann Handley

The first words of every sentence should make a friendly first

impression to encourage the reader to keep going

Here are some phrases to avoid at the start of a sentence:

♦ According to . . .

♦ There is a . . .

♦ It is [important, critical, advised, suggested, and so on] . . .

♦ In my opinion . . .

♦ The purpose of this [email, post, article] is . . .

♦ In 2014 [or any year] . . .

♦ I think [believe] that . . .

in writing, process is

necessary, because you need a road map to get you to where you

need to be.