A brief, bulleted list of your upcoming events with a photo from your latest book signing will resonate better with
your readers than paragraphs of detailed information.
Not exact matches
While some
readers might take umbrage at Toynbee's less -
than - balanced attitude to estate - dwellers, three
paragraphs later she's in there fighting for them.
If you can get this across to the
reader and immediately get them interested, you have a higher chance with an agent or publisher reading more
than the opening
paragraph.
When tips are listed this way, rather
than in a traditional
paragraph format, editors can quickly scan them to see if they would be useful to
readers — or not.
The letter portends to offer facts about «climate change deniers, but
readers can't even get further
than the first
paragraph without running into an unsupportable talking point about skeptic climate scientists saying global warming «isn't happening / happening, but for natural reasons / happening and caused by humans, but it's not so bad.»
A 1998 version (5th
paragraph, «After this piece appeared in The Washington Post, I received a number of letters and a couple of phone calls») is not much different
than a 2005 Mother Jones magazine interview (9th
paragraph here, «After that piece ran, I got letters from
readers...»).
Concise Content Is Attractive Condense your overall tasks and responsibilities into a brief
paragraph (no more
than five lines) that gives the
reader a snapshot of what you do.
Most people write their resumes in
paragraphs — because most candidates write their resume as an autobiography, rather
than from the
reader's point of view.
Three or four
paragraphs should be more
than enough to show how great you are without boring your
reader!
Begin each
paragraph with distinct transition phrasing, which facilitates topic changes and keeps
readers more interested
than starting each with a repetitive Jane Adams..., Ms. Adams... or Jane...
Using 3 - 4 bulleted statements in the body of your letter is much more
reader - friendly
than lengthy, run - on
paragraphs.
Avoid dense
paragraphs (anything longer
than three or four lines) and allow ample white space to create an inviting document that rewards
readers, whether they come for a quick skim or a more thorough read.
An inquiry cover letter should be no more
than three
paragraphs long — the idea is to pique the
reader's interest in your qualifications.
Any more
than that will make your resume resemble an essay, when all you need is a short, introductory
paragraph that piques the
reader's interest in your qualifications.