Read with a purpose. Whether it's a book, article or essay, approach your reading by asking yourself why you are reading the material. If you need a source for a research paper, examine the chapters of the book to quickly go to the selections that apply, or you may look for keywords in an article. If you are reading for pleasure, you may take your time and savor the words. Knowing why you are reading something will determine whether you skim or really delve into the material.
Practice active reading. Reading is by definition a passive activity, but active reading requires you to pay attention by highlighting key words, underlining sentences and making small notations for later reference.
Read critically. Critical reading examines text with the understanding that what is written is only one view of a subject, and not the final word. When you apply critical reading, you evaluate how a writer uses words to achieve his goal, but you also question every assumption the writer makes while analyzing facts and statistics he uses to determine if they are valid.
Organize your thoughts. For example, if you are responding to a work email, take time to think of the recipient before you compose your reply. If the recipient is your boss or supervisor, your language should be more professional and formal than if you are responding to a friend. If you are writing a business letter, essay or research paper, create an outline before you write. Effective writing is well-structured and flows logically. An outline gives you a road map to follow that keeps your work focused.
Write a strong introduction that grabs the reader's attention and ends with a statement that defines the purpose and subject of your writing. You must set up the "stakes" of your work by defining the terms in a clear and simple way, so the reader has no confusion of your intent.
Write the body of your work to support the intent of your writing. In an essay, you will typically write three supporting paragraphs that tie directly into the main topic. In a business letter or work email, you may use headings, bullet points and short paragraphs to make your points.
Use active voice and clear, simple language. For example, instead of "He was able to do the job," write, "He did the job." Passive voice sentences such as "The test was not passed by a majority of the students" can be wordy and confuse a reader. Rewriting the sentence as, "The majority of students failed the test" is clean and conveys the meaning in a simple but direct manner.
Write conclusions that summarize your main points. Effective writing informs a reader that you have achieved your goal in writing the material, and concisely tells the reader how you did it.