Pin down the reader, then fix the text

Set the reader for this text, then adjust it.

**First establish the reader — specifically:**
1. **What they already know about this** — and ***what they think they know that is wrong***
2. **Why they are reading.** To decide, to execute, to check, or because they have to
3. **How much time they will give it** before deciding whether to continue
4. **What they will do next** if it works
5. **What would make them stop reading** — jargon, length, a tone mismatch, a demand they cannot meet

**Then adjust:**
- **What has to be explained**, and what can be assumed
- **What to cut** — everything that does not serve why they are reading
- **What to move up** — ***if they only read the first third, what has to be in it***
- **Where to replace a term**, and where to keep it and gloss it

**Also report:**
- ***Where I have written for myself rather than for them*** — the parts that are there because I know them, not because they need them
- **If the text is serving two readers at once, say so.** *Two readers usually means two documents*