How to write readable e-mails

Follow these rules:

1. Strunk & White. Write crisply, punctuate, and capitalize. Don't make mistakes.

2. Cover one topic per e-mail. If you have lots to say, break it up.

3. Use the subject line to articulate your main idea, question, or action item. Your recipient should know exactly what they're getting before they read the message body.

4. Favor lists. Lists are easier to write than paragraphs, and easier to parse. They also encourage inline replies. If you have to use paragraphs, make them absurdly short: one or two sentences each.

5. Reply inline if possible. It's faster to address each of your correspondent's points in turn than it is to compose a coherent reply to all of them; inline replies are also easier to read, since they're right below their referents.

6. Paste whatever you can. Attachments are clumsy—they must be virus-scanned, downloaded, and opened (and Microsoft Word takes a while to launch).

7. Respond within 24 hours, if only to say "I'll get to this later." But be sure to give a conservative time frame for your more thorough reply.

These rules can be viral: if someone covers three topics in one e-mail, write three separate replies with more detailed subject lines; if they write you in long, unbroken paragraphs, break them apart with your inline replies. It may take time, but they will learn.

[If you're writing a long, letterish e-mail, then to hell with it all (except #1, of course)—these are so rare that no one will begrudge you if you write with abandon.]