There's a hidden art to writing.

Your style should seem natural - that is, appropriate to your purpose, audience and topic. For most kinds of on-the-job writing, you want to capture the rhythm and flow of conversational language. But you also want to convey your thoughts with authority and conviction.

How can you do both?

That's where the hidden art comes in. Behind the scenes you work to eliminate unnecessary words. What remains still sounds natural, but the compressed language has new power.

Sometimes the difference from first draft to revised copy is dramatic. Compare "Until such time as they stop referring back to the past history of agreements, it will be impossible for us to find a solution to this problem" with "Until they stop referring to past agreements, we won't solve this problem."

Other times the difference is subtle. Compare "In order to write with authority, you need to make every word count" with "To write with authority, make every word count."

It's fine to be wordy in your first draft. When you begin to write - whether you are writing a brief message or a lengthy report - let the words flow, just as you would if you were speaking. But remember, when you speak, you often use more words than necessary to make your point. So after you've written that first draft, take another look and delete the extraneous words. What remains will have much more power.

For example, consider the preceding sentence. Do you see the unnecessary word? Doesn't "What remains will have more power" have more power?

If you're not in the habit of identifying and eliminating unnecessary words from your first draft, you may find the following exercise helpful.

Take a sentence of your writing from any source available to you. Count the number of words in that sentence. Place a $5 bill on your desk for every word. Now delete the unnecessary words. For every word you eliminate without damaging your meaning or harming the natural rhythm and flow of your language, pick up and keep a $5 bill. The next time you write, imagine that you're paying $5 for every word in your message. Making every word count adds power to your writing.

Let's do that exercise with the first sentence in the previous paragraph: "Take a sentence of your writing from any source available to you." Can you save $15?

Personally, I don't think "available to you" is worth a nickel, much less $15.

Now consider the second sentence from that paragraph: "Count the number of words in that sentence." Do you see where you can save $10? Isn't "Count the words in that sentence" better? You might even eliminate the last $15 worth of language.

One more sentence: "Imagine that you're paying $5 for every word in your message." Subtract $5 worth of language.

Hint: John Lennon didn't write, "Imagine that all the people / Are living life in peace." He wrote, "Imagine all the people / Living life in peace."

Stephen Wilbers offers training seminars in effective business writing. E-mail him at wilbe004@umn.edu. His website is www.wilbers.com.