The art of writing is based on how well you articulate your sentences. It is in the way you present your views and insights enveloped by facts and details. It is a harmonious blend of your thoughts crafted in sentences. Writing is not an art, although we all consider it to be one. Writing is the written expression of what you feel, what you want to say and what you believe in. Writing is an extension of yourself. It is ‘you’. If you want to write you should begin reading. Practice indeed makes a man perfect; however, you should not write to become a better writer, you should read. Reading will help you absorb content, explore insights, be familiarised with new words, and will learn effective and simple ways to write. The term ‘simplicity’ must be the tool with which you should write. Keep your write-ups, articles, blogs, and professional documents including letters and reports as simple as you can. They should be written with clarity and conciseness. To bring clarity and simplicity to your writing you need to follow a few steps. These can be applied when writing an article, essay, or blog. First, you should choose a topic you want to write about. This will bring focus to your thought process. Choose a topic after doing research and selecting one that is aligned with your interest. In the Second step, note down all the important points you want to share in your write-up. You will get these points through research. Third, create an outline. Read the points and write them down the way you will discuss them in the write-up. Begin by writing the first point you want to discuss followed by the second, third, and so on. An outline will give you a direction to write. It will help you to not forget any important point. In the Fourth step, you begin writing the write-up. Here, your first sentence or the first paragraph should have a “hook” to it. A hook is an interesting sentence that attracts the readers’ attention. This may include your opinion, someone’s quote, proverb, a fact, etc. Once you create a hook, that is the ‘beginning’ part of the write-up, you focus on the ‘middle’ and the ‘end’. The ‘middle’ part of a write-up includes your opinion combined with facts and details. Facts are required to bring authenticity to the write-up. Your opinions will bring credibility to your image as a writer. In the ‘end’ phase, you summarize the message, present recommendations and suggestions, or share food for thought for the readers. The fifth step is to use “show, don’t tell”, where it is applicable and relevant. This concept refers to showing the action instead of telling. It is commonly used in fiction writing and to some extent in writing news and features. The sixth step is to read an article for clarity and space and edit it accordingly. In the seventh step, you proofread the write-up for errors related to spelling, punctuation, tenses, etc. Once you are sure the write-up is ready, you send it to a print or digital publication or share it on your blog on social media. The writer is an independent researcher, author and columnist. He can be reached at omariftikhar@hotmail.com and Tweets at @omariftikhar