This is an I-Heart podcast.

What I told people, I was making a podcast about Benghazi.

Nine times out of ten, they called me a masochist, rolled their eyes, or just asked, why?

Benghazi, the truth became a web of lies.

From prologue projects and Pushkin Industries, this is Fiasco, Benghazi.

What difference at this point does it make?

Listen to Fiasco, Benghazi, in the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of IHeart Radio.

Good morning.

This is Laura.

Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

Today's tip is that most writing is better when you have a simple and strong opinion. Ideally, you can sum up your point in a sentence.

So, try asking yourself, do you come out for it or against it?

You will probably make your writing better as a result. This week I will be sharing

some of my favorite writing tips. Even if you don't write for a living, you likely have to write

from time to time, whether it's emails, reports, or articles for an industry publication.

Years ago, when I was trying to figure out how to structure an opinion essay, and I had talked myself into all sorts of knots,

a wise person asked me, do you come out for it or against it? With a particular matter, it was somewhat of a funny question,

but overall I realized that it is a great question to ask. The point of writing is to communicate

something. You want people to take away a simple idea that they will remember. Yet too many times we start writing without a clear idea or a strong opinion.

We meander all over the place, and at the end of the day, readers can't sum up what we were

saying in a few sentences.

...