This week: Put it in context

Daphne Gray-Grant writes, in the June 10, 2008, issue of her wonderful e-mail newsletter, Power Writing:

I recently finished Steven Johnson's fascinating work The Ghost Map, which is the story of London's cholera outbreak of 1854. This non-fiction book is as exciting as a murder mystery, which, in a way, it is. But I digress... Have a look at the author's description of the population of Dickensian London:

"The subdistrict of Berwick Street on the west side of Soho was the most densely populated...that made up Greater London, with 432 people to the acre."

My reaction a reader? Well, that sounds sort of bad, I thought. But then I read his next line. "Even with its skyscrapers, Manhattan today only houses around 100 per acre." Suddenly, I got the point.

"Put it in context," says Daphne.

This week, look for ways to provide necessary or helpful context for the points you make in your business writing. You'll be more effective if you do.