Reasons that spelling should be improved are explained, and a checklist presents 10 rules for improvement, including correct pronunciation, visualization of words, and use of memory devices. Spelling rules are noted, differences in British and American spelling are highlighted, and commonly misspelled words are listed. The importance of word choice is emphasized, words often misused are identified, and the use of a thesaurus is suggested. Further, the need for sentences to be grammatically correct is emphasized, and attention focuses on the roles of the subject and verb. Various sentence problems are addressed, including sentence fragments, shifts in person, lack of subject-verb agreement, and misplaced modifiers. Additionally, the role that punctuation plays in helping a reader recognize the proper phrasing of words is explained, and the proper use of commas, semicolons, colons, periods, dashes, hyphens, parentheses, brackets, quotation marks, and apostrophes is examined. Three principles of good writing -- conciseness, completeness, and correctness -- are delineated, and the need for writers to develop flexibility in tone is emphasized. The importance of the police report is considered, and five steps for writing a good report are discussed: (1) gathering the facts, (2) recording the facts, (3) organizing the facts, (4) writing the report, and (5) evaluating the report. Suggestions for recording information in the memorandum book are offered, and guidelines for writing news releases, business letters, and academic essays are provided.