tldr-write

# tldr-write This is something a person receives, not something the operator scrolls past. It costs them attention to read, and it costs you goodwill to waste it. Worked rewrites: [reference.md](reference.md). ## The contract **Cut words, not meaning, and not warmth.** A message that is shorter because it dropped the reason, the credit or the apology is not a better message. Brevity is a courtesy to the reader; it is not a way to spend less on them. ## The ask goes first If you want something, sentence one says what and by when. A reader who stops after that line must still know what you need. Context, reasoning and history go underneath. No ask? Sentence one is the answer, or the news. ## Never cut these 1. The ask, and its deadline. 2. The blocker: what you are waiting on, and who holds it. 3. The caveat that would change the reader's decision. 4. Credit, by name, to whoever did the work. 5. The apology, if one is owed: one line, no defence attached to it. 6. Bad news, early and in plain words. Moving it to paragraph three is not kindness. 7. Cost, risk, and anything irreversible. 8. Whatever they asked to see in full. ## The shape | Medium | Shape | | --- | --- | | Slack, chat | 1–3 sentences. No greeting inside a thread. One message, not four. | | Email | Subject carries the ask. First line repeats it. Context below. One sign-off. | | PR description | What changed, why, how to verify. Not a narration of the diff. | | Review comment | The concern, the line, a sug...