WritingForResults.net is a large site, and it can be a challenge to decide where to start in getting to know it. Here are some areas that you might find rewarding to visit if you've got just five minutes to spare. If you spend five minutes a day for two or three weeks visiting these areas, you'll find that the investment of time pays off handsomely.

• A good place to start is Getting the Most Out of This Site. Five minutes will give you a quick introduction to WritingForResults.net and how to use it.
  
  
• For quick reference on writing a briefing note, visit Classic Format of a Briefing Note. The model format provided there will take less than five minutes to read.

• Early on, spend five minutes looking over the step-by-step model. Print it out and keep it handy. It will serve you well. The model comes in two flavours: a point-form version and a detailed version. Take your pick.
  
  
• If you've written a lengthy memo that you need to shorten, check out How to Fix a Four-Page Memo. Later, when you've got a bit more time to spare, sit down with Abstract vs. Concrete for an hour or so. Another helpful section is Substance vs. Froth.

• Review the Summary if you would like a quick overview of Writing for Results, the manual that forms the foundation of this site. Later, when you've got more time, spend half an hour or so with How to Use the Step-by-Step Model.

• Many fine books have been written on style. But it can take a good deal of time to go through them. The chapter on Style provides quick insight into some of the techniques that are most useful in writing briefings. That chapter is presented in several sections, each of which could be the target of one of your five-minute sessions.
  
  
• Keep in mind that your most important tool in writing a message is a frame of reference – the objective of your message, its audience, the authority needed to send it, a list of possible barriers to its success, and time lines for developing it and delivering it to the audience. Sometimes you will be able to define your frame of reference at the outset. Other times, paradoxically, you may not be able to define some elements of the frame of reference until your message is nearing completion. Either way, it is a vital tool for success. For more details on this step, read Frame of Reference (this will take about half an hour).
  
  
• The templates can save you time in preparing just about any type of document. Take five minutes to become familiar with what's available to you. The templates are divided into four sections: (1) Letters, Memos and Briefing Notes; (2) Briefing Books for Meetings, Events and Trips; (3) Briefing Books for Missions Abroad and Extended Domestic Trips; and (4) Streamlined Briefing Books.

Reading this page should have taken you less than five minutes. Make a point of spending five minutes a day reviewing the site as suggested above. You'll find that this modest investment of time will repay you many times over by increasing your effectiveness and efficiency in writing.