54 You Have a Book in You Keep Paragraphs Short Ernest Hemingway said that writing was easy; it only became di昀케cult if you expected somebody else to read what you wrote. 吀栀at’s what we’re learning to do here: write so that not only somebody will read it, but will want to read it and want to keep on reading. To keep your readers reading, limit chapters to ten pages or less. 吀栀at’s the length even the most attentive readers can absorb before they go to sleep at night, wait on the plane at takeo昀昀 or landing, sit in the bathroom, or avoid the work they have to do on their computer. As much as possible, start the sentences with action- oriented verbs. 吀栀e master of this is Dan Brown in 吀栀e Da Vinci Code. I have read all of Dan’s books, and no one puts more action into a sentence, paragraph, or an entire book than Dan does. It’s amazing how following a few simple rules can help you keep your readers reading. For instance, market research has shown that consumers respond much better to ad copy when the paragraphs contain no more than eight lines. It doesn’t really matter how long the whole ad is. In fact, longer ads are usually better. (吀栀e best long form copywriter is Jay Abraham, my great friend and the man with whom I share the same birth date as Elvis Pres- ley.) But within the document, the paragraphs must con- form to the eight- line limit.