How You Can Write Like An Intelligence Analyst

Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash

Being able to write well — by which I mean with clarity and concision — is an essential skill, even in the TikTok age. People today are both busier than ever and inundated with information; good writing is often the only thing that will make your content stand out.

I’m going to share some of the writing techniques that I was taught as an intelligence analyst and that I, in turn, taught to other intelligence analysts as I became more senior in that world. These aren’t hard and fast rules; there are no ‘right’ ways to write. But they are useful guidelines, ways to help you think about structuring your writing so that people will understand the message you want to deliver.

I was always told to learn the rules first, then to break them as necessary.

Know Your AIMS

Image Courtesy of the Analytic Writing Guide (below)

AIMS stands for Audience, Issue, Message, and Storyline. It’s a simple way to conceptualize the structural building blocks of your analytic paper. Ideally, you’ll have the first three parts finished (or close enough) before you even start writing the final product.