Writer and writing coach at Harvard Business School Mark Rennella offers practical advice for students and budding writers in The One-Idea Rule—focused on a simple principle and designed to bolster writers’ confidence and skills, helping to level the playing field between beginners and those with more experience.

Most advice about writing looks like a long laundry list of dos and don’ts. For those already accomplished as writers, these lists can be a helpful addition to an already-developed communication style. But for teens starting college and young professionals entering the workforce, it can be challenging to wield such complex advice to tackle increasingly demanding writing assignments. 

After a thirty-year career as a writer, instructor, and editor, Mark Rennella has crafted a battle-tested method with these budding writers in mind: the One-Idea Rule, anchored on the assertion that every component of a successful piece of writing should express only one idea. 

As the subjects they encounter become more complex and the length of their writing tasks grow substantially, students and young writers require new approaches to writing that both facilitate intellectual growth and boost their self-confidence. The One-Idea Rule is a writing primer aligned with and empathetic toward these young writers’ needs.

With The One-Idea Rule, writers embarking on their adult lives and professional journeys will have a reliable methodology they can easily remember and count on for all of their writing tasks, as well as increased confidence about the cogency of their writing and its potential for impact in the public sphere.

A respected author, teacher, and scholar with a gift for storytelling, Mark Rennella’s many books, articles, business case studies, and collaborative writing endeavors have garnered him critical praise from historians, academicians, and business leaders alike. He has taught writing and composition throughout his career, including his current role as writing coach for MBA students. His publications include Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders: What the Airline Industry Can Teach Us About Leadership, co-authored with Nitin Nohria, former dean of Harvard Business School. Mark earned a Ph.D. in American history from Brandeis University and has taught literature and American history at Harvard University, the University of Miami and the University of Tours (France).