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Five Tips for Effective Writing
While we're all called upon to write in our everyday
lives, there are a number of ways to make sure we're truly getting
our point across. From constructing a resume to composing an
email, there are important tips you should keep in mind if you
want to make your writing as effective as possible.
Step 1: Know Your Point
Before you take the plunge and start typing, figure out what
you want to communicate. Defining your purpose may be simple:
you're writing a resume because you want to get a new job. Or,
you're completing a brief to get a new project launched. Once
you realize your objective, and simplify it in your own mind,
you're well on your way to finding the right words to express
it to other people.
Step 2: Plot It Out
When you're thinking about what to write, it can be incredibly
helpful to make an outline. You don't have to make it formal,
sometimes jotting down a couple of notes is all it takes. The
benefit of creating an outline is that it forces you to organize
your thoughts and zero in on your main points. Outlining is
also an excellent way to make longer assignments more manageable.
When working with an outline you can easily break the project
into pieces while staying organized.
Step 3: Identify Your Audience
The tone and style of your writing greatly depends on whom you
are addressing. If you're writing a cover letter, you may choose
a formal or evocative tone. When working on a proposal, you
may use a more promotional style. Whoever the audience, it's
important to know who they are before you begin writing.
Step 4: Let It Flow
Even if you don't know the precise words you want to use, there's
something to be said for simply starting to write. Once you've
completed your outline, you have a basic idea of what you want
included, then it's just a matter of getting started. No, you
may not write the strongest piece possible on the first attempt,
but actually seeing words on the page is much more encouraging
than staring at a blinking cursor.
Step 5: Draft and Redraft
Even if you believe that you've written something worthy of
a Pulitzer Prize on your first attempt, you are not finished.
Resist the urge to turn your written work out into the world
before proofreading and editing it. Make sure that everything
you wrote not only makes sense, but also addresses your audience,
covers all of the topics you wanted to include and just plain
sounds good.
Taking this step gives you the opportunity to
spot typos, misspellings, missing punctuation and all the other
things that your high school English teacher warned you about.
Some people find it helpful to read their work out loud or have
someone else read it for them as a way to complete the editing
process. Whatever works best for you is a personal choice, but
it is imperative that you include this step if you want your
writing to be the best it can be.
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