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When we are writing something in the business, the first question that pops up in mind is what is the purpose? There is nothing ever achieved if you do not know the purpose of it! So, first for anything in business or life, ask yourself, what is the purpose?

Now, there can be different purposes for so many things for writing them!! Right!

1. Explain or justify actions already taken
2. Convey information
3. Persuade readers
4. Delver good or bad news
5. Compel action

It is very important for the person to first understand the need of the reader. What exactly do they expect, what they need to know and how they prefer to perceive the information. So, when you plan, write and revise according to your readers point of view, there are high chances that they will better understand what you are trying to say!

To be able to write from the perspective of the readers, there are following things that you need to do –

1. will my readers be receptive, indifferent or resistant to my message?
2. What will my readers already know about the knowledge I am going to share!
3. How much of the technical information do the readers actually can understand?
4. What is expected by my readers in terms of length, degree of detail, tone and characteristics of the document I will be sending!

You must remember that most readers are very busy and so it is very important for you to come straight to the point so that you can help them in understanding the content better!
THE DIVERSE AUDIENCE

Most of the documents that you write go to diverse audience for them to read! It could be people with varying expertise and interest in your content. It is hard to write for a large diverse, group of readers, especially if you do not know all of them!

THE SCOPE

Well, this is the most important thing when it comes to writing content for the users. The users do not need the entire information! No! They are simply looking for certain details which has to be completed. Once that is done, there is nothing more that can be done!

The scope is how broadly you are going to cover the subject that is being discussed. Once, you have discovered the purpose, audience and scope you need to generate the ideas for the content you will want to include. There are a lots of ways to brainstorm from unstructured to structured approaches. You can be using whatever method that works best for you. It is important for you to get all your points across.

The best way to begin writing is to start off by writing randomly! So, you need to write freely for at least 10 minutes a day! Even if you get stuck, it is always a nice idea to put it down and keep on writing. Make sure you do not edit your work and keep on working on it.

For a structured brain storming method, you need to have the following –

1. Write the purpose of your document.
2. Put a circle around your purpose.
3. From that circle, make lines that points outside. In those lines, write down the ideas related to that purpose.

You can right down the questions that the readers might have to ask you. If you have difficulty thinking about these questions you can ask your readers for help!

ORGANIZING

When the ideas have been brain stormed, the next most important thing is to organize the ideas. So, you need to find the sequence of information and the key ideas that you are going to put in.

Create an Informal Outline

For creating an informal outline, you need to find the three main points you will want to present. Make sure you write those points as full sentences with no spelling mistakes and grammatically correct. When you write your first draft you need to find the supporting points as well to create the draft.

The Traditional Outline

The traditional outline helps in creating the individuals the first draft as it helps them to write down logically their content better. There are different organizing methods that you can use to make your message clearer to the reader. Some of the common organizing methods are –

1. Order of importance – This means that you are developing the document for the user in a way which specifies the importance order.
2. Chronological – In this case, the documents are traced as per the series of the events.
3. Process and Procedure – In these types of outlines, you are actually specifying the various process or procedures for doing something.
4. Compare and Contrast – In this case, you are going to be doing the feasibility studies, research results and planning the reports.

THE FIRST DRAFT

When writing the first draft, it is important for one to understand that there is a reason it is called a draft. The simple reason being, that it is not perfect and it is not complete. There are going to be so many changes that will happen over a period of time in your first draft. It could be spelling, grammar or for that matter even the entire content. Getting first draft down has lot of benefits –

1. It focuses on the key ideas that you would want to document.
2. The first draft is usually the simplest of one and does have so many mistakes that you can always be improving on it.

BE COMFORTABLE

It is important for you to understand that there is nothing more important than being comfortable in what you are writing. Improvisation is another thing, but the basic concept of yours is required. You got to be comfortable in whatever you are doing and then move ahead with it. Start writing and once you get comfortable with what you have written then move ahead with the next topic that you are going to be comfortable in.

Timing

Now, the reason first draft is the easiest one is because it requires you to simply pen down your points. It is the simplest version of whatever you are doing! So, when writing the first draft simply draft it! Put it down in a timed manner and then move on with it!

One at a Time

There is nothing like doing everything at once. So, when writing your first draft you need not to be proof reading it or editing it. When you are writing the first draft, just write it. Without thinking, this or that! There are certain things that you need to know when you are writing your first drafts –

1. Trust yourself – First drafts are meant to be shitty!! Yes, they are! There is nothing that you can do about this! So, just write them.
2. No grammarly – There are so many tools available online that you can use to improve your grammar or to check the work. But, you should be the one resisting them. So, instead of going for the improving your grammar, just go with the flow.

REVISION

Has there anything been done without doing any revision!! Well, no, right? There cannot be anything done without any revisions! This is true in case of the first drafts as well. Once the draft has been written, you need to just go and start doing your revision. Structure the draft, make the necessary changes in it. You need to be sure that you have put the key information for the readers. Make sure that the information is accurate and as per the needs of the readers.

Now, since you are revising your article, you need to be doing the following –

1. check your items with grammar
2. Look for common problems in the vocabulary, such as affect or effect!
3. The friend needs to review it!

STRUCTURE

When building the first draft, some of the content may or may not flow smoothly into it. So, when you are structuring the content, it is important for you to understand it and structure it. Put the logical reasoning where it is required and then move ahead with it. You have to position the key messages strategically. So, if there is something that is important, try placing it in the front rather than later on!

Focused Paragraphs – No one wants to read a content that is haphazard in a manner that is difficult to understand. So, it is better for you to know what your main idea is and to revolve your paragraphs according to it! Characteristics of focused paragraphs are –

1. It concentrates on one idea or topic that relates to the purpose of the paragraph.
2. The first sentence is the topic sentence that talks about the main theme of the passage. Then there are the supporting paragraphs.

Smooth Transitions

When the individual is reviewing their topics or paragraphs, it is important to understand if there is a smooth transition of the paragraphs. If the transitions are smooth, the users are very likely to understand your train of thought. You can use transitional language like meanwhile or although when moving from the paragraphs to paragraphs.

Style

It is important for you to have a style for the passage. It could be anything, formal or informal but there definitely should be one and you must not be changing them.

Be concise

No one wants to read those long, rather very long passages or e-mails. To make your reading concise, you need to be using the minimum of the words. Instead of using those long, complex words, use the easier ones !

Visuals

There can nothing be ever better than a document with some amazing visuals.

Readers often want to be able to understand the entire content without having to read the content entirely. For this purpose, you need –

1. headlines that highlight the most important topic
2. adequate white space
3. bold and ittalics type phase
4. tables, diagrams and charts along with other things!

Feedback

There is nothing more important than having a good feedback! When you have completed your document, ask people to give you feedback. Pay attention to what your colleagues have to say about the document and also what your intended readers might have to say about it.

WHY WRITE

Now, the most important question that arises is why are you even writing? Seriously! There has to be some reason for which you are writing, right? Well, although for some writing is the most beautiful thing that they can do, it is also very important in building your career.

By sharpening your writing skills, you can –

1. Prove quickly that the issue is important – not just to you but to your readers as well .
2. You will not waste time in conveying the information.
3. You will be able to write with much more clarity making it easier for your readers to understand it.

When people read a business document, they want to know the key message as soon as possible. Because, after all who has the patience!! You need to write and eventually land yourself up in a position where your readers do understand your thing!

It is important for you to put the most important content first, no matter which situation it is!
You need to place the key message at the beginning of your document.

Put each section’s most important passage in the first part of the paragraph.

Happy Learning 🙂