“I’m writing to you, and then what?  » : how to stop being afraid of a white sheet

“I’m writing to you, and then what? » : how to stop being afraid of a white sheet

When it comes to writing a coherent text, whether it’s a business letter, a work report or a letter to a loved one, many of us lose the power of our words and the firmness of the hand. Does the white sheet also scare you? VOICE knows how to handle whiteness.

Finished the start

The main mistake is to try to write an introduction, or at least the first sentences of a text that you have to create. Enter from the other side, namely: take a white sheet, of which you are so afraid.

Start thinking about the future text with a pencil in hand (select 3-4 sheets of paper for this so as not to be afraid to spoil everything). First define the task: the title of the article or document, the question to be answered, etc. Then calmly think about what you would like to say. Feel free to draw pictures or patterns – no one will see them, but the sheet will become less and less white, and this is proof that you are no longer at the beginning of the journey. When a fragmentary thought arises, correct it. Don’t worry about the wording, the main thing is to remember what you were going to say. At this stage, do not try to make a coherent plan, this could block the work. Simply store valuable ideas in the order in which they arrive. When there are more than three points, the fear will be removed as in the hand.

Release the brakes

The main obstacle at the initial stage is trying to do it right away and very well, for example, writing an introduction that will intrigue the reader, or clearly and clearly expressing the main idea. It is very difficult to compose the first sentence if you have convinced yourself that it must contain the deepest archival meaning. So don’t worry! Simply sketch ideas and build your work on the text in several steps.

Our program will help you calm down and continue working, even if an idea is awkwardly expressed at the beginning. So what? Then you will make a “candy” out of it.

draw a skeleton

When you jot down ideas and review them, you will be able to understand how best to organize them and what structure to choose. Of course, there are many, many genres of texts, and each of them has its own structure. But there are several main ones that are suitable for so-called pragmatic texts – those that primarily inform people (we are no longer talking about literary texts here). Now more.

  • Advantages and disadvantages. In this form, you can write analyses: starting with responses to business proposals and ending with responses to marriage proposals. Your ideas can be constructed either according to the scheme “arguments for – arguments against – a more meaningful conclusion”, or “for each argument – a counter-argument”.

  • Reasoning. This form is intended for texts that need to convince someone (for example, to prove to the boss the advantages of your ideas). In this case, the arguments are linked: “the statement – therefore… therefore… etc. “Or they can be listed independently of each other: ‘first, second, third’.

  • Report. You have to record the facts and, above all, choose the right principle to present them. Chronological (if you are writing about the course of the company party) or sequential, from the most important to the least important (if it is a weekly report).

  • Writing. Having threaded ideas on such a “skeleton”, you will no longer have a blank sheet in front of you, but a plan according to which you can safely compose a text. And there he is already a stone’s throw away from writing the introduction and conclusion. They will come by themselves when the main part is ready.

Source: The Voice Mag

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