When crafting a
piece of writing, consider the following: audience, tone, purpose.
Unless you are
writing an entry in your diary for your eyes alone, throughout your writing,
you’ll need to maintain awareness of your intended audience. I’m guessing
you would write a letter to a family member much differently than if you were
crafting a memo to a coworker.
IF YOU ARE CRAFTING
AN EMAIL IN ALL CAPS, THE READER MAY MISUNDERSTAND YOUR TONE. Similarly,
try re-reading your writing before submitting it, and pretend to be the
reader. How are you coming across? Might you be coming across as negative
and critical, without intending to be? If you want to communicate
something positive, are you in fact doing such?
Why are you writing
what it is that you are writing? Are you writing simply to inform?
To persuade? To argue for or against? Your writing should reflect
your purpose. Feel free to be explicit about your purpose, using phrases
like, “I am writing to inform you...,” or “The purpose of this essay to
persuade the reader..."
I find it helps to
be slow and deliberate when I’m writing something. I draft, and put the
piece away, in order to let it simmer a bit before I polish it. I even
draft these blog posts in advance, for example, and come back to them after a
day or so. Obviously, this does not always work, but it’s useful if you have
the time for it. Approaching your writing intentionally takes practice,
but becomes regular habit after not too long.
Did you ever
miscommunicate because you forgot to consider audience, tone, or purpose?
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