what do you want the reader to do?
After you decide why you are writing, you need to determine your reader's response.
Your readers need to know exactly what you want them to do. Therefore, you should be very specific when determining your reader's response. Compare the following two sentences:
1. Please therefore pick up your renewed card at your earliest convenience.
2. Please pick up your new card at our Central branch by 31 May.
Sentence 2 is more specific than sentence 1.
Remember: when you decide what you want your reader to do, you need to be as specific as possible.
what does the reader need to know?
So far, you've learned how to determine your purpose for writing and your reader's response. But how can you determine what your reader needs to know? The answer depends on:
--why you are writing and
--what you want the reader to do.
Look at the letter again:
20 September 200X We would advise that the card fee would be automatically billed to your card account annually despite your renewed card is remained uncollected. However, annual fee can be refunded provided that the card is uncollected within a certain period and is returned to the Card Centre for cancellation. Please therefore pick up your renewed card at your earliest convenience. We are pleased to be of service. Yours sincerely Simon Tse |
IF Simon
--wants to exp
--expects Mr Roman to understand the charges (reader's response)
THEN Mr Roman needs to know (reader's information)
--WHAT the charges are
--WHY the charges are applied
--WHO to talk to if he has questions
IF Simon
--wants to ask Mr Roman to collect his credit card (writer's purpose)
--expects Mr Roman to collect his credit card (reader's response)
THEN Mr Roman needs to know (reader's information)
--HOW to collect his credit card
--WHERE to collect his credit card
--WHEN to collect his credit card
He needs to know WHO? WHAT? WHY? WHERE? WHEN? and HOW? Some professional writers call these the five W's and the one H. You can use the "5WIH" questions when you plan the reader's information. If you do this, you will ensure that your reader has all the necessary information.
Summary
In this chapter, you've learned the three strategies used in planning. Planning is a key to success in writing. "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."
Before you start to write, you have to plan what to write. You then write according to your plan. When you plan, you need to consider the following:
--the writer's purpose
--the reader's response
--the reader's information.
In other words, you can help your reader by stating very clearly why you are writing and how you expect your reader to respond. The 5W1H questions (who, what, why, where, when and how) help to ensure you have included all the necessary information.
Then, you can provide the information your reader needs to know.
