Learning to write from scratch

When did writing become an essential skill? Was it an essay in middle school? Essays in college? Or was it an annual summary report during your work years? In any of these cases, a basic skill in writing was required.

As a working person, you are constantly required to provide summaries, reports, and documents to your leaders or clients as your years of service increase and you advance in your position.

I was initially just a technical staff, just need to do a good job of the tasks assigned by the leadership, the most involved is the weekly report, monthly summary, annual summary, but even this relatively simple summary I have to think about a day in order to write a small paragraph of what I think is a very good summary. In the annual summary of the meeting I always thought I could use a variety of excuses to avoid, because I am afraid to speak, I do not have the ability to organize the language, every time I speak always say a few words on the absence of their own feel embarrassed.

The decision to start learning how to write was also made at a meeting. As usual, a half-yearly summary meeting was held, and the mood of the leaders was not too good that day, and the atmosphere at the meeting was very depressing and silent, which made me even more nervous. When it came to my turn to speak, originally organized in the heart of the language at the time of speaking do not know where to go, the brain is blank, probably spoke a few sentences of the work of the six months on the speech does not go on. The leader looked at me blankly, I was more nervous, then I said: I finished. The leader looked at me and said: you even have a sense of their own are not? In addition to talking about your work other than no idea? There is no evaluation of their own work efficiency, ability? Asked me a few questions in a row, I do not know how I was, back to the sentence: no. I saw the disappointment in the eyes of the leadership. I saw the disappointment in the eyes of the leadership, instantly my eyes red, and I cursed myself for not competing, I feel very useless, why even such a simple summary can not do? After that I made a decision, I want to learn to write, even if it is just to write a beautiful summary that is also satisfied.

I looked for high-quality writing books through Douban, Zhihu, and other platforms, and finally settled on Mr. Hongdan's "Learning to Write from Scratch" and "Refined Writing: How to Become a Master Writer" books through incessant screening. On Dangdang.com, these two books are also highly rated, so I immediately ordered these two books. After reading them, they really provided me, a newbie, with ideas to write and opened the door to writing.

Today, I'm going to talk about the book "Learning to Write from Scratch", which is written by Hong Dan. Graduated from Zhejiang University, founder of Green Orange Books, contracted author, Collingwood columnist, independent book reviewer, creative writing practitioner, published books are "the pattern of time", "learning to write from scratch", "fine writing: how to become a master of writing". He founded the "21 Days to Love Writing Boot Camp" and has led more than 2,000 people to start writing from scratch. An ordinary white-collar worker has reached such a high level, so it is clear that writing brings more benefits than just writing summaries and essays.

This book addresses the question of how to start writing. It takes you through three steps, from the reasons for writing to the methods of writing, and finally to the management of writing. Step 1 Reasons for Writing, why you should start learning to write and what writing can do for you. The second step of the writing method, will be the title, the beginning and ending, the framework of the article are explained in detail, and give examples. The third step of writing management, teaches you if you write book reviews, movie reviews, after reading and other articles, as well as how to revise the written articles, etc., all of which are explained in detail here. The next step is to explain these three steps in detail.

The first step , the reason for writing

Everyone has a different purpose for wanting to learn to write. I, for example, started writing so that I could write a satisfactory yearly summary, but after delving deeper into the field, I realized that the benefits of writing go beyond that.

Writing skills are used in many situations in everyday life and at work, and those who can write stand out. At work, a beautifully written annual summary will impress your boss, who will recognize your strengths and promote you in this area, allowing you to play to your strengths. In life, people who know how to write can write a great book or movie review after reading a book or watching a movie, and can rely on this to earn fees, which is equivalent to a side business. So writing is the best self-investment in this era, it has made a group of previously unknown people, brought great value in personal business and influence, and realized financial independence through writing.

Writing is the easiest way to record your own life and the life of your family. Xu Yuanchong once said: "Life is not about how many days you live, it's about how many days you remember, and it's about making every day of your life worth remembering. Time is constantly passing, how many things we can remember, with writing against the passage of time and forgetting, but also for their own memories. In today's society, adults are always in a state of anxiety and depression, this kind of depression can't be confided to others at anytime and anywhere, but there is no place to release, so you can clean up your negative emotions through writing. Record your truest feelings in writing, channel your negative emotions, and when you're done writing the pain will be alleviated or even disappear.

Of course there are many more benefits that writing can bring us, and whichever they are, they are all good for self-improvement. So start trying to write and put yourself on the road to excellence.

Step 2: Writing Methods

Once you understand the reason for writing, the second step is to learn how to write. At first writing is a little difficult for us novices, no way to write, no ideas, etc., these are normal. The writing process is roughly divided into: choose a topic - proposed title - the beginning and the end - the framework of the article - the revision of the article these five steps. The process is clear, the steps can be broken one by one.

1, choose a topic

Choose a topic is the first step in the writing process, but also the most important step . We have to choose a good type of theme at the same time, mainly divided into five categories: thought, emotion, cognitive, skills, fun. After clarifying the theme, choose the material according to the theme.

Don't underestimate the selection of the topic, to a certain extent it determines the amount of reading of the article, choose the popular theme, the article will be read higher than usual, choose the cold theme, the amount of reading is likely to be relatively small. A good topic should meet three requirements: the topic is accurate, the topic is original, and the topic is profound. Accurate probably means that it should be realistic, or true. Most readers like real stories so that they can produce ****ing and have a desire to read. Generally readers like to read fresh stories or fresh news, such as so-and-so star's lace news, national current affairs, etc. These latest news can arouse readers' interest in reading. You can also dig into the deep meaning behind something, and see the essence through the phenomenon, for example: read an hour a day, what will happen after a year? This title seems to be a very simple thing, an hour of reading a day, what will we have after a year. But digging into the deeper meaning of it is different, first of all, whether an hour a day can be adhered to, secondly, whether the books we read are useful to us, and finally, whether we have absorbed all of them after reading, and all these factors affect the final result. This type of theme requires us to dig into the deep meaning of it and give our own insights about it so that it can attract readers.

2, the proposed title

After selecting the theme will begin to formulate the title of the article, for writers to compete for the user's valuable attention, the role of the title can not be underestimated, the title to a large extent determines an article's open rate and reading volume. Self-media era, the number of writers is increasing, how to stand out in the thousands of articles to attract readers to read, rely heavily on the title.

The author of this book talks about the four principles of taking the title: sense of value, practicality, uniqueness, and sense of urgency. For readers, why should I spend time to read this article, what can I get or learn from this article, understand what. This needs to be reflected in the title. Of course outside of these two aspects should also have their own characteristics, different from other articles, so that the reader feels that if they do not read this article will feel that there is a loss or miss something. Through these four principles, the proposed title will be more attractive to the reader.

Then how to write the title for the pop-up? The method is described below.

When I brush the article, I am always interested in the title of the question, it arouses my curiosity, so that I have a little open to read the desire, such as: "How to effectively read a book" "Why are you worse than others" "from a monthly salary of 3k to 3w is how to do it" "have you ever spelled out for yourself" and so on a series of questionable titles. This way of asking questions can arouse the reader's curiosity and discuss the matter.

There are also some titles that I can produce **** Ming, like their own experience or their own want to achieve this goal, this title of the article I will also point to read. For example: "eight years in love but broke up" "good people will be hard on themselves" and so on and so forth, so that readers can empathize with, produce **** Ming.

In this fast-paced era, a little behind a step may be replaced by others, so the title if the reader produces pressure or panic, this type of title is also appealing, for example: "you do not work hard to be abandoned by the times," "you will not write, are losing the competitiveness of the workplace," "do not know how to communicate, how long can you survive in the workplace," and so on, this type of title is easy to make readers want to Quickly understand the content of the article, if I do not study, do not understand the content knowledge, I still have the ability to survive, will I lose my job. This way the reader will be eager to know the content of the article, read the article.

There is another kind of title that you can't help but go in and read when you see it, that is, the title provides me with valuable content and makes me feel that if I don't learn about it, I will miss the opportunity to make progress and earn money. For example: "2021 the most valuable investment funds" "This book taught me to manage the team" "workplace promotion just these 8 habits" and so on, can be valuable content for the reader's title, always attract attention.

There are also a few misconceptions about headlines to avoid. Too much title party, this kind of title although to some extent to attract readers, but too much title party and article content seriously inconsistent, will cause the reader's disgust, so that readers have the feeling of being cheated. Don't go spreading some rumors or false news through the headlines and make the readers think that you are irresponsible. When posting articles, you can take different titles for different platforms, don't use one. The algorithm of each platform is different, if the title is the same, some titles will think that it is a stolen article.

The title is crucial to the article, must have their own ideas and routines, more to learn from the title of the explosive article, summarize their own experience.

3, the beginning and the end

The beginning and the end of the article because of the special nature of its position in the article occupies an important position. Whether or not the beginning is wonderful determines to a certain extent whether or not the reader continues to read the article. If the beginning is poorly written, the reader will feel tasteless when reading the first sentence, easy to give up reading. Whether the ending is brilliant or not will to some extent determine whether the article will be able to impress the readers or not. This is why writing an article should pay attention to the "phoenix head" and "leopard tail". A good beginning and ending can improve the quality of the article.

Why is the beginning so important? Psychology has a theory called "first cause effect", refers to the individual in the social cognitive process through the "first impression" of the first input information on the individual later impact. Most people have a "preconception" bias, if the beginning is well written, I will have a better first impression of the article, which makes me feel that the article as a whole will also be good. So whether the beginning is well-written or not, it plays a vital role in the article.

The methods of writing the beginning are also explained in detail. The first is to open the door, in the beginning of the article on the theme or the center of the content, simple and clear, so that the reader understands the purpose of the whole text, understand the central idea of the article. The second is to set up suspense, set up suspense at the beginning of the article to arouse the reader's curiosity and guide the reader to read the whole article. The third is to start with a story, people also like to listen to stories in their leisure time, if the beginning of the story is well written, it will naturally attract readers to read on. The fourth is to start with a question, which triggers the reader's curiosity as well as thinking about answering the question in the article. By asking a question, it sparks the reader's interest in reading and motivates them to find the answer in the body of the text.

The role of the beginning of the understanding, then the role of the end is used to close the title, sublimation of the theme, summarize the whole text, containing philosophy. A wonderful ending can give the reader a deep impression.

We can be philosophical sentences, famous quotes, their own summary, containing the deep meaning of the end of the sentence, these are sublimation of the theme, causing the reader's **** Ming.

4, article structure

A good title, the beginning of the attraction of the reader, then the content of the article should be around the theme of the detailed introduction. When writing an article is always thinking about logical confusion, it is possible to write and write on the subject. So before writing you can practice with three methods: outline method, mind map method and paper enumeration method. Before writing the paper will be their own content outline or related materials listed out, and finally through the finishing in accordance with a certain logical organization of the article. Or use a mind map to list out the outline, in writing according to the outline.

Some times after the outline is still unable to write, we can write a good first draft of free writing, and then adjust the logic of the article when revising, so that the connection between paragraphs is more clear. The skeleton of the article in addition to the overall part to comply with the structure, the articulation between the parts should also be smooth, paragraph articulation, before and after in order to form a whole.

The articulation between paragraphs is also called the transition, which plays the role of the beginning and the end. Transition can be done in four ways. First, transition with words. Associated words transition, such as: however, but, however, etc., indicates a turn. Therefore, so, etc. indicate cause and effect. Transition with ordinal words, such as: first, second, third, etc. Second, transition with sentences, prompt sentence, question sentence, repeat sentence, carry on the sentence, etc.. Third, transition with transition paragraph. Fourth, transition with subheadings.

One's writing is something that needs to be built up over time and cannot be improved in a short period of time. Only through continuous practice, summarize the experience of writing, can slowly write a good article. For newbies can not be rushed, only continue to read, learn, write, and in the long run to write a good article. Give yourself an hour a day to practice writing, in the accumulation of time, there will be unexpected results.

The third step, writing management

The methods of writing have, then you can use these methods to start practicing. For new writers book reviews and post-reading is a great way to get started. After reading a book, writing a post-reading or book review can not only help you understand the book, but also summarize your reading experience.

The difference between after-reading and book review, after-reading is the feeling and gain after reading the book, as well as the evaluation of the book, mainly the understanding of the book. A book review is an overview of the book, an introduction to the author, and an evaluation of the book.

For post-reading writing, it is not required to include all the contents of the book, but only need to choose one or two of the themes that you think are meaningful to write. After choosing a good theme, the collection of information around this point of view, do not just excerpt the material in the book, but to add their own point of view, have their own insights. Combined with their own personal experience or experience, to cause the reader's **** Ming, try to write interesting and vivid.

Book reviews are now more popular in the media a way of writing, roughly divided into three categories: the first category, about 1500 words of book reviews, a brief introduction to the author of the book, encapsulated in the introduction of the book's core ideas, as well as the evaluation of the book, which can be submitted to the paper media magazines or self-media platforms. The second category, speaking book manuscript. Put the essence of a book in their own words to explain, and then use voice to record the audio of the book, released on the audio platform. The third category, book breaking and reading. The book is broken down into 7 to 10 articles, each article tells a chapter of the book latter core ideas.

Whether it's a book review or a book reading, it's all about telling the content of a book to readers who haven't read the book, so that they can grasp the core content of the book by reading your articles. The beginning of a book review or a book talk is very important to pique the reader's interest in reading and to introduce the book's topic. Summarize the main points, the core ideas of the book in a paragraph or two. The main purpose is to give the reader an overview of the book. This is followed by a few sentences about the author and the author's experience, area of specialization and expertise. After the introduction of these to focus on the selection of a few core ideas and their detailed interpretation, each tell a point of view to make a summary, you can add their own insights and gains. Finally, make a short summary of the article, such as which book was shared today, as well as a few important points of the narrative, and so on. This is a book review or speech writing process, you can follow this template for simple writing. After writing the article must be read a few times, do not write and then directly submitted for publication, but to modify a few times, the irrelevant or not fluent places to adjust, so that the article reads fluent and easy to understand until.

There is a lot of material in the writing process, and there is a lot of material in our lives that we can use. Create a library of material and categorize it to make it easier to find, either paper or electronic, I use the electronic version of the easy to carry, easy to find. After categorization, we should always record, some small things in life, small news can be recorded. You can also read books, watch movies and plays to enrich the material base. To constantly update the material, the pursuit of history, but also pay attention to current news, including some emerging vocabulary, etc., encountered at any time to write down, wait until the evening and then unified classification and organization.

Writing is writing about life. The adult world is lonely and isolated, and when you slowly get used to this loneliness, you will be able to read and write to replace the loneliness. Writing is not only about thinking, but also about seeing, hearing, and feeling the life around you. So take writing as a hobby or a side business to operate, so that their lives become colorful, so that they also become confident, why not?