开始写作之前要有个计划，这样在写作的时候才会知道自己要写什么、写作的目的是什么，才能更好的考虑用什么样的写作方式。

Chapter 1  Plan

Objectives:

By the end of this chapter, you'll be able to plan your writing. You'll do this by deciding:

--why you are writing

--how you want your reader to respond

--what you want your reader to know

Why do you plan?

What is the value of planning? Think about this...

Have you ever sat at your desk not knowing how to begin? Very often, you may find writing difficult because you start writing right away. In other words, you overlook the importance of planning before you write.  Unfortunately, "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail." So you need to plan your writing ... and then write according to your plan. If you plan well, your writing is more likely to get the results you want.

How can you plan your writing?

Effective writers use 3 strategies.

WHY are you writing?

WHAT do you want the reader to do?

WHAT does the reader need to know?

These 3 questions provide a good framework for planning. Let’s look at them one by one.

Why are you writing?

The business world is full of busy people. They don't want to waste time reading meaningless letters, memos, faxes and e-mails. They don't want to guess why you're writing to them. That's why it's very important for you to state your purpose for writing very clearly at the beginning.

Look at the following letter:

Simon's letter is not as effective as it could be. It's actually quite difficult to identify his purpose. You may have had to guess.

Simon probably wanted to do two things:
--to ask Mr Roman to collect his credit card and
--to explain how the annual fee for credit cards is charged.

So, you need to identify your purpose for writing. Your readers need to know why you are writing to them. Therefore, you should state your purpose for writing very clearly at the beginning. You can do this by writing a sentence which begins with a set phrase followed by a verb. For example,

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