Beginner

Formal writing

No matter what profession one chooses, formal writing is always a part of our lives, and for those who are professional writers it can often be harder than for the rest of us.

One good thing about writing a formal letter – be it to a landlord, an employer, a corporation or a bank – is that we can always find templates in letters we have received, or online. This can be particularly helpful for people who are attempting to write formally in a foreign language. Spanish, English and Italian language courses are of course always available but often the best way is to use the help of Google.

Of course, even if you choose to study German or French at St Georges UK, formal writing tends to be laden with needless synonyms so a thesaurus is always helpful when trying to write in a more formal manner as well.

Fiction

Most people have at some point attempted to write a fictional story of some kind, but writers block can often show itself during the first stages of attempting the work of fiction, so the best idea is to create a plan. This can be a vague sketch of an idea or a detailed summary of each chapter – regardless it will help with the writing process.

The first thing to do is create a plot. Write a plot synopsis of around five per cent the length of the final story and outline the events which will be set out. The next main point of planning is character development. Sometimes it helps to create moodboards with the personalities and pasts of the characters set out graphically.

Once these two main elements of preparation have been completed you can start writing. Set yourself a target for each hour, day, or week and force yourself to comple

te them. By following these steps all you need is a good editor and you’re on your way to writing your first novel.

Love letters

Letters in this day and age are not necessary for us to communicate. Electronic advances have made it simple to pour out our thoughts in one fell swoop and click on a button for it to arrive at the recipient’s inbox. We can even Skype or Facebook chat with people on the other side of the world on a daily basis at no cost, making the old-fashioned love letter redundant.

However the lack of necessity has made this form of communication all the more appealing to people with a sense ofnostalgic romanticism.

To write the perfect love letter it’s important to use evocative language, often best achieved by metaphors and similies. If you’re not the most accomplished of writers or you find it hard to put your feelings into words, you can buy collections of famous love letters written by anyone from Beethoven to Lewis Carroll. Handwrite this to your love and post it. Even though the words aren’t yours the effect will be just the same.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post. If you like my website, how about voting for me in the Macmillan Dictionary Love English Awards 2011 (Best Blog)