We don't want to work hard to write a work report. The boss throws out a sentence: "You have written so much, what are you going to say?" ; We also don't want our inexplicable articles to be scolded by readers: "the structure is unclear and the logic is not strict."
So how to organize the materials to write an article with clear framework, strong logic, prominent theme and clear views? Let's look for answers from five books in turn.
Speaking of structured expression and writing, this book is absolutely exemplary, and we will always recommend it on various occasions. Minto graduated from Harvard Business School and was the first female consultant of McKinsey. Because of her outstanding performance in writing, she was assigned to improve the writing ability of employees.
This book was first published in 1973, and it is still very popular today. Nowadays, Gold and pyramid principles has become the standard of McKinsey & Company, and every new employee should receive corresponding training.
So what is the golden pyramid principle? We all have this experience in life or in the workplace, that is, we hope the speaker can get to the point and explain the theme.
Either directly explain ideas and opinions, or directly put forward the problem that you want to solve, instead of talking for a long time, the audience doesn't know what he wants.
Gold and pyramid principles is to conform to the needs of the audience and think and write according to the habits that the audience can accept.
He emphasized that in writing, concrete and abstract conclusions should be given first (that is, the top of the pyramid), and then passed down along the branches. Any superstructure is the summary of the substructure, and the substructure is the answer of the superstructure. Through the question-and-answer dialogue, readers can understand the main ideas of the full text.
This is a top-down expression in writing, and a bottom-up expression if it is a thinking process.
What do you mean? In fact, our brains are naturally pre-loaded with the logical ability of inductive reasoning. In the process of thinking, we will automatically summarize some confusing contents, draw conclusions and deduce according to experience.
Therefore, only by meeting this demand can our articles connect with the audience and make readers feel that the structure is clear, coherent and easy to understand. Otherwise, you will be confused and lose focus.
Of course, this book not only explains the above two ways with theory and examples, but also gives the MECE (no omission, no overlap) principle in the top-down argument process and the SCQA (background, conflict, question, answer) template of the story in the preface, that is to say, even if the conclusion comes first, a ramp should be established to arouse the reader's interest.
Although this book is a classic reference book for structured writing, personally, it is slightly orthodox and boring in narrative. If you feel the same way as me, the following book may be more suitable for you.
Shang Xiao Takayama, the author of this book, has also worked in McKinsey for many years, and is also good at logical thinking and business writing. While applying the "Golden Pagoda Principle", he combined his own experience, and the books written by the Japanese are usually simpler and more vivid. Therefore, it may be more appropriate to use this book as an introduction to structured writing.
In addition to following the "Golden Pagoda Principle", this book also includes the essentials of distinguishing information types, the method of drawing conclusions, how to abstract, how to fully express information in sentences with logical connectors, how to find and set topics with TH method, and how to spread stories with SCQOR story expansion method.
The author's goal is to let readers really master the logical skills they need through some examples. This book is especially suitable for copywriting.
In the book, the author divides information into three types: descriptive, evaluative and standardized. The author believes that sometimes, the unclear expression of the article is that there is no distinction between what kind of information should be used.
My biggest gain in this book is the use of conjunctions. In my recent writing practice, I also found that in order to make the logic of the article clearer, the expression smoother and easier for readers to accept, I should adopt the way of asking myself and answering myself more.
Through the proper use of conjunctions, the ideas to be conveyed are broken and broken, and then the readers are guided step by step, and finally the readers accept and produce.
The above two books are all about McKinsey's golden pyramid principle, and both authors have McKinsey's working experience. Among domestic authors, Li Zhongqiu's Structured Thinking series is a classic work of structured thinking. Let's look at one of them.
Li Zhongqiu's series of structured thinking includes three books, besides this one, there are Structured Thinking and Seeing the World through Logic.
"Structural Thinking" is a local edition of the practical manual of the Golden Pagoda Principle, and the examples are also localized. It is better to understand the Douban score of 7.7 than the book "The Principle of Golden Pagoda". I prefer to see the world through logic, because this book mainly talks about how to discover the essence and laws of things through structure.
On the other hand, the subtitle of structured writing is "Clear mind, write with spirit, and win the persuasion in the workplace". This book consists of three parts: introduction, basic part and method part.
In the basic chapter, it mainly introduces the four core principles of structured writing, namely "theory, proof, category and comparison", which is actually the "conclusion first, comprehensive above, classification and grouping, logical progression" of Jin pyramid principles. The chapter on methods mainly introduces four writing methods of workplace writing situations (transmitting information, summarizing work, persuading others and reporting work).
In each writing method, the author gives a reference template and process, and there will also be localized case support. This part, I think, can be used by a workplace white or a novice writer to practice.
In the process of practicing writing, I have a good understanding of this point: when reading a book, I feel that I know everything, but once I start writing, I don't know how to operate it.
At this time, if you have a reference process and model, then follow the process step by step and refer to the model. Although there is no guarantee that the article is fluent, at least it can ensure that the ideas are clear and meaningful.
And the advantage of reference process writing is that constant practice helps to form structured thinking in writing. Once you form a structured thinking habit, you don't have to worry about the theme is not prominent, the structure is unclear, and there is no logic.
After that, we can focus on other aspects, such as the literary talent of language. So as to achieve the purpose of writing a good article.
Next, let's look at another classic writing book.
This book is a must-read for the Ivy League entrance examination in the United States, and it is also a classic reading of Kaplan, a famous American examination and training institution for 20 years.
The author of this book graduated from Harvard University. His series of books, a little blue logic book, a little red writing book and a little golden grammar book are all benchmarks in the corresponding fields.
If the first three books focus more on workplace writing or practical writing, this book can be said to be applicable to almost all types of writing. Starting from three aspects: structure, style and readability, this book provides the author with 20 important writing principles that all people with outstanding writing ability have.
This book is light, easy to read, easy to understand and learn. At the same time, it covers a wide range. As a supplementary reading material for structural writing, it is appropriate because it supplements the style and readability.
My favorite sentence in this book is: "Writing is part science and part art". The part that needs to be constructed and followed is science, and the part that can be changed according to various situations is art. "
Before writing, we should lay a good "scientific" foundation, master the scientific method of structured writing, and then re-create art on this basis to show the beauty of personality and spirituality.
The last book was reserved for Uncle Akiba.
In Uncle Akiba's own words, this book is: "I will teach you thinking, professional habits and how to build your own knowledge system through writing, which is far more valuable than writing an article."
This book summarizes the common writing skills from seven aspects: frame writing, compound writing, fragmented writing, network writing, structured writing, list writing and repeated writing.
In the structured writing part, in order to make everyone insist on writing, Uncle Akiba gave a writing framework of 10 (Japanese font, list, record, consultation, comment, picture, question and answer, interaction, practicality, chicken soup).
With this 10 frame as a reference, you can write without inspiration. Of course, you still need to practice if you want to write well.
Although this 10 framework is not the structural principle of writing, it is undoubtedly a means that new media writers can imitate and learn from, which can help friends resist anxiety and ensure the daily output of writing.
The above five books can be said to be very representative works in their respective fields, and the authors have a series of corresponding systematic works. Douban score is also relatively high. It is a blessing for our writers that books are so rich now.
However, because of the wide choice, it will also bring us anxiety about choice. Which book to read is good, let's go back to our original intention and choose.
The book that can solve your most pressing problem is a good book, so you should choose it. Otherwise, no matter how good the book is, if it doesn't equal our own cognition and can't solve the current problems, our absorption rate will be greatly reduced.
Of course, choosing books is one thing, and more importantly, writers should keep practicing. Only in the process of continuous writing can we find our own shortcomings and produce problems, and we will have the impulse to continue reading and learning. Otherwise, even if we read 100 books about writing, we will read them for nothing if we don't write them.
Writing is not a talent, but a skill. Only by practicing writing a lot can we internalize the contents of books into our thinking habits and turn knowledge into ability.