Use Real-Life Templates For Writing Success

At some point along the way, most of us have used what are
commonly called "fill-in-the-blank" writing templates. We
might have used them to write a letter, format an essay, or
set-up a resume or CV.

You know what I'm talking about here. It's those form letter
templates that you see in many writing texts and workbooks.

FILL-IN-THE-BLANK TEMPLATES

For example, in the case of a letter, a "fill-in-the-blank"
template would look something like this:

Dear [NAME OF RECIPIENT]:

This is to advise you that your probation period in the
position [POSITION NAME] expired on [DATE].

The [NAME OF REVIEW COMMITTEE] met on [DATE OF MEETING] and
determined that your probationary appointment was successful
and that you should be immediately appointed to [NAME OF
POSITION] [NAME OF ORGANIZATIONAL UNIT].

Accordingly, this is to inform you that effective [DATE OF
APPOINTMENT] you are officially appointed to the position
of [NAME OF POSITION] for an initial period of [NUMBER OF
YEARS/MONTHS]. Terms and conditions of your employment are
covered by [OFFICIAL CONTRACT NAME/NUMBER].

Would you please report as soon as possible to [NAME OF
OFFICIAL], [TITLE OF OFFICIAL] in the [OFFICIAL NAME OF
HR GROUP] so that the details of your appointment may be
properly documented.

Congratulations [NAME OF APPOINTEE]. All of us at [COMPANY
OR ORGANIZATION NAME] look forward to working with you in
the future.

Sincerely,

[NAME AND TITLE OF ORIGINATOR]

Although this "fill-in-the-blank" approach can work, it has
a number of shortcomings as follows:

DISADVANTAGES OF FILL-IN-THE-BLANK TEMPLATES

- Because of their generic nature, they tend to generalize
so much that they resemble a computer generated form letter.

- They don't provide specific information on how a
professional would properly fill in the required information
[BLANKS].

- They don't provide mental stimulation or show how a
professional might word the letter in a specific real-life
context.

- The content is typically watered down to try and cover
every possible situation.

- Thus, they are virtually useless for 98% of real-life
situations, since they lack real-life content.

REAL-LIFE TEMPLATES

On the other hand, here's what a "real-life" template
would look like for a similar situation:

Dear Jessica:

This is to advise you that your probation period in the
position Customer Service Agent (Temporary) expired on
November 30, 2001.

The Staffing Review Committee met late last week and
determined that your probationary appointment was successful
and that you should be immediately appointed as Customer
Service Agent (Ongoing).

Accordingly, this is to inform you that effective December
1, 2001 you are officially appointed to the position of
Customer Service Agent in the Customer Support Group for
an initial period of 36 months. Terms and conditions of
your employment are covered by the Customer Service Group
Employment Agreement.

Would you please report as soon as possible to Jim Jackson,
Chief of Human Resources so that the details of your
appointment may be properly documented.

Congratulations Jessica! All of us here at MedWay Systems
Inc. look forward to continuing to work with you in the
future.

Sincerely,

Sharon Smithson
Manager, Customer Support Group

ADVANTAGES OF REAL-LIFE TEMPLATES

Clearly, the "model" that most of us would rather work
with, if we had to write a similar letter, is definitely
the second one, the "real-life" template.

You can relate to it. It talks about real-life people in
a real-life situation that you can identify with. And, you
get to see exactly how a professional worded it.

There are other advantages to "real-life" templates.

Fully-Formatted Final Versions:
"Real-life" templates are fully-formatted as final documents
so that you can see exactly how they looked when they were
sent out in a "real-life" situation. They don't look like
some kind of "draft" form letter.

Content With Value:
Working with "real-life" templates, it is much easier to
adapt them to YOUR actual situations because they give you
visual and intellectual cues that you can relate to.

Naturally, when you see how a copywriter or consultant has
dealt with a "real-life" scenario, in terms of word choice,
context, and punctuation, it is much easier to adapt to the
real-life situation that you are writing for. In that way,
the actual content has value.

Easy To Work With:
"Real-life" templates are just as easy to work with as other
templates. You simply load them into your word processing
program and edit and adjust them to fit your own specific
situation. Presto! You have a fully formatted real-life
letter ready to be printed and sent out in the mail.

You also have the comfort of knowing that what you are
sending has already been used in other "real-life"
situations.

Real-Life Content:
With real-life templates, it is much easier to find an
adaptable "fit" for the situation you are writing for.
Not only do they give you the final format of a document,
their content provides an excellent real-life sample and
gives food-for-thought to assist you in the writing process.

SAMPLE REAL-LIFE TEMPLATES

For illustration purposes, here are a couple of sample
"real-life" letter templates and one "real-life" resume
template from my Writing Help Central web site:

http://www.writinghelp-central.com/cover-letter.html

http://www.writinghelp-central.com hank-you-letter.html

http://www.writinghelp-central.com/resume-sample2.html

Now I ask you, would you rather work from a "fill-in-the-
blanks" generic template. or a fully-formatted "real-life"
template?