When You _Sit Down_ To
WRITE

PART I--PREPARING TO WRITE THE LETTER--CHAPTER 4


_The weakness of most letters is not due to ungrammatical sentences
or to a poor style, but to a wrong viewpoint: the writer presents a
proposition from his own viewpoint instead of that of the reader.
The correspondent has gone far towards success when he can_
VISUALIZE _his prospect, see his environments, his needs, his
ambitions, and_ APPROACH _the_ PROSPECT _from_ THIS ANGLE. _This
chapter tells how to get the class idea; how to see the man to whom
you are writing and that equally important qualification, how to get
into the mood for writing--actual methods used by effective
correspondents_

* * * * *

When you call on another person or meet him in a business
transaction you naturally have in mind a definite idea of what you
want to accomplish. That is, if you expect to carry your point. You
know that this end cannot be reached except by a presentation which
will put your proposition in such a favorable light, or offer such
an inducement, or so mould the minds of others to your way of
thinking that they will agree with you. And so before you meet the
other person you proceed to plan your campaign, your talk, your
attitude to fit his personality and the conditions under which you