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O P I N I O N
Boilerplate: not garbage
O h boy, just suggesting that I will write about making a case for boilerplates produced an incendiary reaction, not unlike a battle in a Game of Thrones episode. I feel the need to clear the air: I do not support the use of boilerplate information in final proposals to be submitted! In this era of recycle/reuse/renew, instead of discarding boilerplate information, we should embrace it.
❚ ❚ The blank page phobia. Über creative writers, like Jim Patterson, who have series of books based on the same characters, use a framework from the pre- vious novels for jumping into a new one. Basically, we do not have to start writing on a blank page. Starting from scratch is usually a terrifying ordeal, so make everyone’s lives easier by presenting great write-ups previously used to steer your writers in “In this case, I am trying to establish the fact that boilerplates can, in fact, be useful in the beginning stages of a capture plan, or even an ongoing proposal effort.”
Javier Suarez
In several previous articles, I discourage marketers and technical professionals from using such canned language. However, in this case, I am trying to establish the fact that boilerplates can, in fact, be useful in the beginning stages of a capture plan, or even an ongoing proposal effort. Ron Dulek, author of The Elements of Business Writing , said that “clarity is the most serious communication problem in business.” To achieve the level of clarity that results in engaging write- ups, we need to go through a process, similar to how a muralist sketches their vision before ascending a scaffold to start painting. Boilerplates can be that little push that moves us along the right path. Here are some pitches for effective boilerplate uses:
See JAVIER SUAREZ, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER July 8, 2019, ISSUE 1303
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