The Reader’s Main Question

Up to this point, you have considered your purpose in writing a document and you have analyzed your reader. Now it is time to think about expanding your dialogue with the reader in order to determine your main message and the content of your correspondence.

As you have already learned, for both responsive and initiative documents, your reader’s first question will be “What is this about?” In other words, “What are you recommending, requesting, or informing me of?” In initiative documents, this is the reader’s main question.

In responsive documents, you will answer this first question (“What is this about?”) with a responsive reminder, which refers to the reader’s original request and makes clear the purpose of your document. But then the reader has another question: “What is your response to my original request?” This is the reader’s main question for a responsive document.

Anticipating the reader’s main question is crucial to setting the right direction for your document. You must anticipate this question and answer it appropriately, so that the reader can easily understand what you want.