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Setting The Background In Your Writing
Backgrounds are one of those things that you’ll need to decide whether to include in your writing or not. For most types of writing, setting the background is a wasteful and unnecessary use of your time. There are quite a few situations, though, when detailing the context will be necessary.
Waste Of Space
For a lot of writing, such as those in magazines or blogs, setting a background is a waste of space. Your readers probably know the context of what you’re writing about already. Even if they don’t, your writing should be rich enough that they can pick it up along the way. That goes without saying, of course, that your work should be clear and present all the ideas in an intelligent way, allowing readers to comprehend it without needing a primer. Use a software for grammar and writing construction to help you with that, if necessary.
In business settings, they can work just the same way. If the recipients of your document are familiar with the project or subject matter, a background only serves to require more time to wade through your writing – time that most busy individuals don’t have.
The Reader’s Benefit
Backgrounds should only be included for the benefit of the reader. If your reader has no idea about the context behind what you’re writing and does not have the background experience to figure it out on their own, then setting the environment to inform them should be a good idea.
If you’re going to have multiple readers, some of whom will already be familiar with your background, then separate the background from the rest of the text by giving it an appropriate heading, such as “Introduction,” “Why You Need This Product,” or “The Problem.” That way, those unfamiliar will have a readily-accessible area to derive the background information from while those who already know can just skip it and get to the meat of the matter.
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