Do you know the format requirements, political requirements and text requirements for official document writing?

Official document writing is the core and most basic part of all aspects of official document processing, and it is also a reflection of the level of personal writing ability. Generally speaking, the format, writing rules, issuance, processing, and management of official documents are clearly defined. As long as we abide by the regulations and follow the procedures, it will be fine. Writing requires you to use your own talents and requires knowledge in all aspects to reflect your comprehensive quality. The ancients said that soldiers have no constant momentum, water has no constant shape, and writing has no fixed method. That is to say, there is no fixed pattern for writing articles. However, official documents have certain rules to follow. As long as you master the basic rules and requirements, it is generally not difficult with the cultural quality of modern people. The following is my understanding of the common requirements for writing official documents:

1. Format requirements

Generally speaking, each type of official document has fixed production specifications and styles. The purpose, scope and content of use determine the format and style of official documents. For example, urgent items and essential items must have special markings. This is to unify the will, emphasize efficiency, and facilitate work. This is the reason why governments at home and abroad, and throughout the ages, have attached great importance to the format of official documents. Many dynasties in the history of our country have different regulations on the names, beginnings, endings, order of statements, terminology, writing, etc. of official documents. Some of the requirements are very strict. If violated, you will be punished at least and punished at worst. Due to the excessive emphasis on format, formalism and documentarianism developed in history. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the General Office of the State Council has promulgated methods and regulations for the handling of official documents many times. In 2012, the format of official documents of party and government agencies was unified, which enhanced its authority. The new regulations stipulate that no matter what type of document, it must generally consist of a title, document number, issuer, confidentiality level, degree of urgency, main sending agency, main text, attachments, time of issuance, copying agency, notes, etc. The attachments, copying authorities, and notes are optional as needed.

2. Political requirements

Official documents serve politics. Format requirements are only external formal requirements, and political requirements are the most fundamental requirements. Political deviation is not allowed in any era. Generally speaking, the following five aspects should be paid attention to when writing official documents:

1. We must comply with the line, principles, policies, laws and regulations of the party and the country. In principle, we must follow the three directions: follow the situation, follow current affairs and policies, and follow the guidance of public opinion.

2. It must comply with the relevant requirements of the superior agency. The higher-level spirit is the basis for the lower-level agencies to prepare and issue documents. Most of the documents issued by the lower-level agencies are to implement the higher-level spirit, and some are further refined to make them more in line with the actual situation of the unit and more operable. Therefore, when writing official documents, you must first learn from the superior documents well. You can imitate the style of the superior documents, but you must be innovative and not be as rough as the top and bottom. Avoid being a sounding board or transfer station.

3. It must be connected with the current official documents. First, it must be connected with the documents of the superiors and relevant departments. If the superiors and other departments advocate it, you cannot deny it from the perspective of your own unit, and there must be no conflict; second, it must be consistent with the documents of your own unit. The existing documents are connected and cannot be inconsistent or self-contradictory.

4. It must be in line with the leadership's intention, or it can be expressed directly as being consistent with the thinking of the leader of the unit. There may be knowledge in this and the writer needs to understand it carefully. If nothing else, no matter how good you think your writing is, it will be in vain if you fail to pass it by the leader. It is true that the level of leadership restricts the quality of official documents, but some people say that "the level of leadership is as high as the level of the secretary", which is one-sided. Remember that the leader is the leader, he leads you.

5. The proposed policies and measures must be practical and feasible. Documents involving policies and regulations are generally more important. Whether the proposed policy measures are operable and easy to implement is the key. We must put ourselves in their shoes and consider implementation. If they cannot be implemented, no matter how good the policies and measures are, they will be useless.

3. Writing requirements

Different from the image thinking in literary and artistic works such as novels, poems, scripts, and essays, official documents belong to the category of logical thinking. It is not to infect readers with artistic images, but to persuade them with facts and truth. It is not suitable to use imagination, fiction, exaggeration, or lyrical techniques to reflect the essential reality of life. Second, it uses narrative, explanation, and discussion methods to express thoughts and ideas in a targeted manner, reflect specific life realities, and reveal the laws of certain aspects of social life. And practical problems, it is not to give people artistic enjoyment of beauty, but thirdly, it is used to solve practical problems. Therefore, this determines the characteristics of official documents in terms of writing, which are: practical, rigorous, accurate, and concise.

1. Practical. Official documents have realistic and specific pertinence in terms of performance content. Downward documents are for superiors to express their attitude towards specific problems and propose solutions, principles, and measures in order to solve problems. Upward documents are for subordinates to reflect new problems, new situations, and new experiences in the work process, so that superiors can understand and pay attention to them, or Put forward suggestions and plans and ask superiors to make decisions. Parallel writing is also about mutual understanding or consultation on certain issues. Therefore, when writing official documents, we should pay attention to practicality, not flashy, and avoid exaggeration and imagination. Practicality is also a matter of time. Official documents are very effective. If the time is delayed, the official document will be meaningless. For example, if you ask for instructions and get a reply, the request for instructions becomes a file. If the notice is implemented, the mission is completed.

2. Strict. First, the language and format must be strict. Requests for instructions cannot be written as opinions or reports, and notices cannot be written as briefings. Documents submitted to higher levels cannot be distributed without approval, and the scope of the documents cannot be expanded at will regardless of the level to which they are sent. These legal, authoritative, and political requirements must be strict, which is a reflection of the efficiency of the agency's work. Second, the writing must be strict. Discussions cannot be written as explanations, narratives cannot be written as conclusions, and expressions cannot be exaggerated. When judging and reasoning, we must be more rigorous and maintain the same statement at the same time, in the same relationship, and in the same meaning. We cannot regard individual phenomena as universal phenomena. Especially conclusive expressions must not be exaggerated or reduced, nor should they use ambiguous language.

3.Accurate. In addition to accurately reflecting the leadership’s intentions, the words must be accurate, the quotes must be accurate, and the numbers used must be accurate. In other words, both qualitative and quantitative measures must be accurate. Words such as "white hair is three thousand feet long" and "Yanshan snowflakes are as big as mats" should not be used. Accuracy is the lifeblood of official documents. "If you put a word into an official document, it will never come out." Once an error is made, it will be very laborious to correct.

4. Concise. Official documents should be concise and clear, to the point, and should avoid formalism such as red tape and clichés. Now that typing and printing technology has developed, there are more and more documents and they are getting longer, which is not a good phenomenon. Mao Zedong pointed out in his article "On Establishing a Reporting System": "The text of the report should be limited to about one thousand words at a time. Except for special circumstances, it should not exceed two thousand words at most." I think it still has guiding significance for the current writing of official documents.

For more official document writing skills, selection official document writing examples, and official document writing classic quotations, it is recommended to study the [Official Document Writing] column of the Public Selection King Selection Network