Problem solving writing

We don't have to look diligently for problems in our lives. They have a habit of seeking us out. It seems that if something can go wrong, it will. Countries are fighting each other, the environment is polluted, unemployment is too high, prejudice is still rampant, television shows are too violent, sports are corrupted by drugs and money, education is too impersonal, and people drive so recklessly that you take your life in your hands every time you drive across town. Everywhere we look, someone else creates problems for us — from minor bureaucratic hassles to serious or life-threatening situations. (On rare occasions, we're part of the problem ourselves.)

If you write in order to propose a solution to some problem, you have no lack of subjects. First, however, you may well ask whether your problem is one that can be solved. As journalist Charles Dudley Warner once observed, "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." For the short term, the weather is not a problem that has a solution. We can predict the weather (sometimes), experiment with cloud seeding, or prepare for the effects of hurricanes or blizzards, but wisdom dictates that we accept the weather that comes. For the long term, however, we know that ozone depletion and greenhouse warming are serious weather-related problems that need worldwide planning and cooperation.

If the problem can be solved, the difficult part is to propose a solution for this problem and then persuade others that your solution will, in fact, solve the problem — without creating new problems and without costing too much. Since your proposal may ask readers to take some action, vote in a certain way, or actually work for your proposal, make sure that your readers vividly perceive the problem and agree that your plan outlines the most logical and feasible solution.