La lettre formelle chronométrée n° 1 : 45 minutes

Unité PE-19 · campagne 10 · les formules d'abord, l'argument ensuite.

The formal letter under exam conditions: 45 minutes, 250 words minimum. Start your own timer before touching the page — the time-box is part of the exercise. The letter has one strategic advantage over the essay, and this unit is about cashing it: a large share of its text is formules figées that cost zero thinking time.

So the method opens differently. Before writing a single argued sentence, pose the squelette on the copy: the objet line (nominal — « Objet : contestation de la facture n° 2044-B »), the formule d'appel, and at the bottom of the page the formule de politesse, complete. Thirty seconds of pure recall, and the letter's frame is done. One discipline while doing it: the final formula reprend l'appellation de l'appel. If you opened with « Madame la Directrice, », you close with « Je vous prie d'agréer, Madame la Directrice, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées » — under time pressure the reflex « Madame, Monsieur » sneaks in and mismatches.

The budget: 10 minutes to read the consigne and plan the two payloads — the facts (dates, references, PE-07 style) and the precise request with its delay (PE-08); 30 minutes to write the body into the frame; 5 minutes of relecture in three passes.

The relecture has a letter-specific checklist item: is the demand actually there? Candidates narrate the grievance and forget to ask. Discovered at minute 42, this is repairable: insert one clean sentence before the final formula — « Je vous demande donc de procéder au remboursement sous quinze jours. » A neat insertion beats a panicked rewrite, and infinitely beats a letter that demands nothing.

The practice tests the strategy: skeleton-first, the 10/30/5 split, matching formulas, and the late-repair move.

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