I “need” to write one (technically, no one is forcing me to, but I should because I’ve been a less than adequate communist IRL, as much as ill make excuses in my head [nothing horrible, im not a snitch or anything]) but I’ve never written one before.

Is there a standardized way or format of doing this? Or is it simply dependent on the person and the severity of their lapse? Should the focus be on the lapse or should it be on steps to rectify my behavior, or both? Should I attempt to explain why I acted in certain ways (not excusing them, but just explaining why I did what I did so I and others know what went wrong)? Should I not be asking this?