I have written many “articles,”
but none of them are written well. What does it take to communicate
clearly? Communication should be focused on getting a point across
without unnecessary words. This article will serve as a resource for
me when writing future articles, and it begins with an outline.
- Planning:
- Topic: what is it?
- Audience: who is it for?
- Purpose: why is it?
- Scope: how much detail?
- Knowledge:
- Internal: what do I already know?
- External: what research is available?
- Organization:
- Brain Dump: get all the ideas down on paper.
- Order Ideas: combine into an outline.
- Thesis: The purpose, from planning stage (it evolves)
- Body: Organized ideas from brain dump phase
- Conclusion: Restates the thesis, no new information
- Writing: using the outline, write from point to point until the end.
- Editing:
- Content: comparison to outline.
- Paragraphs:
- Topic Sentence
- Main Idea
- Conclusion/Interpretation
- Sentences:
- Length: average in teens, frequent changes
- Structure: Simple, Compound, Complex
- Words:
- Order
- Choice
- Cohesion/Location
- Key terms: keep a similar term for the idea throughout
- Transitions
- Condensing:
- Emphasize important information
- De-emphasize or omit less important information
- Replace or omit pointless words and phrases.
- Reduce intensifiers and hedges
- Avoid writing in the negative
Whenever I have time to write, I will
pick the topic that is most interesting. My audience is my future
self. I will do everything I can to communicate clearly and remove
assumptions. The articles stop as soon as my point is made, because
I respect my readers time.
