Whether you're writing a blog post, a report, a book, or any other type of text, having a clear and effective structure can make your writing project easier and more successful. A good structure helps you organize your ideas, communicate your message, and guide your readers. But how do you create a structure that works for your writing project? Here are some tips and steps to follow.
Before you start writing, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and who you are writing for. Your purpose and audience will determine the tone, style, and format of your writing project. For example, if you're writing a persuasive essay, you'll need a different structure than if you're writing a descriptive story. Similarly, if you're writing for a professional audience, you'll need a different language and tone than if you're writing for a casual audience. Think about what your main goal is and who your intended readers are, and tailor your structure accordingly.
A successful writing project is direct related to its structure. So, always take care while designing the structure. Consider these points - Clear your writing project purpose, audience, and message. - Create an outline according to the purpose - Draft introduction and conclusion - Research relevant materials - Create a style guide according to the writing project or reference relevant style guides like APA, Harvard - Work on required media - Calculate the timeline for each structure part - Create a schedule to track the progress of each structure part - Proofread, edit, and revise your structure - Finalize your conclusion
At this point I use ChatGPT to write an outline for me and fill in some text. Generative AI is imperfect and needs to be edited, but drafting an outline is the best first step to structuring your writing project. After that, I think good research is very important. Sometimes I ask Alexa for material, but her sources are questionable so I double check them myself. Still, automation today is outstanding and very helpful.
Depending on your purpose and audience, you'll also need to choose a suitable format and genre for your writing project. A format is the way you present your text, such as a blog post, a report, a book, or a presentation. A genre is the type of text you write, such as a narrative, an argument, an analysis, or a review. Each format and genre has its own conventions and expectations that you need to follow. For example, a blog post usually has a catchy title, a short introduction, subheadings, images, and links. A report usually has a title page, an abstract, an introduction, a methodology, a results, a discussion, a conclusion, and references. Choose a format and genre that match your purpose and audience, and follow the guidelines and best practices for that type of writing.
Once you have your purpose, audience, format, and genre, you can start outlining your main points and subpoints. These are the key ideas and arguments that you want to convey in your writing project. You can use a brainstorming technique, such as mind mapping, freewriting, or listing, to generate and organize your points. Then, you can use an outlining technique, such as alphanumeric, decimal, or full sentence, to arrange and label your points. An outline will help you create a logical and coherent structure for your writing project, and make it easier to write and revise later.
After outlining your main points and subpoints, you can write your introduction and conclusion. These are the parts of your writing project that introduce and summarize your topic, purpose, and main points. Your introduction should capture your readers' attention, provide some background information, and state your thesis or main argument. Your conclusion should restate your thesis or main argument, summarize your main points, and provide some implications or recommendations. Your introduction and conclusion should be clear, concise, and consistent with your tone and style.
The next step is to write your body paragraphs. These are the parts of your writing project that develop and support your main points and subpoints. Each body paragraph should have a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence. Your topic sentence should introduce the main idea of the paragraph and connect it to your thesis or main argument. Your supporting sentences should provide evidence, examples, explanations, or analysis to back up your topic sentence. Your concluding sentence should summarize the main idea of the paragraph and transition to the next one. Your body paragraphs should be coherent, cohesive, and relevant to your purpose and audience.
The final step is to review and revise your structure. This is the process of checking and improving your writing project for clarity, accuracy, and effectiveness. You can use a checklist, a rubric, or a peer review to evaluate your structure. You can also use tools such as spell checkers, grammar checkers, or plagiarism checkers to correct any errors or issues. You should review and revise your structure at different levels, such as word choice, sentence structure, paragraph structure, and overall structure. You should also make sure that your structure matches your format and genre requirements. By reviewing and revising your structure, you can enhance your writing project and achieve your goals.
An oldie but a goodie, never neglect an idea, a thought, or a quote that comes to mind for your writing project. Find a way to note it down so you can later return to it, reassess, try expanding on it, and seeing how it fits into your work and whether it is necessary. Even if it gets discarded, you may find that it yielded other important ideas to expand on.