A Writer's Alphabet of Concepts and Clues

NOUNS

Most simply put, nouns name. They can identify a person, a place, an object, a concept, an idea, or an event.

ORGANIZATION

Putting it all together is also ongoing; if it isn't, that shows too; an ounce of now is worth a pound of the night before.

Outlining, whether formal or informal, helps you see where you can go with your work as well as where you've already thought of going. PURPOSE DRIVES ORGANIZATION.

With an outline and a thesis statement in hand, you will find it easier to do your research and then to draft your paper. This applies to any type of writing.

ORGANIZATION--PATTERNS OF

There are several basic patterns for organizing a piece of writing:

spatial--from a point--top to bottom, side to side, as either a stationary or mobile observer; this is the usual form for descriptive writing;

chronological--order of occurrence; this is the usual form for narrative writing and for process analysis;

general to specific--this is the usual pattern for cause and effect analysis, definition, or deductive reasoning;

specific to general--this is the usual pattern for inductive reasoning;

climactic--from the least important to the most important--the opposite of most journalistic writing; this is the usual pattern for division and example, but is also used in descriptive and narrative writing depending on the outcome the writer desires.

OUTLINING

There are a number of forms from which to choose. Sometimes you will be required to create and conform to a formal outline, with the Roman numerals and capitalized and lower-case letters involved. At other times, a less formal outline will do, one which contains only the main ideas you plan to include and their order. Many English composition textbooks present a good selection of outline options.

PARAGRAPHS

A paragraph is a written form of organized thinking which, if well-ordered, will move forward the point of the work until you can reach a conclusion, rather than merely stopping.

A good paragraph is something like a miniature essay. It has one central idea, which is expanded upon with both general assertions and specific statements. It is not a sequence of unrelated statements. Each sentence is complete in itself, yet it is needed to complete the understanding of those which go before it and follow after it.

And, as with an essay, there is more than one purpose for a paragraph and more than one way it can be organized. The most difficult to write are often the first and the final paragraphs.

The opening paragraph should not merely introduce the paper with a bland statement of intent. It needs to cause the reader to want to continue reading. It needs to engage the reader. Some of the ways this can be done include using an anecdote or short story, presenting some surprising facts, or asking a question.

The closing paragraph should wrap up all that preceded it. Don't just stop writing and leave your reader in suspense. Write a real conclusion. For example, you might state what the reader ought to consider doing (especially if this is a persuasive or argumentative paper), present a strong quotation which helps drive home the thesis, or provide appropriate statistics.

The development paragraphs should flesh out the thesis of the paper so that the paper is not a mere skeleton. There are several basic patterns of development: analogy; cause-and-effect; comparison and contrast; definition; description; division and classification; narration; and process analysis. These often are combined, of course, not mutually exclusive, though one will usually be dominant. The patterns you choose will depend on your purpose and audience.

In the 6Th edition of ON WRITING WELL, Zinsser states: "Keep your paragraphs short.... But don't go berserk. A succession of tiny paragraphs is as annoying as a paragraph that's too long....
Paragraphing is a subtle but important element in writing nonfiction articles and books, a road map constantly telling your reader how you have organized your ideas. Study good nonfiction to writers to see how they do it. You'll find almost all of them think in paragraph units, not sentence units. Each paragraph has its own integrity of content and structure." (80-81)