-- Thomas Williams
When you sit down to write...
- Does your mind turn
blank?
- Are you sure you have nothing to say?
If so, you're not alone! Everyone
experiences this at some time or other, but some people have strategies or
techniques to get them started. When you are planning to write something, try
some of the following suggestions.
EXPLORE the problem -- not the topic
1. Who is your reader?
2. What is your purpose?
3. Who are you, the writer? (What image or persona do you want to project?)
MAKE your goals operational
1. How can you achieve your purpose?
2. Can you make a plan?
GENERATE some ideas
1. Brainstorm
- Keep writing
- Don't censor or evaluate
- Keep returning to the problem
2. Talk to your reader
- What questions would they ask?
- What different kinds of readers might you have?
3. Ask yourself questions
A. Journalistic questions
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
So What?
B. Classical topics (patterns of
argument)
Definition
- How does the dictionary define
____?
- What do I mean by ____?
- What group of things does ____ belong to?
- How is ____ different from other things?
- What parts can ____ be divided into?
- Does ____ mean something now that it didn't years ago? If so, what?
- What other words mean about the same as ____?
- What are some concrete examples of ____?
- When is the meaning of ____ misunderstood?
Comparison/Contrast
- What is ____ similar to? In what
ways?
- What is ____ different from? In what ways?
- ____ is superior (inferior) to what? How?
- ____ is most unlike (like) what? How?
Relationship
- What causes ____?
- What are the effects of ____?
- What is the purpose of ____? - What is the consequence of ____?
- What comes before (after) ____?
Testimony
- What have I heard people say
about ____?
- What are some facts of statistics about ____?
- Can I quote any proverbs, poems, or sayings about ____?
- Are there any laws about ____?
Circumstance
- Is ____ possible or impossible?
- What qualities, conditions, or circumstances make ____ possible or
impossible?
- When did ____ happen previously?
- Who can do ____?
- If ____ starts, what makes it end?
- What would it take for ____ to happen now?
- What would prevent ___ from happening?
C. Tagmemics
Contrastive
features
- How is ____ different from
things similar to it?
- How has ____ been different for me?
Variation
- How much can ____ change and
still be itself?
- How is ____ changing?
- How much does ____ change from day to day?
- What are the different varieties of ____?
Distribution
- Where and when does ____ take
place?
- What is the larger thing of which ___ is a part?
- What is the function of ____ in this larger thing?
D. Cubing (considering a subject
from six points of view)
1. *Describe* it (colors, shapes,
sizes, etc.)
2. *Compare* it (What is it similar to?)
3. *Associate* it (What does it make you think of?)
4. *Analyze* it (Tell how it's made)
5. *Apply* it (What can you do with it? How can it be used?)
6. *Argue* for or against it
E. Make an analogy
Choose an activity from column A
to explain it by describing it in terms of an activity from column B (or
vice-versa).
A ---------- |
B -------- |
playing cards changing a tire selling walking sailing skiing plowing launching rockets running for office hunting Russian roulette brushing teeth |
writing essays growing up growing old rising in the world studying meditating swindling teaching learning failing quarreling making peace |
(Adapted from Linda Flower's Problem-Solving
Strategies for Writing, Gregory and Elizabeth Cowan's Writing, and
Gordon Rohman and Albert Wlecke's Prewriting; largely based on: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_plan1.html)
| 
Get Eurica Organized: Plan Your Paper