This is the process that takes place before you actually start writing – all the pre-writing activities you perform before your first draft.
Answer the following five questions in your mind, or jot down the answers in a notebook:
- Why am I writing?
- Who is my audience?
- What is my subject (broad theme) and topic (narrow theme)?
- What am I going to say?
- What style, attitude or tone will I use?
DID YOU KNOW?
There are a number of reasons for an article to exist – the main purposes of writing are:
- PERSUASION: selling an idea, convincing your readers about something
- DESCRIPTION: describe a person or a place or a thing using adjectives, metaphors, similes or adverbs
- EXPOSITION: this type of writing explains an idea or gives information about a subject
- NARRATION: when you take the reader through a series of events in time
THINK ABOUT IT
Analysis is not the sole domain of the grey suited bean counters of the world – cool and interesting people like writers use analysis all the time to break a whole into smaller chunks to see how they all fit together.
Analysis is used to narrow down your topic into a crystallized idea, and this forms the purpose of your writing. Your purpose then will determine how you write and what you write.
As an example, you can write an article about a helicopter – specifically a Blackhawk military helicopter. If you were writing for a particular type of audience (readers of a brochure for a military weapons manufacturer for example) your article would be filled with specifications about weapon systems, high-tech navigation and safety features. Your writing would include very formal words and specific terminology, as well as subtle persuasive sales techniques to convey the benefits of owning a Blackhawk helicopter.
You could write for a different audience altogether and create a narrative about how a Blackhawk helicopter was used to rescue a pregnant woman from a tree during flooding in Mozambique. You would use much less formal language when writing this piece, including words to convey the emotion of the life-threatening situation and the relief of rescue.
Persuasive language entails FORMALITY, SIMPLICITY, CLARITY, LOGIC, REASON and EVIDENCE.
Descriptive writing entails EMOTION, IMAGERY and METAPHOR.
DO YOU KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE?
Your readers vary greatly in age, attitude, opinion, education and background. You can’t write in the same way for everyone. As a writer you need to be a chameleon and adapt to your audience – experts on nuclear fission are not the same audience as three year old girls.
As yourself the following before you start writing:
- What do my readers know about this topic?
- What knowledge gaps might exist between my readers and this topic?
- What style and tone would be most appropriate for readers of this piece?
- Are readers likely to hold certain attitudes or opinions towards the topic?
WHAT SHOULD I WRITE ABOUT?
Choosing an appropriate subject or topic is part of the prewriting process.
How would you do this?
Firstly, is the topic interesting to your audience and, most importantly, will they get it, according to their background and knowledge?
Is your topic relevant to your audience? You wouldn’t sell snow to an Eskimo, would you? Write about topics that interest your readers and that they can relate to.
E.g. an article about how to tile a bathroom would be interesting to a newly-wedded couple moving into their first house, but would bore teenagers to absolute tears.
Remember:
Subjects are broad categories e.g. animals, entrepreneurship, ship building, space travel
Topics are narrow, specific subjects e.g. lions in captivity in Baghad, how to manage a sushi-on-the-go business, the importance of waterproofing in submarine construction, the effects of prolonged periods in space on the human body
WHEN YOU HEAR THE TONE…
How you feel about a particular topic will be expressed through the TONE that you use in your writing.
You could come across as positive or negative, sad or funny, personal or formal, angry or relaxed.
Identify the most appropriate tone that will resonate with the topic and your audience – and be consistent with it throughout the article.
Onwards to Part 2 of The Writing Process: Preparation
