Do your research and make a list |
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It's a simple concept: research the predictably important material, get it into your head, let it roll around in there for a while, recognize when it has taken shape, write a draft. A list is a good idea, so are 3x5 cards or electronic note taking. Most important at this juncture, just pursue ideas, keep yourself from thinking that you are really going to discover some final truth. In this step, you find the way to the step that might give a glimmer of truth. Or you could see this step as simply waiting to discover your template: the template is that convenient form into which the thoughts will organize themselves in your mind. When you find the template, you'll think, "Now I know the organization!" But really, it's not a final organization you'll know; it's a way to start writing. To begin a piece of writing, all writers need templates. The template gets writers going. And getting going is of paramount importance since nothing happens if the writer doesn't get going. But the longer you write, the more professional you become at it, the more you will realize that eventually in your process, you reach a point where your template goes to the background and your actual organization emerges--every time. Your main job after writing a draft is to discover the organization that will most serve the reader's needs; the template serves the writer's needs. So do what seems to be the appropriate research, do take notes, and then move to writing. |
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