Organization
Organization doesn’t have to be as complicated as some people make it out to be. Organization is how you set up the next idea to flow from the previous one.
Tight and To-The-Point
In the news-driven world we live in, sentences have to be tight and without excess words. Paragraphs are set one after the other, usually without regard to any link in between. I’ve seen some periodicals where the paragraphs could just as easily have been bullets.
Background Information
Background information is important. It helps the reader to understand why things are now as they are. The reaction from the reader is, “Oh, I get it now,” when the main concept or information is delivered and understood. Background sets up the story.
Transitions
Transitions are like a freeway on-ramp, off-ramp or cloverleaf. The reader is done with one main highway (or thought or concept) and heads toward the next highway (or thought or concept), but something has to connect these two main roads.
It’s About You and Your Market
You, as a writer, have to take into account the following when it comes to organization and the flow of your writing:
- How do you prefer to write?
- What are your editors or publishers looking for in organizational style? Do their type of publications need all the information up-front or as a gentle lead-in to the big revelation?
- Do the readers want to be kept in mystery, or do they want to finish the article or book section before they get up from the commode?
A lack of decision over organization can cause writer’s block. Go back to figuring out what type of effect you want to produce with your writing.
No organization is a disaster.