Chapter 3 Reading Reflection

After using the techniques of Chapter 2 to gather and organize information, we finally can put pen to paper and write our message. The writing itself can be improved in three specific ways: clarifying our purpose, following an appropriate pattern, and strengthening the content.

First, we must clarify our purpose. One idea for doing this is writing a "working title" and putting it in a place where we can see it. This will remind us constantly of the purpose of our writing and prevent us from meandering off on tangents that don't apply to our main theme. A "working title" isn't necessary, but the idea behind it is- always remember our purpose.

Go back a few years (or possibly more) to High School English class, and you will probably recall that compositions should be written in an organized way, following an appropriate pattern. In the opening paragraph, we generally present the theme of the paper. Depending on the complexity of the paper, we can also include an agenda, which maps out the main points that the reader can expect to see. As an example, look at the first paragraph of this blog entry, where I presented the topic of the entry and the main points I will cover in the three paragraphs. What you are reading now is the body of the paper, which contains information that should be clear, correct, complete, and compelling. Lastly, we finish with a final paragraph to wrap up what we have learned and summarize the key points and takeaways. This method, taught all those years ago by your English teacher, is effective because the reader can follow the organized thought-process of the writer.

Strengthening the content of our writing is extremely important. We want our writing to be memorable, and the options for doing so are virtually limitless. Some examples of creative ideas are including visuals, simplifying key points, telling stories, using imagery, and repeating key words. Whatever our methods, we should try to do something different to liven up our writing and keep the reader engaged. When strengthening content, we can remember the acronym CLOUD, which stands for coherence, length, organization, unity, and development. If we focus on strengthening these five elements of our writing, the content will be strong, and the reader will more likely be engaged. 

As we put pen to paper, we must look at the big picture and remember our main purpose. Then, we should follow a pattern so that the reader is not confused by our writing. Last of all, we need to engage the reader by strengthening the content of our writing. These ideas will make for more successful writing, businesses, and societies as a whole.