By Dana P Skopal, PhD
Though writing has been a central theme of our blogs, we have also been asked many questions about planning a document. When speaking with managers or university students, key points to emerge have been how to plan their document and how to structure their argument. The first step of any planning is your critical thinking to frame your argument, and that process should be based on reliable evidence.
Planning may require you to have a key question in your mind. For a business case, that question could be what solution you are recommending to management. For a university essay, that question links to framing your thesis statement. That solution or thesis needs to clearly present the position you are taking in relation to the issue or question at hand.
For many writers, to get to that solution or thesis is not an easy path. Our minds are often in overload with the many details that we have read. So step back and ask yourself: what am I really trying to say? What do I want my reader to do?
We write to record information and often to persuade the reader to act or make a decision. You may often need several arguments/reasons for recommending a course of action. However, the arguments cannot be buried in your descriptive information, as that is a sure way of losing your reader. When drafting, our minds are full of that descriptive information.
Writing an argument or business case for anything requires planning and critical thinking. One method is to plan with dot points or notes, as you can work through the material and decide on your main message or thesis. Your readers want you to argue/present your case clearly and not bury it in descriptive information.
We say a writer is not ready to write their final draft until they can articulate their recommendation or thesis statement with minimal contextual information. Perhaps go for a walk and see if you can state what you want (recommendation or thesis) with the why (reasoning). Once you can do this, then go and start writing; you have done the key step of critical thinking rather than merely reiterating descriptive information.
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