Snap Language

Stage 1. Think (Step 2)

Writing without a plan is like navigating a new city without an itinerary or a map. You will likely get lost and spend your trip trying to re-orient yourself. Letting things happen as you go along can be adventurous if you’re on vacation; however, it does not work very well if you’re writing on a deadline.

Planning Your Writing

When planning your writing at this stage, consider your topic, purpose, and audience.

How broad or how narrow is your topic?

If you were assigned a specific topic, much has already been decided for you. Other times, your task is to write about a broad topic, subject, or area. Either way, be sure to know both (1) exactly what your topic is and (2) how broad or narrow it is or needs to be.

Your prewriting helped you generate ideas, but you may have ended up with too few or too many ideas. Too few ideas will leave you without enough to write about; too many, and you may not be able to develop all of them well. Make sure you have enough to say about the topic but, at the same time, keep it manageable.

Too little. If you fear you may have too little to write about, use one of the prewriting techniques again but, this time, focus mostly on expanding the ideas you already have.

Too much. If you believe you may have too much to write about, consider limiting its scope to something more manageable. Unless you are writing a book, you sometimes need to throw out what you consider to be good ideas, but that is part of the process.

What is your purpose?

The purpose or reason for writing is very important because it determines the style of writing, the format, and the mode of writing.

For example, if you are writing to describe something, your paragraphs will be structured so that you create a picture in the reader’s mind. If your purpose is to persuade the reader, you need a good logical structure and sufficient, relevant information to support your argument. In a nutshell, your purpose for writing will influence how you write, so your purpose must be very clear in your mind.

What is your audience?

The audience refers to who will read your work. You write for a real audience and an intended audience.

For example, let’s say you are completing a college assignment, and your topic is “the civil right movement in the 1950s and 1960s.” Your real audience is your professor and perhaps some of your fellow students. On the other hand, you may define your intended audience as any college-educated adult interested in American history.

Why Is it Important to Know Your Audience

Knowing or defining your audience helps you decide on how formal and detailed your writing should be. For example,

• If your essay on “the civil rights movement” targets an academic audience, you must use academic English.
• If young children are your target audience, you must use language they understand and explain concepts they may not be familiar with.
• If your intended audience are experts in the area, there is no need to define certain keywords or concepts that you can expect such an audience to know.
• If you are writing for “general audience,” you may need to define keywords and concepts that such an audience might be unfamiliar with.

 Related Lesson

Up Next: Stage 1. Step 3. Thesis Statement and Outlining

  Continue the lesson to learn about creating a thesis and outlining.