Writing Skills for Bloggers, Part Four

I believe we have learned something right from part one, two and three.  Now in part four we are going to sum up our series.

How to organize your content

Pre-writing stage

This is the first stage in any writing. It involves the following;

-       Organizing the information of course it all begins with proper identification of the topic

-       Determining the content to include in the text; choosing relevant information and discarding that which is not relevant enough

-       Consulting reliable sources for factual information; this may also include people knowledgeable enough in the field.

Writing the first draft

When data or information has been compiled, you then need to sit down and write the first draft of its content. This step will enable you to examine the flow of your content, its length and quality. Look carefully if your content is too long or too short, cross check the choice and use of words and make appropriate changes, check grammar and the punctuation. Re-examine the entire essay and make necessary changes if any. This process can be summarised as proof-reading and editing.

Writing the final draft

In the opinion of the writer, the final draft should be the most correct or an accurate one. It must contain excellent grammar, well punctuated and paragraphs well structured.

 The three steps discussed above to my opinion are the major ones but in practice and indeed, some writers may have more stages. The ultimate goal is always to come out with the most correct copy of your text. It is not good also to have many stages for you may bore your readers. What is important is for you as a writer to be satisfied that you have produced the best work and on the other hand, your reader to appreciate that indeed the work was helpful.

Paragraphing your work

An essay or any written discourse must be organised in paragraphs. Each paragraph needs to contain an idea expresses as a topic sentence. This therefore means that paragraphs are also units of thought. The topic sentence must be supported with summarised details. It is not wise to have too long paragraphs however; a paragraph shouldn't also be just one-sentence. Some writers supply unnecessarily too many details in a paragraph; it may be good to elaborate but your readers may not have all that time to read long paragraphs. Simply make yourself clear and eliminate some of the irrelevant information.

2 ways a paragraph may be built

1. Topic sentences

-        Development of the topic with supporting details

-        Conclusion which may be a personal opinion

2. Introductory sentence (s)

-        Topic sentence

-        Supporting sentences

-        Conclusion

In my own opinion, this is the general principal. It will enable you produce good articles. However, there may be deviations from the principal depending on the situations. But as a standard you will find this manner of building your paragraphs very useful.

It is indeed difficult for me say exactly how long your paragraph should be. It may range from one sentence to as many as ten or even more. The length of a paragraph may be determines by the kind of genre in which you're writing.

My opinion is that you would make yourself understandable if you wrote short and less complex paragraphs. For example if I had written just a single paragraph in the whole page of this article, I would think I have given too many details, alternatively writing as many as 10 paragraphs in a single page would make my work childish.

Series Summary

Part one highlighted the following aspects

v  Grammar and spelling

v  How to avoid mistakes in your work

Part two discusses;

v  5 mistakes to avoid while writing

Part three talks about

v  3 skills that a blogger/writer must posses

Part four

v  How to organize your content

v  Paragraphing your work