Structuring Checklist

 Ask yourself these questions when thinking about how you are structuring your writing.

• Why am I writing?
• What do I want to achieve by writing?
• Do I want to: shock? persuade? criticize? entertain? inform?
• What is my purpose? What is the most important, significant, or interesting idea I want to show to my readers?
• Do all the ideas in my composition relate to my main idea?
• Where should I put my main idea? Should I put it at the start? save it till the end? lead up to it gradually? repeat it in different ways throughout my composition?
• Will my readers expect me to arrange my ideas in a certain way?
• Do I want to arrange my ideas in the order my readers will expect, or will I surprise them by using an unusual arrangement?

Adapted from White and Arndt, p. 79.

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