Organizing Your Details

With a clear thesis in mind, you may need to design a writing plan before you star your first draft. Your plan can be anything from a brief list of ideas to a detailed sentence outline.

1. Study your thesis statement.  It may suggest a logical method of organization.
2. Review the details that support your thesis. See if an overall plan of organization begins to emerge.
3. Consider the methods of organization listed below.

 METHODS OF ORGANIZATION

• Chronological order (time) is effective for sharing personal narratives, summarizing steps, and explaining events.
• Order of location (spatial) is useful for many types of descriptions. Details can be described from left to right, from right to left, from top to bottom, from edge to center, and so on.
• Illustration (deductive) is a method of arrangement in which your first state a general idea (thesis statement) and follow with specific reasons, examples, and facts.
• Climax (inductive) is a method of arrangement in which you present specific details followed by a general statement or a conclusion.
• Compare / contrast is a method of arrangement in which you compare one subject to another subject. In the process of your writing, you show how the subjects are alike and how they are different.
• Cause/effect  is a type of arrangement that helps you make connections between a result and the events that came before it. Usually, you begin with a general statement giving the cause of something, and then you discuss a number of specific effects.
• Problem/solution is a type of arrangement in which you state a problem and explore possible solutions.
• Definition or Classification is a type of arrangement that can be used to explain a term or a concept (a machine, a theory, a game, and so on). Begin by placing the subject is different from and similar to others in the same class.