structure

Coloring Outside the Lines

By Joshua | January 19, 2016 - 8:31 pm | general writing

Almost everyone knows that it’s best to start any significant writing project with an outline. But what many people don’t know is that it’s even better to start with a nonlinear outline. What is a nonlinear outline? Well, it’s kind of an organized brainstorm, or “mind dump.” Nonlinear outlining is a great way to get all of your thoughts down before you start organizing; it lets you think in a more unrestricted way, which gives you all of the benefits of a brainstorm.

So, how do you do a nonlinear outline? It’s easy. Start with a blank sheet of paper, draw a small circle (or oval, or square if you’d like) in the middle and write your project’s title in that circle.

Then you start letting your brain go wild. For any main topic, draw a line from your center circle, writing the topic on the line. Then, for any subtopic, you draw a line off of that line. Then the same for each point and sub-point. Soon you’ll have a pinwheel of brainstorming. Either set a time limit, or continue to add to your nonlinear outline until you can’t add anything else. Once you think you are finished, force yourself to add two more branches; these can be lines off of any level of your pinwheel.

Ultimately, you’ll end up with something like the second image here. Please don’t edit yourself as you complete your nonlinear outline; the whole idea is to get all the ideas you can possibly think of down. Only after you’ve completed your nonlinear outline do you move on to a traditional, linear outline. Wait until you are moving from your nonlinear outline to a traditional outline to edit yourself. It is during this step that you can move points and sub-points from one topic to another, combine topics, or eliminate some of your nonlinear outline altogether. The nonlinear outline is the time to let your brain run free. Give your ideas structure and make a workable document plan at the traditional outline stage–not before.

I wish I could claim credit for the nonlinear outline, because it is something that has truly enhanced my writing, especially for long or in-depth projects. Alas, it is one of the many things I learned from legal writing guru Bryan Garner; it is taught at his seminars and is included in many of his publications. But do not let the fact that it is taught by a legal writing master fool you into thinking it is only beneficial for legal or other persuasive writing. It is a great tool for any project, and I recommend it to anyone who is preparing for a writing project.

Let your wild side come through into your writing a bit. Color outside the lines.

More than Labor Pains

By Joshua | September 30, 2015 - 6:16 pm | general writing, grammar, style, word use

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Let’s talk contractions.

First things first: If you’re working for a person or a company who insists that contractions be kept out of formal writing, don’t put them in your formal writing. This will help you avoid some problems. If the boss says no contractions, don’t use them. The funny thing is that when the boss tells you, it will probably come out as: “You can’t use contractions;” or “We don’t use contractions.” And you see the fun little issue there, right?

If you’ve been given the freedom to use contractions, or if you work for yourself and don’t have “the man” sticking false rules to you, there is no good reason not to sprinkle contractions in to even formal writing, where appropriate. Contractions can increase the readability and flow of writing. You probably don’t want to use them in every sentence, but a complete rejection of contractions leaves some sentences feeling cumbersome or unnatural. Usually you can substitute “cannot” for “can’t” without making your sentence too odd; not all contractions work like that, though. “Do not” sounds much more severe than “don’t.” And with some common contractions, the full-form of the phrase is nearly obsolete in spoken language. When was the last time you said, “Let us go to the movies tonight” instead of “Let’s go to the movies”? I’ll bet it’s been some time, unless you were trying to sound highfalutin (there’s a fun word I don’t get to use everyday).

And let me make one thing absolutely clear: if you’re writing dialogue—especially for works of fiction—please, please, PLEASE use contractions! Unless you are writing about some futuristic, purely-dystopian society where comfortably dialogue has been completely abolished, failing to use contractions will make your characters and conversations feel wooden and unnatural. We all use contractions when we speak; there’s nothing wrong with using them; and if you want your characters to read as real people, they should use contractions in conversation. Sorry about that, I’ve read a couple books where the characters spoke without contractions. You may have noticed that it bothered me a little bit.

And now for a disclaimer: I have neither performed nor read any studies on this next point, but will believe it true until proven otherwise. One of the biggest keys to persuasive writing is to get your readers to believe that your conclusion (the one you want them to reach) was their idea all along. And trust me, when they think, they probably use contractions. If you can lead your reader through to your conclusion in a way that is so natural she believes it was her own idea, you’re more likely to convince her you’re right. In doing this, it can’t hurt to write like your reader thinks; contractions and all.

That’s my two cents. And doesn’t that just read much more naturally than “That is my two cents”?

I thought so.

Size Matters

By Joshua | September 10, 2015 - 2:04 pm | general writing, structure, style

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Now that I’ve got your attention, let’s talk about sentence length. First off: it matters and you should pay attention to it. Shorter sentences tend to be clearer, and we should always strive for clarity. But clarity does not always require the shortest-possible sentence; most thoughts can be properly conveyed in a number of longer or shorter ways. Let’s call this the “length-clarity spectrum.” So long as your sentence falls in the not-too-ambiguous portion of the spectrum, you can choose the appropriate sentence to express your thoughts.

Sentence length, along with word choice and sentence structure, is a key element in pacing your writing. You can take the same set of facts and completely change a reader’s’ perception of those facts through sentence length. As an example, the next two paragraphs demonstrate how much size matters when it comes to sentences. To emphasize the importance of sentence length, both examples are written in active voice with near-identical, mostly-neutral language.

As Tommy neared the stop sign, he hit his brakes and looked both ways to see if there was any traffic at the intersection. Because it was dark, Tommy could not see Billy’s sport utility vehicle, which was also approaching the intersection. As Tommy pulled into the intersection, he heard the sound of a car horn and looked up to see Billy’s sport utility vehicle, with a panicked Billy behind the wheel, also entering the intersection. Both of the drivers, who were trying to avoid a collision, applied their brakes…

Tommy neared the stop sign. He hit his brakes, looking both ways. It was dark. Tommy did not see Billy’s SUV approaching. Tommy pulled into the intersection. He heard a car horn. Looking up, Tommy saw Billy’s SUV entering the intersection. Billy was panicking. Tommy applied his brakes. Billy applied his brakes. Both tried to avoid the collision…

Both examples describe the same incident. The only real difference is that Example #1 contains four sentences and ninety words, for an average of just over 22 words/sentence. Example #2, on the other hand, has eleven sentences and fifty-eight words, for an average of just over 5 words/sentence. Both fall into an acceptable range on the length-clarity spectrum. But as you can see, even though they both give the same facts, they tell a different story.

Example #1 unfolds more slowly, and the pacing does not foreshadow any impending action. Example #2 moves quicker, jerkier, leading us quickly from one fact to the next without allowing us to meander around at any point of the narrative. Even with both paragraphs written in active voice with nearly-identical word choice, sentence length changes the narrative. More could be done to differentiate the pacing, and hence a reader’s perception of the facts, through word choice and sentence structure, but we are only exploring sentence length here.

Is there an optimal sentence length? It depends on what you are trying to do. Are you trying to speed up the story, get to the action? Opt for shorter sentences. Are you trying to draw it out, slow down the story and give your reader the perception that things aren’t happening quite so fast? Go with longer sentences.

I’m interested in your thoughts on this topic. Does size matter when it comes to sentence length? Let me know in the comments.