Step 3: Organizing

Organizing is a sorting and categorizing procedure. It prepares the writer to present research materials in a methodical manner. It is also the design stage of a writing task, the step in which decisions are made on how a topic will be developed. A well-organized presentation maximizes the likelihood that your reader will easily comprehend the objective of your written document.

Organizing a business letter or memo is easier than organizing a report or summary. Regardless, the subject or topic of your document will be a determining factor in selecting an appropriate organizational method, any one of which will follow a logical, sequentially ordered pattern. Be sure to select one that best suits your objective.

Begin by gathering all of your research notes and dividing them into groups. Put all the notes that contain information pertaining to one specific point in one group and all that pertain to another specific point in a second group, and so on, until all of your notes are organized in groups according to the information they have in common.

As you sort and categorize your notes, the groups they fall into will take on identities of their own. A logical thread of ideas will connect one to another. The larger the scope of your writing task, the more likely it is that these groups will develop into distinct sections of your finished document.

Once your notes are organized you are ready to construct an outline, the scaffolding upon which you hang the beginning, middle and ending of your writing project. It will provide the kind of infrastructure that without, writing projects quickly fall apart. As you begin drafting the written elements of your document, a well-constructed outline will help shape and control your thinking.