After reading through chapter 8 the main topic of organization is one that I find that I need to focus more on when writing. When it comes down to writing anything of importance the need for organization is key. With out any form of organizing your writings it will prove to be more difficult than if you were to organize your writings prior.
The main way of organizing that I found to be the most helpful when writing a paper would be organizing an outline first. Forming an outline will help by allowing you to write and see the sequence in which the paper is to be written. By seeing the layout ahead of writing allows you to be able move topics around to better present your information.
Also when organizing about where to place your main points. With out the proper placement of the points you are trying to get across could easily lose your reader when they are reading the paper. What should be done first is figure out the main point that should be placed towards the beginning then the end to reinforce what your trying to get across. After the main point is figured out it is important to try and figure out what supporting details would be important to fully support the main ideas.
In the end I realize that there is a lot that I have learned and have yet to learn when it comes down to properly organizing a document that I'm about to write.
Pre-Organizing
The chapter eight reading brought to my attention areas of organizing that I need to focus on in my writings also. I also feel that without good organization a writing is harder to put together versus one that has been organized prior to the attempt. For me this is something that I should continually work on because in the past I have been guilty of wasting time trying to just plow through an assignment rather than taking time to initially sort my ideas. Now I try at the very least to come up with a list that will give me something to go off of, and this has seemed to save me a considerable amount of time.
Effect of organization
It’s no secret that organization is imperative in drafting new documents, be it one’s thoughts in preparation, the content that is included, or the overall flow of the piece. However, what may prove to be rather new to some, in what I’ve gathered from chapter 8, is the proper methods and techniques used to organize. I have seen, through the evolution of the projects I’ve completed at work, the effect that proper organization has on the outcome. For instance, prior to acquiring the methods and techniques covered in lecture, the projects I had submitted were considerably less efficient and more vulnerable than those I work on now. I believe the difference is a result of proper organization, which as you've suggested, is a dominant topic in chapter 8.
Outlines?
For me it depends on the paper I am writing whether I make an outline or not. If it is a longer paper of importance then I will make an outline so I am able to meet the page requirement and so I cover all the content I wanted. If it is a short paper, about one to two pages, I do not make one. I know to add an introduction and conclusion. As for the body, those papers seem to be over some kind of reading which was already laid out. Why do the outlining when it is there already. I am always satisfied with my papers when I am done with them too. I know this method is not for everyone and that everyone has their own writing style. I am just talking about what works for me.
Jeff
Mental Outline
I was thinking the same thing as I read though the reading responses and comments. You may do the same thing, but on shorter papers I may not take time to make a physical outline, but I do stop and order things in my head. I find that by just wrapping my mind around it, things begin to connect and I can usually just begin writing. I don’t have a lot of experience in writing anything of a considerable length, but so far this method has worked well. I imagine if I was to write a dissertation of some kind, a little more preparation that simply running it through my mind while I am making lunch would be in order.
do you need an outline?
I agree with Jeff on his statement on whether you should make an outline or not. If I had to write a long (in my opinion, over 3 pages) technical document filled with research data, ideally creating an outline would be a benefit. Being able to establish a strong outline can really help you locate weak supported claims in your documents. I’ve been guilty in the past experience of trying to organize past documents in my head. I realize now that, the documents were not as effective as they could have been if they had been written with a better organization outline.
Outline vs. No Outline
We both expressed in our chapter 8 response that organization is something we need to work on in writing. Recently I have been making outlines for papers I write, however; in the past I rarely made outlines. Parallel to what you said, making an outline does help the layout of your paper, but the biggest difference I have noticed is length of the paper. For some reason when I make an outline my papers have more information and fill up more pages. I think its got to be something to do with organizing your thoughts. I look at it kinda like a brain dump before a test. When you get a test just right everything you can about what you studied right away on a blank sheet of paper or whatever, this helps because you don't have to memorize all the stuff you studied. Its kinda like an outline.
Outlines
Outlines are great-I used one to help with writing this weeks reading response! But not only are great for organizing content, they are great for 'remembering' content. I often think way way faster than I write-or at leas faster than I can write well-so throwing down several bullet points as I think through what I want to say in my head saves any information that would be lost otherwise. My papers, too, have been longer (not always a good thing..) and have had much more content since I started doing this.