All content, written or otherwise, starts with a plan. Not all plans are written or typed. Sometimes all it takes is a mental outline. Once you’ve got that, then you’re ready to start typing ¬– or so you think. What you might find is that you start out with a bold vision that dulls rather quickly. Creating written work isn’t as easy as you thought it would be.
When you get to that bright idea, don’t just work solely off the initial enthusiasm you have. You will end up stuck f you put much effort into expanding on your abstract plan. When formulating written content, there are a number of things to take into consideration:
PurposeAudienceProcessStylePresentation
The first thing you need to sort out is the reason why you are writing. If there is no motive behind the action, then it doesn’t serve you or your readers. A piece is only as good as its aim. Without it you are just rambling on. Whatever you do write should add value to your audience, even if it is just for entertainment.
After honest introspection, look at yourself and your audience. It is important to have an idea of who you are trying to target. You’ve got an idea of what you want to write about, but make sure your audience can find it appealing. You can’t pitch sports to someone who isn’t interested. Knowing your audience’s educational background, age and interests will help you in the construction of whatever you need to write.
Planning out your process will dictate how your piece should develop. You need to look at what information you need to put your message forward. Your process should outline, in detail, what is relevant. Do the necessary research and make sure that your piece is well-developed. A weak structure makes for weak writing.
When looking at the stylistic choices you want to make, pay attention to your audience. Ask yourself if rhetorical questions and/or figurative language is suitable to your audience. Also, take your tone into consideration. Should you write casually or keep a more professional tone. Your voice is also very important. Most writing uses first-person narration, but feel free to experiment.
When you’ve got all these things under control, you can turn to your presentation. Look at what complimentary media you can use to carry your point across. Now that media has become even more integrated, it is detrimental when you chose visuals and audio that do not mesh well with your piece. Choose wisely. This also includes how your piece should be formatted. Too long texts can be daunting, so try to break things up and make use of whitespace.
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