Plan and structure your writing for the best engagement

Thankfully, the process behind achieving this is the same no matter what you’re writing. Read on to learn how to structure any text so that it keeps your reader engrossed all the way to the end (not tearing their hair out halfway through!).

Know your purpose, audience and message

Before you do anything else, sum up whom you’re writing to, what you want them to do, and how you’ll get them to do it; that is, define your audience, your purpose, and your message.

Let’s start with your purpose. No matter what you write, it has an objective or you wouldn’t be writing it. Sometimes you’re simply giving someone information they need, such as when you’re offering instructions or sending someone data for their monthly report. In this case, make the information clear and easy to use.

Often, though, you’re trying to convince your reader of something; perhaps persuading a prospective customer to buy a product. For the purpose of this blog post, let’s say you’re persuading senior managers within your business to use a new annual review form with their teams.

Now on to your audience. Note down your readers’ needs, motivations, possible objections, and the way you could handle those objections. In this example, the senior managers you’re writing to need to get the best possible performance out of their team members. Therefore, you could motivate them by explaining how this new way of doing reviews will boost performance.

As time-pressed senior leaders, they could object that switching to a new form is more hassle than it’s worth. How could you handle this? Perhaps by giving them everything they need to use the new form quickly and easily.

What about your message? This is decided by the thinking you’ve done about your purpose and audience. In our example, the messages are: 1) The new review form boosts performance, and 2) It’s quick and easy to use. Everything you write should support your message so that it engages your audience and meets your objective.

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Plan your writing

While you should now feel confident of your message, don’t launch into writing just yet. First, you need a solid structure to follow.

Start by outlining each point that supports your message; bullet points are handy here. This will give you an overview of the whole piece and let you find the perfect structure before you’ve even started writing. When you’ve got your list, here’s what to do next.

Declutter

Your ideas will probably come out in bits and pieces at first, with repeated points and topics that jump back and forth. If you find you have two similar points, get rid of one or bring the most important bits of them together until you’ve only made each point once.

It’s easier to influence people when your message is clear and simple. So don’t include unnecessary information just because you have it; instead, think about what the reader needs to know for you to get your message across. Ask yourself: would my purpose be harder to achieve without this piece of information? If not, get rid of it.

Here’s an example of a first go at a plan for a request letter:

• I’d like to reduce my working days from five to three per week.
• I can adapt to the business’s needs by varying my days of work or consolidating a full working week into three days.
• My job isn’t as busy now because some of my previous tasks were taken on by others. Therefore, I don’t think the business will be negatively affected.
• However, I’ve addressed the possible issues below.
• I can work longer hours over three days to achieve the same volume of work.
• I can work flexibly, changing my working days to meet the demands of the role.
• I’m open to a job share if the role must be full time.
• There is only three days’ worth of work each week, so this is an opportunity to save money.

Can you see any repeated points? The second point overlaps with points five and six, and point three makes a similar argument to the final point.

When we remove repetition, it looks like this:

• I would like to reduce my working days from five to three per week.
• My job isn’t as busy as it used to be because some of my previous tasks were taken on by others. Therefore, I don’t think the business will be negatively affected by the change, and it’s an opportunity to save money.
• However, I’ve addressed the possible issues below.
• I’m willing to work longer hours over the three days to achieve the same volume of work.
• I can vary my days of work to meet the demands of the role.
• I’m open to a job share if the role must be full time.

The plan is now shorter and easier to understand, meaning it will do a better job of persuading the reader.

Put the most important information first

When you’ve listed your main points, move them around to create a logical order that flows nicely towards your conclusion. What do we mean by a logical order?

It normally makes sense to move from the most to the least important information. News articles grab your attention with a striking synopsis. Then they hold your interest by presenting the next most significant information, again and again until you reach the end of the story. Of course, what’s most important is subjective, and it’s based on what you want the reader to do.

Whatever you decide is most important, start by succinctly summarising your message before you go into more detail. In the flexible working request plan above, the first paragraph states exactly what the writer is asking for so that it’s clear what each of the following arguments supports. Removing the guesswork for your reader gives you a better chance of getting what you want.

This approach to structure applies to promotional writing as well. In this case, the most important piece of information is usually the greatest benefit to the reader — if you don’t spell out what’s in it for them immediately, they’re unlikely to read what you have to say.

For example, an advert for a waffle iron might begin with something like “Have fresh waffles on your plate in minutes”. The benefit here is ease and speed, and more detailed information like technical features can wait until later.

Leave the beginning until last

It’s a good idea to go back to your opening paragraph at the end of the writing process to make sure it clearly, concisely, and engagingly sums up what you’re about to say. It’s hard to get introductions right before you’ve written anything else; after all, you wouldn’t introduce someone you’d never met before. You can also write headings, including email subject lines, at the end for the same reason.

A structure within a structure

What if you’re following a set format, such as a report with pre-titled sections? The structure we’ve just looked at is still helpful. Within each section of your report, you’ll get the best engagement from your reader if you make the most important point first, discuss this, then move on to less significant information.

Of course, there are some formats that don’t suit this structure, such as incident accounts that follow the order in which something happened, or instructions that follow the order in which something should happen.

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Write up your plan

When you’re happy with your structure, it’s time to turn your points into paragraphs. Paragraphs begin mini chapters in your writing, with each one exploring a new idea. Stick to just one point per paragraph so your reader can take in each one properly.

For example:

Thank you for choosing Life of Pie for your conference catering.

Feedback is very important to us as it means we can adapt our services to our customers’ needs. It shapes everything from the menu we offer to the way we serve guests.

Would you mind taking this two-minute survey to tell us about your experience?

The first paragraph says thank you, the second explains how important feedback is, and the third asks the customer to fill in a survey. If you introduce a new point to an existing paragraph, you risk the reader losing their train of thought.

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