My Simple 3-Step Writing Process
I love writing. But sometimes it can be difficult and frustrating to get started. I’ve often found myself staring at a blank document, not knowing how to begin or what to write next.
Does that sound familiar?
If it does, read on. My approach to written work helps me produce pieces that I can be proud of and share with the world. It’s a fairly simple three-step process that’s based on the basics of essay-writing. You can apply this process to any article, regardless of the topic. I hope you find it useful!
Step 1 — Create an outline
Before I start writing, I like to get my thoughts organised. First, I define the purpose of the piece, then I outline the story’s different stages.
In this article, the purpose is to showcase my writing process in an easy-to-follow three-step process. My goal is to provide you — the reader — with a helpful approach, especially if you’re struggling and don’t know where to start.
After defining the article’s purpose, I’ll jot down the logical steps I would take to explain my approach. This outline helps guide my writing and ensure I’m telling a coherent story. It also helps me write in a way that’s easy to digest.
The fun part is that I can apply this process to just about any topic.
Step 2 — Define the argument (and counter argument)
The next step is to shape the core of the article. This is where I present my topic in more detail to convey my message.
Let’s take an example. Say I’m writing a piece about the importance of vaccination against COVID-19. This is how I’d go about it:
Introduce the topic and explain its significance
This represents ‘setting the scene’. I would probably introduce the topic by discussing how the virus has spread globally and demonstrate its devastating impact on communities, essential sectors and global economies using official data.
Establish the argument
Next, I make my argument for vaccination by presenting key evidence showing that the vaccine works. I would reference scientific research from the field, and I might include quotes from interviews with specialists. For other topics, I might also address any counter arguments and include data supporting the opposing view.
If you’re wondering about my argument for applying my three-step writing process, then well done, you’ve been paying attention!
My writing process represents the well known ‘basic essay structure’ that you will have learned at school. It is tested and universally recognised.
I’ve slightly adapted the approach by adding section titles, steps, bulleted lists and bolding, as I find this makes it easier for readers to follow the story and scan it. But don’t take my word for it! According to a user study conducted by the Nielsen Norman Group (an authority on user experience), 79% of users always scanned new content they read and only 16% fully read the content.
Step 3 — Write the introduction and conclusion
Finally, once I have written the core and bulk of the article, it becomes very easy to write the introduction and conclusion. As a general rule of thumb, the introduction presents the problem or topic that the article tackles, and the conclusion provides a wrap up of the entire piece, including a summary of the solution to the topic/argument.
In conclusion
Writing doesn’t have to be difficult. Especially if you break it into logical, bite-sized steps that you can tackle one at a time. Many writers start with the introduction, but that can make it difficult to know how to continue.
My advice is to start with an outline, followed by the core argument or topic of your piece, and finally, write your introduction and conclusion. And don’t forget to edit, edit, edit!
If you follow these steps, I am pretty certain you’ll find it much easier to write and the words will flow more easily.
Happy writing!
P.S: A small shout out to my Content Strategy Masters colleagues who have written some interesting articles about how they approach writing. Check out their pieces here: Rosa Winkler, Beate Oettl, Chris Hagmann, Stella Thoma, Fida Sarji and Eiken Nurcelli.
