9) Understanding Purpose and Structure
Determine your objective. Your writing will benefit from a clear understanding of purpose. Be aware, however, that while a piece of writing may work toward one focused purpose, it may also incorporate many types of writing. For example, descriptive writing can play a critical part in an informative piece—or, similarly, informative and narrative writing can play a critical part in a persuasive piece. These overlaps continue.
Purposeful writing also means allowing function to determine form, rather than allowing form to dictate function. Resist the inclination to impose a particular structure on your writing simply for the sake of using that particular structure. The nearly ubiquitous imposition of the five-paragraph form serves as a prime example of this problem. While the five-paragraph form may provide a perfect fit for some content, it more often forces writers to manipulate their message into fitting this overly prescribed form. The five-paragraph form can work well if—but only if—the content of the piece happens to demand three paragraphs of content, book-ended by an introduction and conclusion. Otherwise, the five-paragraph form demands that the writer allow the form to determine the function—rather than the other way around.
Don’t design a subject to suite a structure. Design a structure to suite the subject.
Thoughts, Revised & Refined 