Prompt Proofing Says: Plan Before You Write!

VANCOUVER, BC, May 31, 2013 (Press-News.org) How do you write? Say you have a press release, blog post, or business report to do for the next day. Do you just sit down, throw your thoughts out into your Word document and hope for the best?

Planning is essential for high-quality, ordered writing. You CAN just throw down your thoughts, but then it's best to pay an editor to shape those thoughts into something professional looking, easy to read and more presentable (that's what we're here for - click here to send us your draft for editing!).

However, if you're looking to create an effective and successful piece of writing, there are three things you need to do: plan, plan, plan!

Sit down with a piece of paper, or a blank Word document, and type the following:

- THESIS
- SOURCES
- TONE

Under "Thesis" you want to write a sentence or two that describe the main point you wish to make through your piece of writing - the argument or belief that you want the person reading it to walk away with. This may be faith in your services, if you are writing a promotional piece, or support for a project if you are writing a proposal.

Under "Sources" write a list of two or three (perhaps more, depending on the length of the document you're writing) links or people that you can use as sources. Links to previous research published online will help prove certain hypotheses you put forth, or you can use quotes from people that you have as sources, who can back up your ideas or act as references as to the quality or integrity of your work (if you are a business, this may be testimonials from previous clients).

Under "Tone" write four or five adjectives that describe the tone you want this piece to have. If you are writing a proposal for your superiors in a corporate workplace, perhaps go with "professional", "competent", "knowledgeable". If you are writing a promotional piece to draw in customers, perhaps write: "inspiring" or "upbeat". This just gets you in the mindset of writing in the correct tone, so that you don't sit down to write a blog post about your amazing new product and find it reads like a biology research paper.

Once you've got these points written down, you should be in the right mindset to write a high-quality and effective piece. The next thing you need to do is plan your breakdown. Once a breakdown has been written out, writing the actual piece is a cinch - it is literally like 'filling in the blanks'.

Depending, again, on the type of piece you're writing, you will want to put numbers for each paragraph - if this is a blog post or press release there may well be only two or three paragraphs. If it is a proposal that will be several pages long, you may prefer to use the numbers to represent sections as opposed to paragraphs.

Next to each number start by writing a three or four-word summary of the topic that this paragraph or section will cover. Underneath the name of the topic, write a bulletpoint list of points you can make in this paragraph that will best educate the reader.

When you're done, simply cross-reference each paragraph's topic with the thesis you wrote in the first plan and make sure it ties in, so that you are never straying from your thesis. Now that the planning is underway, you just have to keep the two plans in front of you and sit down and write. At this point it will be far easier and more effective than just sitting down and putting your jumble of thoughts on paper!

And if you are still at a loss, or you believe your time is more valuable spent elsewhere, strongly consider using a writing service to fulfill your writing needs. The time saved will more than compensate for the money spent, and you can let the experts do their thing! Click here for more on Prompt Proofing's writing and editing services.

About Prompt Proofing

Prompt Proofing is based in Vancouver, BC, Canada and was officially launched in 2010 by a team of editing and writing professionals who have over 40 years of experience in the education, news media, public relations and recruitment fields. Prompt Proofing prides itself on affordable services delivered with fast turnaround times, without sacrificing quality or accuracy.

Offering content writing, editing and proofreading services, Prompt Proofing takes care of your individual or business content needs. We have customers throughout North and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, the United Kingdom, Asia and Australia.

Visit our website for more information at http://www.PromptProofing.com.

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