you rewrite and again as you edit. Stop thinking about structure only when you
have finished writing. In other words, structure your text right throughout by
focusing on structure from first to last. It must dominate your thinking almost
to the point of obsession. Never let it out of your mind.
It is likely that your structure will change several times as you come across
new information, think up new ideas or just work out a better way to organise
what you have. This is good. It is called progress. Obviously to make this type
of progress it is necessary to heed the advice to be conscious of structure all
the time.
While the purpose of structuring what you write is to make it easy to read,
there is a second benefit in putting together a good structure –
you will not
leave out anything that is relevant or important. The structure will make it clear
that there has been an omission. In consequence the writing will be
comprehensive.
Structure, as preceding discussion has stressed, is by far the most important
dimension of a text. If information is presented in a structured way, it is clear.
Consequently, a reader can easily understand what the text means. This is the
strength of clear writing. It communicates exactly what the author wants to
say.
Clarity, unfortunately, comes at a price. First, those who write clearly are very
exposed. Readers can see quickly and easily what the writer is saying. Because
a reader
can do this, it is easier for them to criticise what has been written.
This often leads to unfavourable comparisons with others who write less
clearly, for example with tangled sentences, lack of an overall structure and use
of concepts having multiple and often elusive meanings which the writer does
not define. Because their writing is not structured, their
argument is not clear
and so is immune from attack. Generally, it is either hard, or exceedingly time
consuming, to make specific criticism of something that is obscurely written.
Without going into extensive detail, all that you can say is that the text is
obscure. Obscurity protects a writer
because it is very hard to hit an elusive
target. However, whilst offering a level of protection this also fails the writer
almost as much as it fails the reader, because the impact of the work is limited
by its own obscurity.
Second, impenetrable writing often looks profound. Because the reader cannot
understand it, they assume that thoughtlessness by the writer is really superior
thinking, which is so complex as to be beyond their understanding.
Third, clear writing looks artless. In truth, there is art but it precedes the text.
To write simply and clearly on a complex subject one has to do a huge amount
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