The following provides a proven pathway. follow it or adapt it. You can shortcut somewhat, especially for straightforward bits of work, but not too much – omitting significant elements of the different stages can make writing slower, more awkward and allow the end result to be less good than would otherwise be the case.
Stage 1: Research
This may or may not be necessary. It may be that everything you need to have to hand is in your head. On the other hand it may be that you need to do some digging, or at the very least some assembling.
For example, let us suppose you are writing about one of your company products.
It may make sense to get together previous documents describing it {technical literature, even the product itself}, and have these to hand as you commence the job. It may be that you need to cast the net wider; in this case what about examining competitive product material, for example?
There is no hard and fast rule here. You should, however, ask yourself what might be useful and take a moment to collect and look at or read what the task suggests is necessary.
Stage 2: List the content
Next, forgetting about sequence, structure and arrangement, just list – in short note {for keyword} form – every significant point you might want to make. Give yourself plenty of space: certainly use one sheet of paper as it lets you see everything at a glance without turning over. Put the points down, as they occur to you, at random across the page. Note: some – many – of these will need to be stated in benefit form{as just discussed}.
You will find that this process {which is a form of mind mapping} acts a a good thought promoter. It enables you to fill out the picture as one thing leads to another, with the freestyle approach removing the need to think or worry about anything else or even linking points together. The scale of this stage may vary. Sometimes it is six words on the back of an envelope, more often somewhat more on an A4 sheet.
This book started life on a sheet of flipchart paper divided into squares for the various chapters, so use a larger sheet if necessary.
Stage 3: sorting it out
Now you can bring some sort of order to bear, Review what you have noted down and decide:
On the sequence in which points should go
What logically goes together
What is ancillary, providing illustration, evidence or example to exemplify points made.
Whether the list is complete {you may think of things to add}, or whether some things on it can be omitted without weakening the persuasive case. This latter point links to careful consideration of length { there is more about this later}
The quickest and easiest way to do this is to annotate your original notes, highlighting and amending them in a second colour. This is for your reference only; if you find it helpful to use arrows, circle words or draw symbols or pictures – fine.
Reference: Direct Marketing: In A Week: Patrick Forsyth