The basics of good structuring

All written material - from letter to novel, website to marketing literature - needs an organised, logical, clear structure. Without this, the reader becomes lost and frustrated, and is likely to abandon any attempt at reading early on.

In my work as a copy editor, I come across chaotic, wandering text pretty often, and it's my job to sort it out - sometimes reordering material, sometimes cutting bits entirely. This is not an easy job, which is why I do my best to remind authors of the importance of good structure in their writing, and the absolute necessity of planning all writing.

Flashback to your school days when your teacher told you things like 'you need a beginning, a middle and an end' and 'plan your essay using spider diagrams'. Most of us grow up and discard such valuable teachings, which is a real shame as your teachers were spot on and trying to impress on you the very fundamentals of good writing.

Here are the ten tips I give authors to help them create well-structured writing:
1. Your material needs a clear beginning, middle and end.
2. Opening and closing paragraphs have the most impact, so ensure they act as a neat frame for your piece.
3. You must plan your writing before you begin - ideally on paper, using a mind map or spider diagram.
4. Each paragraph should focus on one topic only.
5. Use headings and sections to help create a logical structure
6. Material must flow in a logical order - plan what goes where before diving in.
7. If it's applicable to the style of writing, consider using tables, figures and numbered/bulleted lists to present information in a structured way.
8. A little trick to test your structure - work your way through your nicely laid out piece giving each paragraph a heading, e.g. Intro, First argument, First argument deconstructed, Second argument, Quote, Second argument disproved, Conclusion. This will help you find any sections that you can't clearly label (which means they are confused and without a central point) and any areas where the order is chaotic, and help you check the overall direction of the piece. Once you've completed this and are happy with the structure, simply remove the headings.
9. When you've finished writing, go through the material with your plan beside you and check that all the material is relevant to the topic - if it isn't, be merciless and cut, cut, cut.
10. Ask someone else - a friend, colleague or copy editor - to read through the finished material. Ask them to be honest and tell you whether the points are clear and easy to grasp, and whether they are lost/frustrated/bored in any sections.