How to Begin a Writing Assignment
Prewriting: How to Research and Organize
If you're given a writing assignment, fulfilling it is your main purpose. Understand what you are asked to do. In an examination question, for example, if you're asked to analyze how an author's techniques contribute to his theme, and if you describe the theme thoroughly but don't discuss the techniques, then you've failed to fulfill the assignment. Or if in a psychology class you're asked to compare and contrast two recent theories about selective amnesia, and you write five pages on one of the theories and only half a page on the other, you probably haven't done what is required.
Writing on the job is no different. For example, if you need to write a testing protocol for a new product, you should include such things as a detailed description of the testing samples and the control group, the conditions of testing, materials and equipment, all the steps of the tests, relevant formulas and equations, and the methods to be used in evaluating results. If after the testing your manager asks for a summary of the results, you should provide them as clearly, honestly, and succinctly as you can. You may need to include a brief explanation of the tests, but you won't want to give a blow-by-blow account.
Whether you're writing in school or at work, make sure that you understand your task. Then, in planning what you'll write, aim everything you say at achieving that purpose.
