Ok, so I know that every one of you think that those of us who write all the time think that writing is the easiest thing in the world, and you believe that we can’t understand the plight of the person who just wants to scrape by when a writing assignment is handed their way. Well let me just dispel that myth right now: we know that writing can be a challenge, and though we may seem further along than you when it comes to ability to put the pen to paper, I can assure you that it still isn’t all moon pies and frosting.
The truth is we really have just learned, mostly through trial and error, what works and what doesn’t. We have trained our minds to think a certain way, to organize information, and to present it in the way we would want to hear it if we were on the receiving end.
That doesn’t mean you are left alone in the dark. There are some things that you can do to make writing much easier, so that you can find yourself cranking out that report or essay with ease. One of these methods that I want to talk about is a word web.
What is a word web?
Now, I know that there is that one guy out there who is saying, “now wait a minute…didn’t we do this in elementary school?” The answer is most likely yes, but I’m going to explain it again because you probably wrote off this method of preparing your thoughts as juvenile and useless once you reached that black hole of education we call high school.
A word web is really nothing more than a graphical representation of the connections between the various aspects of a given topic. It is used to help organize the thoughts of a writer so that he can more clearly communicate what it is he needs to say about the subject. It’s simple, easy to do, and can work wonders for the person who has no idea where to start to work on his project.
Is a word web for everyone?
Before I get started, let me explain that not every method of prewriting will work for every project, or for every person. This is just a guide to trying out one of many forms of prewriting so that you can determine what works for you. The word web is by far one of the easiest methods of organizing your thoughts, and it works well for both larger and smaller projects.
How do I start a word web?
Simple: grab a piece of paper and write your topic in the center of the page. Your topic is your base. Everything else that you write on the page will be somehow linked to that one central topic. For instance, in order to create a word web for this article, I would write “word web” in the center of the page, circle it, then draw a few lines radiating out from my central base.
These lines coming out from the base will link to my second tier of thinking which I will call “things want to say about word webs.” I know, this is rocket science, right? One of these things I want to say will fit on the ends of each of the lines that radiate out from the center, like spokes on a wheel. In this case, the “things I want to say about word webs” are “what is a word web,” “is a word web for everyone,” “how do I start a word web,” “how big should my word web be,” and so on. If you notice, these are all of my headings down this page. I now have the most basic skeleton of what my paper will be about.
Now, I head to my third line of defense, which I will title “things I know about the things I want to say about word webs.” And these will go around each of the “things I want to say.” So, for instance, radiating out from the category “how to start a word web” will be a sub-category that says “word webs,” and another sub-category that says “categories – second line,” and a third that says “sub-categories – third line.”
These categories can branch out forever, so long as you have more that you know about the items on your web. Eventually, these categories and subcategories and sub-subcategories will become the basis for everything you would like to say in your paper, and you will have plenty to write about your topic.
How big should my word web be?
The size, detail, and number of branches to your word web all depends on how much depth you want to go into concerning your topic and how much space you have to work with. If your paper or project is short, it shouldn’t take much to give you enough material to meet your needs. If your project is more in-depth and longer, it will probably take much more detail to give you enough to knock that paper out.
What next?
Write! You’ll find that once you have done all the thinking for your project ahead of time, the project will fall into place like the last piece of the puzzle that you’ve been looking for. Planning ahead really does have its advantages!
