III. Pre-writing techniques
Planning a report: generating and organizing ideas
Do you suffer from writer's block? There are a few ways to overcome the problem.
Brainstorming
Having established reader and purpose, your next step in planning a text is to collect all your data and
thoughts. There are several methods that can help you. One of them is to "brainstorm". Think of this as a
"storm in the brain". Focus on your audience and purpose and list ideas as they come to mind, whether
general or specific.
Do not pay attention to the form your brainstorm takes. You might list words, phrases or sentences or a
combination of these. Do not try to organize your thoughts as you brainstorm - that will come later. This is
just a technique to help free up your mind so that ideas can flow easily.
The list of ideas you considered in exercise 8 with the idea of focusing on the intended reader was the
product of a brainstorm.
Try brainstorming for yourself. Exercise 9 gives you a list of subjects you could use, or think up one of
your own.
[Click here for exercise 9]
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Exercise 9
Try brainstorming for yourself. You can use any topic you like, or one of the topics below.
●
Social effects of abuse of illicit drugs
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Technical assistance in the field of criminal justice
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Benefits of teleworking
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Knowledge-sharing at UNODC
●
Celebrity sponsors and the United Nations
Note: This is a very personal exercise. The idea is for you to try the technique for yourself. The sample
answer is just for the first topic and is meant to let you know if you are on the right track.
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Mind-mapping or clustering
Once you have completed a brainstorm, you may want to form those ideas into a "mind map". This is a
visual representation of your ideas. Look at your brainstorm and decide if you can group some of the ideas
into several major categories and subcategories. Remember to eliminate ideas that [TIP] are not vital to the
report.
Draw a circle in the middle of the paper and write the purpose of your report in the circle. Draw lines out
from the circle and label them with the major categories you have chosen. Then draw branches from those
lines and include the subcategories. You can continue this process until you are including the actual details
on the branches of the map.
A mind map can help you see your major categories and subdivisions before you make decisions about
how to organize the paper. It is also a useful way for you to look at your ideas and decide, again, which
ones are not vital to the report.
There some good commercial software programmes to help you draw a mind map. Some offer free trials.
Search for "mind mapping" on the Internet.
[Click here for exercise 10]
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Exercise 10
Try drawing a mind map of your own. Use the topic you used for brainstorming in exercise 9, or the list
from exercise 8. The sample answer is a mind map on the increased cultivation of opium poppy in
Afghanistan.
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Free-writing
Another technique that helps to generate ideas is to "free-write". Like brainstorming, this technique is a
way to free up the mind, to allow it to focus on ideas rather than on accuracy and organization.
Choose one of the ideas from your brainstorm or your mind-map and write for 5 to 10 minutes on that one
idea. Don't stop writing. If you can't think of anything to write, just write "I can't think of anything else at
the moment ...". The goal is to keep writing, to keep the pen or pencil in contact with the paper (or keep
your fingers on the keyboard). Don't stop to change or correct anything; just keep going. You might want
to set a timer.
This technique does not appeal to everyone, but it is worth a try. It often works.
[Click here for exercise 11]
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Exercise 11
Now try free writing. Again, you can base it on the topic you used for the previous exercises. The sample
answer uses the topic of increased cultivation of opium poppy in Afghanistan.
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Outlining
Organizing information for long reports is a difficult task. Having decided on the purpose and the
audience and on what to include in the report, the next step is to develop an overall plan. If you have
created a mind map, you can use it to help you produce an outline.
At this point, you might want to think about the method of organization that will be most effective for the
report. For example, reports of the Secretary-General often use a "cause-effect" mode or a "problemsolution" mode ─ or a combination of the two. Other reports may call for a "comparison/contrast" type of
organization.
Unlike a mind map, an outline is a linear way of organizing information and may not appeal to all writers.
But it can be a very effective way to help you categorize ideas into major categories and supporting details.
Write your title at the top of the page. Then list your major categories as headings, with the details lined
up underneath.
You can use words, phrases or whole sentences as your major headings. Just be consistent in your choices.
[Click here for exercise 12]
Prepared by the Editorial Control Unit, United Nations Office at Vienna, 2008
Exercise 12
Now try making an outline of your report. Again, you can base it on the topic you used for the previous
exercises. The sample answer uses the topic of increased cultivation of opium poppy in Afghanistan.
You have now seen how to get ideas for your report and to organize them into a basic structure. Next we
will look at the format of some major types of United Nations reports. Move on to chapter IV of the course,
which will give you some information on the formats to follow.
Prepared by the Editorial Control Unit, United Nations Office at Vienna, 2008