Prewriting: Organizing Ideas
Introduction
Planning your organization
Chronological order
Spatial order
Logical order
Order of importance
Creating an outline
Your Turn 1: Choose an order
Your Turn 2: Arrange ideas
Introduction
Have you ever baked a cake?
It’s not hard, but for the best results it helps if you plan
ahead. The same holds true for writing.
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Introduction
You may wonder how you can turn the ideas and
information you’ve collected for your topic from a
disorganized mess into a coherent composition.
Organizing your
ideas makes order
out of chaos.
Planning your organization
Writing the first draft of your paper will be much easier
if you first plan the organization your work will
follow.
Here is one way to plan your
organization: Copy the ideas
and information you’ve
gathered onto note cards.
Then, move the cards around,
placing them in different
positions, until you find an
organization that works.
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Peer Review Tip: Planning your
organization
How do you
know if an
organizational plan works?
Describe your plan to a
partner. Does the
organization make logical
sense when you explain it
to someone else?
Planning your organization
Most writing uses one or a combination of the
following organizational patterns:
• Chronological order
• Spatial order
• Logical order
• Order of importance
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Planning your organization
Chronological order
Use chronological order to tell a story or explain a
process. Present actions and events in the order in
which they take place—first to last, earliest to latest,
and so on.
Growing Sweet Peas
Protect seedlings
from birds and
slugs
Soak seeds in water
overnight; plant an
inch deep
Keep seeds damp
until they sprout
Dig trenches in full
sun; fill with good
soil
Planning your organization
Chronological order
Another strategy for arranging ideas in chronological
order is to use a sequence chart or time line.
sequence chart
Buy
seeds
Protect seedlings
from birds and
slugs; enjoy the
flowers!
Dig trenches;
fill with good
soil
Keep seeds
damp until
they sprout
Soak seeds in
water overnight
Plant seeds an inch
deep; cover with
good soil
4
Planning your organization
Chronological order
time line
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Planning your organization
Spatial order
Use spatial order to describe a place, a person, or an
object. Arrange your details or ideas according to their
location in space:
Layers of Skin
• top to bottom,
bottom to top
• near to far,
far to near
• left to right,
right to left
• inside to outside,
outside to inside
outside to inside
Epidermis: outer
layer; new skin
cells formed here
Dermis: contains
blood vessels and
sweat glands
Hypodermis: the
deepest layer;
helps insulate
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Planning your organization
Spatial order
In addition to using note cards, you can use a circle
diagram or web diagram to show ideas in spatial
order.
circle diagram
Layers of
Skin
outside
epidermis
dermis
inside
hypodermis
outside to inside
inside to outside
Planning your organization
Spatial order
web diagram
Top
suitcases
decorations
Right
Left
tools
workbench
garage
mower
pruner
Bottom
car
bikes
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Planning your organization
Logical order
You’ll use logical order when you want to explain or
classify. Group related details or ideas together to show
their relationship.
• defining
Form is
Skates have
• dividing a topic
important
longer
blades
into parts
Skates have
• comparing and
Hockey stick, shorter blades
contrasting
helmet, skates
No equipment
besides skates
Speed is
important
Planning your organization
Logical order
You’ll use logical order when you want to explain or
classify. Group related details or ideas together to show
their relationship.
Figure
Hockey
• defining
Skating
Form
is
Skates have
• dividing a topic
important
longer blades
Skates
have
Skates have
into parts
have
longer blades Skates
shorter
blades
• comparing and
Hockey stick, shorter blades
contrasting
helmet,
Formskates
is
Speed is
Speed is
important
important
important
No equipment
besides skatesHockey stick,
No equipment
besides skates
helmet, skates
7
Planning your organization
Logical order
Charts or Venn diagrams are also good ways to
organize ideas and details in logical order.
chart
Skates
Figure
Skating
Hockey
longer blades
shorter blades
skates
hockey stick,
helmet, skates
form
speed
Equipment
Form or
Speed?
Planning your organization
Logical order
Venn diagram
Figure Skating
• skates have
longer blades
• form is
important
• no equipment
besides skates
Hockey
Skate in
a rink or
on a pond
Wear
skates
• skates have
shorter blade
• speed is
important
• hockey stick,
helmet, skates
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Planning your organization
Order of importance
Use order of importance when you want to inform or
persuade readers. Arrange your ideas from least to
most important or least to most powerful (or vice
versa).
most important
least important
Dress
appropriately 1
Turn off your cell
phone 3
Arrive at the
interview 10
minutes early 4
Before, think
about possible
questions 2
Be courteous to
everyone you
encounter 5
Shake hands
firmly 6
Writing Tip: Order of importance
Readers pay more attention to the first
and last ideas they read. Depending on
your topic, you might start with your second most
important idea and end with your most important idea.
Before, think
about possible
questions
second most
important
most
Dress
important
appropriately
Turn off your cell
phone
Shake hands
Arrive at the
firmly
interview 10
Be courteous to
minutes early
everyone you
encounter
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Planning your organization
Order of importance
Another way to arrange your ideas in order of
importance is to use a pyramid diagram.
dress appropriately
think about possible questions
most
important
turn off cell phone
arrive early
be courteous
firm handshake
least important
Creating an outline
With some types of
writing, such as
fact-based
informative writing,
an outline can be
helpful in organizing
both broad ideas
and specific details.
Thesis: Preparing for a job interview is
not difficult when you follow a few
basic steps.
I. Prepare for possible questions.
A. Consider the kind of job you
are interviewing for.
1. research the company
2. think about why you want
to work there
3. how are you a good fit?
B. Don’t memorize your answers.
1. know your main points
2. be ready to explain your
answers
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Test Tip: Organizing ideas
Although time is limited for most writing
tests, don’t think of planning your
organization as a waste of time. Organize your
ideas before you begin writing in order to avoid
• adding ideas between lines
you’ve already written
• inserting ideas when you
remember them—out of order
• leaving good ideas out entirely
• erasing and rewriting large
chunks of messy text
Your Turn 1: Choose an order
What kind of organization—spatial, logical,
chronological, order of importance—would you use in
writing about each of the topics below? Be prepared to
discuss your answers.
1. a description of your favorite outdoor place
2. the events of a typical summer day
3. what you would do with one million dollars
4. comparing and contrasting two favorite animals
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Your Turn 1: Possible response
1. description of favorite outdoor place: Spatial order.
This pattern works because it describes the physical
layout of the place.
2. the events of a typical summer day: Chronological
order. This pattern works because it describes the
order in which things happen.
3. one million dollars: Order of importance. This
pattern works because it informs people of the order
in which I would use the money.
4. two animals: Logical order. This pattern works
because it shows the similarities and
differences between two items.
Your Turn 2: Arrange ideas
Choose one of the topics below and brainstorm some
ideas for writing about that topic. Come up with 10–12
ideas. Then, use one of the graphic organizers
presented in this lesson to arrange your ideas.
1. a description of your favorite outdoor place
2. the events of a typical summer day
3. what you would do with one million dollars
4. comparing and contrasting two favorite animals
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Your Turn 2: Possible responses
Description of
my favorite
outdoor place:
web diagram
North
boat rental
concession stand
East
West
grove of trees
benches
Lake Alma
the lake
waterfowl
South
entrance
walking path
parking
Your Turn 2: Possible responses
Events of a typical summer day: timeline
8:00 am
wake up
8:05 am
get dressed
8:15 am
eat breakfast
9:00 am
play basketball with neighbor
10:15 am
shower
10:45 am
walk to job as camp counselor
5:30 pm
eat dinner
6:45 pm
see movie with friends
10:30 pm
go to bed
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Your Turn 2: Possible responses
What I would do with one million: pyramid diagram
buy a car
most important
buy a house
pay for college
new snowboard
donate
travel
save
least important
Your Turn 2: Possible responses
comparing and contrasting two animals: Venn
diagram
Bengal Tigers
• males can weigh
over 500 pounds
• wild animals
• hunt for food
Golden Retrievers
• males can weigh
over 75 pounds
mammals • domesticated
animals
• rely on owners
for food
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The End
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