Appendix A

A Checklist for the Four Stages of Writing

Madman
  • Consider why you’re writing: What’s moved you to write? What’s the assignment? What do you hope to achieve?
  • Think about who your readers are and what they need to know.
  • Figure out how much time you have, and work out a rough schedule for gathering ideas and material, outlining, preparing a draft, and revising.
  • Research with imagination and gusto. Take notes on relevant information.
  • Push yourself to be creative. Don’t be content with obvious ideas that just anyone would think of.
Architect
  • Jot down your three main points in complete sentences—with as much specificity as you can.
  • Consider the best order of the three points and reorganize them if necessary.
  • Decide how to open ...

Get HBR Guide to Better Business Writing (HBR Guide Series) now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.