Who's my reader?
Who's going to be reading this? Your professor? Your colleagues? People whose respect you have to earn?
When I asked myself this question, I wrote down that my reader was “the writer who thinks they have writer's block, and wants to experience flow.” (Would you say that that's an accurate description of you, and why you're reading this?)
What do they want to get out of reading what I have to say?
People won't read for nothing — they want to get something out of what you've written.
If your professor's going to be reading your essay, they'll want to be convinced that your paper deserves the A+. If your colleagues will be reading this, they want to know that you're the one they can rely on to effectively communicate what needs to be done. If you write for a print magazine or newspaper, your reader will want to be convinced that they should continue purchasing the publication you write for.
Here's one question that a lot of writers don't ask themselves, but if they did, would really shed a lot of light and help steer them in the right direction...
Where is my reader now?
If you have to prove a point or convince your reader of something, the question is: what's the reader's position on this issue? If you'll be writing on a more straightforward, objective subject, this question can be phrased as: In order for my reader to follow what I'm saying, where do they need to begin?
From this question, it follows that you have to ask...
How do I get my reader from where they are now, to where I want them to be (or where they need to be)?
If you've determined that your reader is at point A, and you want to take them to point D, you have to obviously get them from A to B first. You should aim to explain point B so well that they can easily agree or grasp what you're saying. You do the same for point C...and D.
Remember, we're still in the brainstorming stage. It's a non-linear stage of the process. For now, just try to visualize what the main points would be, and don't be concerned about the order they should come in or how they relate to each other.
When you feel that you've answered these questions, you should also write down all the thoughts, discussion points, and ideas that come to your mind. You simply want to empty your mind onto your paper, without caring about the order in which you're writing things down.
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