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Dreading the Writing Assignment? Outlines to the Rescue
Writing technical articles is a challenge. There you sit, surrounded by reams of research, notes and interviews. Where do you start? Remember 5th grade English? You start with an outline. Outlining has fallen on hard times lately. Mind mapping and brainstorming are much more fashionable. These techniques are great when generating ideas, but once you've got your ideas germinating you've got to outline them. Without an outline, your article will: Don't let this happen to you ? outline. If it's been a while since 5th grade ? or if your "progressive" school didn't stoop to teach you actual English skills ? let me remind you why it's important and how to do it.
Once you've done your research it's simple to assign pieces to different sections. Believe me, it'll light a fire under your writing time. Christine Taylor is president of Keyword Copywriting, which helps marketing and PR pros leverage their relationships with technology clients. E-mail her at chris@keywordcopy.com, call her at 760-249-6071, or check out Keyword's Website at www.keywordcopy.com About The Author Christine writes technical marketing communications for data storage, networking and pharmaceutical clients, including: EMC She specializes in trade journal articles, white papers, press kits and online content. She serves as a contributing editor to Computer Technology Review and acts as editor-in-chief for Storage Inc. and Storage Management Solutions. Before moving into technical journalism and marketing she served 20 years in the IT trenches, including systems administration at Avery Dennison's Research and Development division.
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