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After 20,000+ hours of collaboration with 400+ writers, my team and I developed a new framework for writing:
— COMPOSE —
C = Concept
O = Objective
M = Material
P = Plan ♟
O = Organization
S = Style
E = Elegance
** More—>
— COMPOSE —
C = Concept
O = Objective
M = Material
P = Plan ♟
O = Organization
S = Style
E = Elegance
** More—>
CONCEPT is the burning question, experience, or intuition that gets you going in the first place.You want to understand it more deeply.
When you talk about it, you learn new things that you didn’t recognize before.
Ideally, it’s a “mindworm” that won’t leave you alone.
OBJECTIVE is what you want your reader to feel, think, do, or understand.Maybe you want readers to learn something, buy something, believe something, or laugh.
Or maybe your objective is to quench your curiosity—to understand a topic better. That quest is no less worthy.
MATERIAL comes from research, conversation, imagination & your environment.It includes:
* definitions
* descriptions
* stories
* arguments
* data
* examples
Think: “What might get my readers to feel, think, do, or understand what I intend?”
Gather now; judge later.
♟ PLAN means “think a few moves ahead.”
Plan to cover all the essential points, and only the essential points.
Plan loosely! Bullets & sketches are more useful than meticulous outlines.
Plan to cover all the essential points, and only the essential points.
Plan loosely! Bullets & sketches are more useful than meticulous outlines.
ORGANIZATION is the order in which you arrange your material, a.k.a. “structure.”A story is ordered in time.
A how-to guide gives you a series of steps to follow.
Persuasive or argumentative pieces are ordered logically: some ideas provide support/evidence for others.
STYLE comes from mastering fundamentals!Writers often get feedback on style (tone, voice, word choice, etc) but that's rarely helpful—because beneath most stylistic problems, there’s a fundamental skill that needs strengthening.
Style comes *after* you work through COMPO.
ELEGANCE is the ultimate polish that makes hard work look easy. Writers reach elegance the way martial artists reach the black belt.
“Beauty walks a razor’s edge; someday I’ll make it mine,” wrote Bob Dylan. Elegance is the beauty we’re working to make ours!
Notes:
COMPOSE doesn’t always happen linearly. E.g. you might already have some material, then discover a concept. That said, walking through COMPOSE linearly can help writers get unstuck, even mid-project. I welcome ALL questions!Article: https://www.writing.coach/compose
