Prewriting techniques: Clustering



Starting an article is considered one of the most difficult parts in creative writing. Many ideas may pop up in your mind, but they seem hard to tackle. One of the most effective ways to deal with this problem is through prewriting, a process of planning or outlining your thoughts that is done through different specific methods. Clustering is one of the techniques of prewriting that is helpful in exploring and developing your ideas.

Clustering your thoughts will require you to first establish the central issue that is needed for your article. For example, if you are going to write about the value of work, you can choose the issue of expectations. Get a piece of paper then write this word in the centre. Encircle it then write other terms around it. Other terms should be those you think are related to your central word. Encircle also these terms, and then connect each of them to your central word. Most probably, these words should answer the questions what, who, when, why, and how vis a vis the issue you have developed. Create as many key issue words as you can and connect each of them to the nearest idea or sub-ideas on your diagram. Through this method, you can develop all your thoughts and even discover new ideas. After doing these steps, you can start developing your article.

Creative writing is easy if you just follow proper methods. Just focus on the theme of your article, and then start building up your ideas through clustering. Although there are other ways of doing pre-writing, clustering is one of the most effective and easiest ways. Probably, after learning this, you might even want to pursue a career as a professional writer.

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