Planning content

“Write the way an architect builds, who first drafts his plan and designs every detail.” Schopenhaur

“The thing to do, of course, is to find out what people know and what they don’t know, and then to write accordingly.” Rudolph Flesch, The Art of Readable Writing

“Good writing doesn’t just happen—at least not very often. Good writing is planned.” John B Karls and Ronald Szymansky, The Writer’s Handbook, 2nd edition

“Too often… when planning to deliver information electronically, organisations ignore some or all of the analysis required for success. Instead, they focus on the dissemination of the information they have at hand, rather than what is needed by the user community.” JoAnn T Hackos and Dawn M Stevens, Standards for Online Communication

“There’s hardly anything more important for readable writing: the more you know about the kind of person you are writing for, the better you’ll write.” Rudolph Flesch, The Art of Readable Writing

“There are three general stages in the writing process… Some people believe that the only stage that really counts is the second—writing. This isn’t so. You need thoughtful prewriting to develop something worth writing about. And you need careful rewriting to develop something worth reading.” John B Karls and Ronald Szymansky, The Writer’s Handbook, 2nd edition