Editing Your Train of Thought - Part Two

 Last week, Katy Kauffman gave us five questions to evaluate our train of thought as we write. This week she gives us the steps we need to build a powerful train of thought.

By Katy Kauffman

5 Steps for Building a Powerful Train of Thought

1. Write down your main idea in a complete sentence.

Give your main idea a subject and verb. Solidify it in your mind. Where are you headed?

2. Make a “quickie” outline of what you want to include.

You don’t have to overwhelm yourself with a laborious outline. Under your main idea, write down three or four sentences that develop your main idea and are meaningful to your target audience. Think about what would appeal to them and help them to have encouragement or victory in the challenges you’re addressing.

Next to each point, write out to the side if you plan to use a story, definition, Bible verse, or quote in that paragraph (or those paragraphs). You may use more than one of those elements. Pinpointing your supporting material and writing it down helps you to remember what to include and leave out. This outline acts as your train track.

Whether you are writing your outline on paper or in a computer file, leave enough room under each point to write your paragraphs.

3. Develop each point, and write with warmth, power, and encouragement, steering away from “factual” and “cold.”

Even though we may use an outline, our writing doesn’t have to be cold and factual. Use your personality to develop each point. Share your stories from the heart. Share a definition or cross-reference with fervor.

When we write, we share what has helped us to understand God’s Word and life with Him. The same things are likely to help the reader understand the truth we’re writing about, and we always want to tailor what we share to our particular audience. We can share from our hearts to theirs.

4. Get feedback from a writer friend or a critique group—does the train of thought work for them?

Other writers can help us to decipher if we’ve built the best train track or need to revise it. We can become so familiar with our writing, that it can be hard to see when something doesn’t quite work. So we can welcome a tweak to our writing and celebrate what did work.  

5. Work with each section of your train track until you’re certain that it delivers the best point in the best way.

Does every paragraph serve the right purpose? Is it on target? Is every sentence in each paragraph building a point in the best way?

The time we invest is worth it to our readers and can help secure a publishing opportunity. What may take five minutes for the reader to “travel” through, can take us five hours to write. But I’ve discovered that those five hours of working with God shapes my own heart and sharpens my writing to be the best it can be.

What do you find the most challenging in developing your train of thought—creating an outline, sticking to an outline, or knowing what to leave out as you write? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash.

TWEETABLE

Writers, the time we invest is worth it to our readers and can help secure a publishing opportunity. via @KatyKauffman28 (Click to tweet.)

 

Katy Kauffman is an award-winning author, an editor of Refresh Bible Study Magazine, and a co-founder of Lighthouse Bible Studies. She loves connecting with writers and working alongside them in compilations, such as Feed Your Soul with the Word of God, Collection 1 which is a 2020 Selah Awards finalist. She runs The Lighthouse Connection, a monthly writers’ newsletter including writing tips, inspiration to write, and news of submission opportunities.

In addition to online magazines, Katy’s writing can be found at CBN.com, thoughts-about-God.com, and three blogs on writing. She loves to spend time with family and friends, create hand lettering designs with My Artsy Tribe, and plant flowers all year long. Connect with her at her blog, Winning the Victory, and on Facebook and Twitter.