The Difference Between Connecting & Organizing in the Writing Process
It’s the difference between having lots of ideas or just confusing yourself
Today, I’d like to speak briefly on the difference between connecting & organizing as it relates to writing.
As writers, it’s important that we draw distinct lines between each stage of the knowledge acquisition process so we can become more creative.
If you fail to connect new information to old information that means you won’t generate new ideas for future pieces. And let’s say you try organizing while trying to pick up new information from books and articles you’re reading. We all know, this doesn’t work. It gets messy & confusing.
Let’s draw a line in the sand.
The clear distinction between “connect” and “organize” is that connecting is more like recalling (from memory) & organizing is more like placing (within a hierarchy).
When we connect, we ask, “What does this piece of information remind me of?”
And when we organize, we ask, “What is this connection part of?”
Connecting is about relating the information to ourselves, our past knowledge, and our past experiences. And organizing is about placing that information in its proper place after we’ve made a connection.
So, the process visualized goes like this…
We’ll get to distill in a later post, but hopefully, this makes the distinction clear.
When writing, make sure to connect first, and organize later. Connections are fleeting. And it’s not too hard to know where something might go when organizing.