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Discussion Articles

In the previous four structures we discussed ways for you to effectively get your point across or provide information. The discussion article is going to break from that pattern.

It’s about the questions, not the answers.

The purpose of the discussion article is to raise questions and get feedback. Any good discussion article will give any facts or background information required and present excellent (or at least interesting) questions. The questions should require more than a yes or no answer. If you’re asking for yes or no, you are taking a survey, not writing a discussion article.

If you provide answers in your article, you are likely not going to have as good of a discussion. I would usually suggest you avoid giving your opinion at all in the initial article. If you are going to actively participate in the discussion that will, hopefully, be taking place after your article is published, wait until there has been adequate conversation among your readers before giving your own view.

Think of it like you are leading a discussion group or participating in a think tank. You want different views to be expressed. What you don’t want is to stifle good feedback by starting a discussion and act like you know it all in the process. You probably don’t know it all and even if you do, it will not help the article.

The Steps:

Pick a topic

Narrow the topic

If your topic is too broad (and it usually will be), you will need to narrow it down to a manageable size. You probably don’t want to start a discussion on the history of war. You would probably want to focus more on a certain aspect of war (ie: war machines or battle tactics).

Provide the backdrop

Depending on your audience and subject, you may not need to provide much background information for the article. It usually doesn’t hurt to give at least a quick example or anecdote to set the stage, even among professionals.

Present the question

It’s not necessarily “the” question. It could more than one, but I wouldn’t get too carried away or you will lose your focus.

Get your feedback

You don’t have to, but I would suggest paying attention to the feedback from your article. This will be a good indicator of the effectiveness of your writing.

Next, you will get your long awaited assignment.

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