Critical Thinking in Writing
Writing is as much of a science as it is an art. The task of writing a coherent and comprehensible piece of work involves taking into account a lot of intricacies that go unnoticed by the reader's eyes. That does not however undermine their importance. One such very important aspect in writing any kind of piece is critical thinking. Unless one is able to critically look at every aspect of what he intends to write about, there are minimal chances of him being successful in coming up with something that not only makes sense to himself, but also to his readers. This Buzzle article will give you some pointers on how you can apply critical thinking to make the final product understandable and impressive.
How to Use Critical Thinking in Writing
Before we delve into the points regarding how critical thinking can be applied in writing, it would do us good to get a brief understanding of what critical thinking actually is. Put in layman's terms, critical thinking can be said to be the practice of examining every aspect of every topic carefully, analyzing it logically, weighing its pros and cons, and then forming an inference about it. These steps become very important, especially when you are given the responsibility of coming up with a written piece about some particular topic. There's no way you can present a report, paper, research, or any other form of written document if you haven't completed the steps mentioned above. Your piece then becomes vulnerable to being examined by people who have in fact critically examined every aspect and can tear through your work with little effort. So, let us see some of the basic steps that you must keep in mind which encompass critical thinking.
Know the Purpose
There's nothing more unfortunate than someone who has no idea of the purpose of what he is writing. What are you writing about? What is the reason that you are writing about that particular topic? Now that you have chosen the topic, what aspect are you going to focus on within the topic? And within the aspect that you're focusing on, what stand are you taking on what issue? Or what issue are you going to study and analyze and reach a conclusion about? Once you answer all these questions, you know exactly what you're doing. So, the first step of being clear in your head and organizing your thoughts is underway.
Organize your Thoughts
Writing can sometimes become quite a dangerous tool. This is because through our writing, we are giving people an insight into what our thoughts and perceptions about certain issues are. These perceptions are going to remain with them for a long time. There are chances of colored judgments getting in the way of our logical thinking and reasoning abilities. This could lead to the point of writing the piece being totally lost. Hence, it becomes important to have a proper control over what we write about what. Once we organize our thoughts, and give them their own separate compartments, there's little room for overlapping of thoughts, and confusion. This is a very important step because an unorganized mind becomes very evident in the person's writing. This could not only mar the impression that the reader has about the writer, but also could lead to confusion in the mind of the reader.
Be Logical
One other important step that you must not ignore is being logical. You need to develop your critical thinking skills by enforcing a strict sense of logic to everything that you study. Being logical helps you to not only critically analyze a particular subject in detail, but it also helps you to have an open mind which will prevent you from coming to conclusions before you have examined every aspect thoroughly. Plus, it also leaves little room for doubt and clouded judgments.
Back up Your Matter
The last, but certainly not the least important step of all is to give your piece of writing a solid and dependable base. By using references and citations in your work you give it more credibility, which is what you want for it. It also reinforces that you are a learner who has taken assistance from other learners and experts and formed a structured and detailed study of a particular topic. This gives it an added and much-needed advantage.
All it takes to incorporate critical thinking in writing is a sense of knowing what needs to be done, applying simple and basic logic to it, and coming up with a piece of writing that is ready to undergo scrutiny. It is only when a person has truly analyzed and written something that he will have the utmost confidence in his work and be willing to undergo any kind of detailed examination.
