Years ago I used to read books about how to write fiction. I've forgotten most of what I read then except for two things: Lawrence Block (in Writing the Novel) convinced me that writing a novel isn't really that hard; John Gardner (in The Art of Fiction) convinced me that writing a good novel really is that hard. Wait, there was a third thing: most people aren't likely to become good writers unless they actually do a lot of writing.

I've carried this last lesson with me to what I do now, which is mainly expository nonfiction. Here's my approach to writing professionally, once I know approximately what I want to write.

I brainstorm. I write down a list of all the ideas that might go in the piece, not analyzing any of it but just pouring it all onto paper. Even if I know approximately what to write, I don't yet know all the details: How should I explain something? What would make for good examples? Is there other material I can pull in, connections I can make, that would strengthen the piece? Who else has written on the topic? What ideas have they had? Afterwards, I prune the list drastically.

I write a paragraph summary that hits all the high points in the piece. This serves two purposes. First, it forces me to figure out what to emphasize and what to leave out (a paragraph isn't much space). Second, it lets me see how the writing will flow from one topic to the next; I can adjust the order if it seems appropriate. I break my ideas into sections and again write a paragraph summary of each. All of this gets thrown away later (except the top-level paragraph, which might make a good abstract, if the piece calls for one) but it helps me think things through.

I write the text that will eventually end up in the piece: full sections, paragraphs, sentences, fragments, phrases. Once I've written a paragraph, I reread it and revise it, making sure that the individual words are the right ones, the sentences flow reasonably from one to the next, the sentence structures are not overly repetitious, the diction and tone remain consistent, and so forth.

And I repeat all this, often several times.

Now, I don't do this in any particular order. Partway through the process I may have a few polished paragraphs or sections, a few sentences I like, and a mess of notes. I'm not especially organized about it; the book I'm working on now consists of a printed manuscript of three chapters with annotations in the margins, paragraphs and brainstorming lists in the blank space at the end of the chapters, and big Xs and arrows throughout. I also have a notebook with 50 or so pages of notes I've taken during the past week, a postcard I wrote on when I forgot to take my notebook with me, and even a receipt I scribbled an idea down on but haven't yet transferred to a more permanent location. If I were in my office there would be Post-It notes attached to everything, too.

All this has given me a good sense of my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. Here are the weaknesses, to give you an idea of what I mean.

I tend to chain together connected thoughts with semicolons rather than giving a full sentence to each. In fact, I use way too many semicolons in general.

I use "and" to connect independent clauses in the same way.

My sentences often have a sort of overly rhythmic structure to them, two or three with the same structure in succession.

I focus too much on words and sentences, and not enough on the larger parts, which means that the overall logic and message of the piece may be lost.

I have a tendency to make less relevant asides that break the flow of thought.

Is it all worthwhile? It sounds like a lot of work. Jack Kerouac once likened his prose to the extemporaneous music of the Beat generation; I can't do that--I have to create the illusion of spontaneity if I want it. There's compensation, though. You're doing a lot of writing, and practice makes perfect.