Grammaropolis
The Writing Company · with the Mayor

Write to Explain

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Write to Explain

When your purpose is to explain, you are giving your reader a tour. A good guide never skips a stop.

Every explanation is a trip you take your reader on. Here is what a good one carries, and what each part does for the reader.

  1. A clear destination
    Your topic, in one sentence the reader cannot misunderstand. They should know exactly where this tour is going before it starts.
  2. Stops in the right order
    Your facts, at least three, in the order that helps the reader most. Put the fact they need first, first, and a good guide never doubles back.
  3. What to notice at each stop
    For each fact, one more line: what it means, why it matters, or what it tells you. The noticing is what makes it a tour and not a bare list.
  4. An ending that leaves them knowing
    Wrap it up and remind the reader what they now know. They should walk away understanding the topic themselves.

Spend your tools

The craft moves you already know still do the work, pointed at an explanation.

Nelson portrait

Nelson · Specific nouns

A noun names a person, a place, a thing, or an idea, so pick the precise one. "Thing" tells the reader nothing. "Chain" and "gear" put them right there at the bike. Reach for the precise word.

I fixed the thing on my bike. I looped the chain back onto the gear.

Vinny portrait

Vinny · Strong verbs

Verbs come in shades. "Ran" and "sprinted" both mean go fast, but "sprinted" shows how. "Slipped" and "wrestled" show exactly what happened. Trade up for the verb that shows how.

The chain came off, and I put it back. The chain slipped off, and I wrestled it back on.

Connie portrait

Connie · The seven FANBOYS

Connie keeps seven joining words, the FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. Put a comma before one, and two sentences become one. "It slipped, but I kept going."

The chain slipped. I did not give up. The chain slipped, but I did not give up.

The Mayor portrait

The Mayor · Topic sentence, body, conclusion

A strong paragraph has three jobs. The topic sentence says what the paragraph is about. The body backs it up. The conclusion wraps it. Say it, back it, wrap it.

Facts about my bike, in no real order. A bike chain is easy to fix once you know how. Then the body backs it up. Now you can fix yours too.

The Explain Plan

Same three moves as always, new trip. When your purpose is to inform or to explain, the Plan it move is the Tour.

The Mayor's Power Plan

  • Pick it. Choose the idea worth explaining, and the reader who needs it.
  • Plan it. Map your stops before you go.
  • Pour it on. Write, and keep going: more detail at every stop the reader needs it.

The Tour

Plan the route, and the reader can follow it all the way.

  1. Name where we are going: your topic, in one sentence.
  2. The stops, in order: your facts, at least three.
  3. What to notice at each stop: one more line for each.
  4. Leave them knowing: an ending that sums up the topic.
Watch the Mayor plan it

Watch me run the plan on something our writer learned on the bike day: what a bike chain is, for a reader who has never looked at one.

Pick it. What a bike chain is and how it works, for a reader who has never thought about it. I am writing this for the kid whose chain just slipped off.

Plan it.

  • Where we are going A bike chain is what makes the wheels turn, and three things are good to know about it.
  • The stops, in order 1. The chain loops around two gears, one at the pedals and one at the back wheel. 2. If the chain is loose or you shift hard, it can slip off. 3. You can set it back by hand, on the back gear, then turn the pedal to walk it on.
  • What to notice at each The chain is the link between your legs and the wheel. A loose chain is the warning sign. And a slipped chain is a fix you can do yourself, right there on the road.
  • Leave them knowing Now you know what a chain is and what to do if it slips. Next time, you will not be stuck.

Pour it on. When I write this out, I keep the facts exactly and I add what the notes left out: how the grease feels, why the back gear is the easy one. But I never rearrange. On a tour, the reader is following me fact by fact.

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