The Writing Company · with the Mayor

Write to Persuade

1 Learn Start here

2 Assess Take the quiz

3 Practice Try it out

4 Create Make your own

★ Certified Earn your badge

Write to Persuade

When you persuade, your reader starts on the other side of the river. They do not believe you yet. That is why you build.

An argument is a bridge you build for a reader who starts on the other side. Here is what holds it up, and what each part does.

A claim that spans the river

Say what you believe, plainly, in one sentence. The reader should know exactly where you want to take them before you build a thing.
Reasons that are the pillars

At least three. Ask of each one: will my reader believe this? A reason that only convinces people already on your bank is not a pillar.
A footing of proof under every pillar

Back each reason with one more sentence: an example, a fact, or what would happen without it. Proof is what carries a doubter's weight.
A far bank with a signpost

End by returning to what you believe, and tell the reader what to do once they are across. An argument is a conversation with a reader who is allowed to push back.

Spend your tools

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

Nelson · Specific nouns

A noun names a person, a place, a thing, or an idea. "Cousin" is a common noun; "Maya" is her proper name, and it earns a capital M. "Tree" is common; "the old oak" is precise. Name the exact thing, and use the real name when you have one.

My cousin and I built it near the tree. Maya and I built our fort under the old oak.

The Mayor · Voice

Voice bends to two things: who is reading, and why you are writing. A story for a friend sounds warm; a report for a teacher sounds tidy. I write one way, Slang writes another, and each fits its moment.

This document details the construction of a backyard fort. Let me tell you how Maya and I built the best fort in Grandma's yard.

Connie · Compound sentences for rhythm

A short sentence lands hard. A compound one, two thoughts joined with a comma and a conjunction, gives the reader room to breathe. Let them take turns, and your writing finds a rhythm.

We built the walls and we built the roof and then it rained. We built the walls. We built the roof, and then the rain came.

The Mayor · The paragraph as a small machine

A good paragraph is a small machine. The topic sentence is the switch, the body sentences are the moving parts, and the closer shuts it off clean. If a sentence has no job, it jams the works. Every part pulls its weight.

Sentences that sit near each other but do not work together. The topic sentence starts it, each body sentence adds a part, and the last sentence closes it.

The Persuade Plan

Same three moves as always, one more trip. When you persuade, the Plan it move is the Bridge.

The Mayor's Power Plan

Pick it. Choose the belief worth arguing, and know who is standing on the far bank.
Plan it. Set your pillars and their footings before you write.
Pour it on. Write, and keep asking: would this pillar hold my reader's weight?

The Bridge

A bridge stands because the pillars hold the span and the footings hold the pillars.

Your claim spans the river: say what you believe, plainly.
Your reasons are the pillars: at least three the reader will believe.
Every pillar needs a footing of proof: an example, a fact, or a what-if.
The far bank: return to your claim and tell the reader what to do.

Watch the Mayor plan it

Watch me build a bridge from that same afternoon in Grandma's backyard. My claim: every kid should get to build something outside.

Pick it. Every kid should get to build something outside. I believe it, I can back it, and I know exactly one rainy fort that proves it.

Plan it.

My claim, spanning the river Every kid should get to build something outside.
My pillars (three reasons) 1. Building outside makes you figure things out. 2. It is better with someone. 3. A place you built yourself feels different from one you were handed.
The footings (proof under each) 1. When the rain came, Maya and I solved it by weighing the blanket down with rocks. 2. The two of us built more together than either of us could have alone. 3. That soggy fort was ours in a way no store-bought tent could ever be.
The far bank That afternoon stuck with me longer than any toy did. Find a corner of a yard or a room, and build something this week.

Pour it on. When I draft this, each pillar and its footing becomes its own little paragraph, and I keep asking the bridge question as I go: will this pillar hold my reader's weight? An argument is a conversation with a reader who is allowed to say "prove it."

Start the quiz →