In writing, however, once I made this point, I would have to support it.
That is the second step in writing -- supporting your point. You saw that the first step was not too hard; this one is not either. When I say support your point, I mean back it up. In other words, give reasons, details, examples, anything you can think of to make your point a convincing one. In addition, you should BS a lot. Yes, I said, BS. You must remember to BS in your writing if you want to be effective. Of course, you all know what BS stands for -- "Be specific." The details that support your point should be exact, precise, particular -- not vague and general. In other words, they should be specific.
Let's try to come up with some specific details to support my point about proms. Perhaps I feel proms should be banned, first of all, because they cost too much money. Now I have to develop this reason with specific details. If I write "All the things a person has to buy to go to the prom are too expansive," I have failed my readers. "Too expensive" is not specific. Instead, might write, "Attending the prom means buying a gown for 150 dollars, a bouquet of flowers for thirty-five dollars, a pair of tickets at fifty dollars apiece, and a set of photographs that can cost one hundred dollars and up." Now I am communicating better, for I have given my readers a clear idea of exactly how much money I am talking about. Now there is a much better chance that they will eventually agree with my opening point -- or at least respect my opinion. You can see, too, that specific details are a lot more interesting and lively than general ones. If you do not want your reader to fall asleep, then remember to BS.
The third step in writing a good paper is organizing your supporting details. Without some method of organization, your paper will sound confused and illogical, no matter how good your details are. How do you organize the details? Basically, there are three methods: time order, emphatic order and "if/then" order.