Writing can be difficult. As you start a paper your mind is blank and a bit of anxiety sets in. Out of all the things to write about what points do you want to make? But slowly as you start with one idea, the rest of your thoughts and paper fall into place. Still, it helps if you have some guidelines to work from.

You have to ask yourself what kind of paper you are writing. Is it informative? How do you share the information? Do you tell a story? A narrative, usually is a bout Rhetorical Gazes. When you use a story, you are also bonding with your reader. I have really enjoyed using this tool because I never quiet understood why or how it was that some writers caught my attention a lot better than others. When I was in 3rd grade I HATED reading Biographies. Biographies made my eyes exercise and put my brain to sleep. However, as I got older and started reading Biographies on people I could relate to, it became a hobby. How did this happen? It was because I could now relate to the people I was reading about. I found humor in their stories as well as similarities and that made the big difference. I would sometimes get a glass of wine or tea as I read these stories and it was almost as if I was chatting with a friend. Strange, maybe but I loved it. I learned so much from these people that I would never meet and yet sometimes when I would tell other people about what I had read, I would refer to them by their first name as if we were friends. Telling stories is not just about informing it's about teaching someone in such a way that they don't even realize it.

I would say that rhetorical gazes are my favorite because you can use this in every type of writing. Whether you are Comparing and Contrasting, Cause and Effect, or a How to paper, the more you can make your audience relate to you what you are saying by telling stories and painting pictures of those stories, the more they will understand. However, it is also very important to have structure and organization so that what you are trying to convey to your audience makes sense. This is where Classification and Division come in. Divide your paper into the main ideas and then further define those ideas in a way that makes sense. Get your audience involved by included open ended questions and comments.

In order to be successful with your messages to your audience they must be able to relate, be interested and understand what you are saying. You have to be able to reach strangers with all the possible common factors and entertainment you can provide.

The Art of Writing

Like most things in life, writing is a process but it is also an art.Most of us have been writing all of our lives and we have had many teachers who have not only taught us but influenced and even inspired us.
My writing path started with the very basic idea of structure. We have all heard it, introduction, body, conclusion. Along with this basic idea came brainstorming, which was how I learned to let my ideas rain on to my paper. The next logical step was to pick, choose and organize ideas into an outline which was the basic skeleton from where my ideas would form into a well written paper (at least in my opinion).
Along the way, I have learned from many other teachers. I have read many stories in many different styles that captured my mind, heart and even caused me to change and grow. I have heard songs that told a story in which I was able to visualize and connect so deeply that I cried and laughed and many times even sang along. I have seen many stories retold in movies, such as "Titanic",which I could not stop thinking about for weeks after. Unknowingly, I learned that telling a story was more than just putting words together, the trick is can you make your audience, visualize and experience your words.
I thought I knew all I needed to know but then there was more. You have to learn how to use the tools you almost instinctively learned to use. As a painter,at first you would think that all you need is a brush and different colors of paint but then you learn that different brushes stroke differently,mixing colors together can create a beautiful effect such as a sunset so real you can mistake it for a picture. This is the effect rhetorical tools have on writing. You tell stories to create Rhetorical Gazes, and use Cause and Effect to make the audience think of consequences. Compare and Contrast are used to make the audience think outside the box. Finally to further organize all the information we Classify and Divide so the the audience doesn't get lost on the way. We can choose to use Process Explanation in order to teach something. Not all the tools must be used at once but the mixture in the correct combination can be as unique and as capturing as the "Mona Lisa".