One of the guidelines for a well-written document is to organize your thoughts before you begin writing

Question

Describe how you might do this, and how the use of structural
devices might further organize your writing.

Answer 1

Once you know what it is you want to demonstrate, discuss, or prove to your reader, you need to decide how best to organize your ideas to achieve this end. Organization is essential to effective legal writing, so you should have an organizational framework in mind before you begin writing. Most people find that an outlineâ€"whether it is a simple sketch in pencil or a detailed outline created by a computer programâ€"makes writing easier. It not only saves time but also produces a
more organized result.
When creating an outline, you decide the sequence in which topics should be discussed. Often, lawyers put their strongest argument first in legal writing. Aside from that, some issues will need to be addressed before others, either for logical reasons or for purposes of clarity and readability. Similar issues should be grouped together, either in the same section or under the same topic heading. Other factors to consider when organizing your presentation are format and structural devices.
If you are writing about a complex legal research project involving many issues, you may want to divide your presentation into several sections, with a section for each issue. You can make it easier for the reader to follow the discussion by including a "road map" to the document. For example, you might begin with an introduction that highlights the points that will be discussed and the conclusion that will be reached, thus orienting the reader to the document's contents. You might also use numbered or bulleted lists as a device to let the reader know the structure of your argument or discussion. In addition, try to "walk" your reader through the analysis and discussion by including descriptive headings and subheadings in the body of the document so that the reader never gets lost.
Arranging events chronologicallyâ€"that is, in a time sequenceâ€"can also serve as a structural device. A chronologically structured discussion is sometimes easier to follow. This is particularly true when you are describing the factual background leading to a lawsuit. Even if you are discussing legal issues instead of facts, you might want to use a chronological structure for at least part of your discussion. For example, if you are writing about the development of a particular rule of law over time, you will want to structure that part of the discussion chronologically.