My goal in writing is to compose in a manner such that readers can lose themselves and become me while they are reading my composition ... so they can experience what I experienced, as if they had been living that part of my life.

In pursuit of that goal, I must first dwell on something that is of interest to my audience.

Second, I must present my experience and/or thoughts in a logical sequence. If it is an experience that I am relating, it should be presented more or less in chronological order. If I am expounding on ideas, then it should flow in a comfortable framework, one of the best being: 1) Tell the audience what I am going to say; 2) Present the details of what I am going to say; and, 3) Tell them what I said.

Third, I should write in a manner and style commensurate with my audience, avoiding occupation-related jargon and haughty, cryptic words. After all, I want my audience to understand what I am relating without having to pick up a dictionary.

Fourth, I want to make my presentation as visual, tactile and lyrical as possible. I want the audience to to be able to see and feel what I did, and I want there to be the quintessential aesthetic quality of beauty in the composition ... the "wow" factor.

In order to achieve this goal, I try to jot down the loose details as quickly as possible so as not to forget anything. I may then let the notes sit a while, during which time my subconscious mind conjures up more relevant details which are subsequently added to the set of notes.

Next, I try to write sentences and paragraphs which document the various aspects of the experience or idea, focusing more on quantity than quality at this stage.

I then rearrange the sentences and paragraphs into a coherent pattern of flow.

Then, I begin the process of turning the raw wording into finely-phrased and carefully-polished gems of lyrical individual sentences which, in concert, form symphonic movement-like paragraphs. Every word is fussed over. Every sentence is analyzed for arrangement and flow, and function and fit within the paragraph.

When I have completed the above process, I put on my "Quality Control" hat and review the entire composition, sometimes adding relevant content at the proper place, sometimes deleting material which in no way enhances the presentation, eliminating redundancy and wordiness, and simplifying where possible withhout losing any elegance.

The last, and most important step: I try to forget about myself, my experiences and my ideas, and I try to become my audience. I read the composition several times, each time focusing on a different aspect of quality: syntax and grammar; word quality; am I hearing what was intended to be said by the author? ... in the manner in which the author intended to say it?; do I feel the "wow" factor? During this stage, usually only a few words are changed here and there, but it makes all the difference in the effect. Hopefully, it turns what might otherwise be nice and ordinary into that which is stunningly beautiful.