te the
events that led up to it. This method of beginning _in medias res_ is a
device well recognized in fiction. In exposition the normal order is to
proceed from the known to the unknown, to dovetail the new facts into
those already familiar to the reader.

When a writer desires by his article to create certain convictions in
the minds of his readers, he should consider the arrangement best
calculated to lead them to form such conclusions. The most telling
effects are produced, not by stating his own conclusions as strongly as
possible, but rather by skillfully inducing his readers to reach those
conclusions by what they regard as their own mental processes. That is,
if readers think that the convictions which they have reached are their
own, and were not forced upon them, their interest in these ideas is
likely to be much deeper and more lasting. It is best, therefore, to
understate conclusions or to omit them entirely. In all such cases the
writer's aim in arranging his material should be to direct his readers'
train of thought so that, after they have finished the last sentence,
they will inevitably form the desired conclusion.

With the main topics arranged in the best possible order, the writer
selects from his available material such details as he needs to amplify
each point. Examples, incidents, statistics, and other particulars he
jots down under each of the chief heads. The arrangement of these
details, in relation both to the central purpose and to each other,
requires some consideration, for each detail must have its logical place
in the series. Having thus ordered his material according to a
systematic plan, he has before him a good working outline to guide him
in writing.

PLANNING A TYPICAL ARTICLE. The process of gathering, evaluating, and
organizing material may best be shown by a concrete example. The
publication in a New York paper of a news story to the effect that the
first commencement exercises were about to be held in the only factory
school ever conducted in the city, suggested to a special feature writer
the possibility of preparing an article on the work of the school. To
obtain the necessary material, he decided to attend the exercises and to
interview both the principal of the school and the head of the factory.
In thinking over the subject beforehand, he jotted down these points
upon which to secure data: (1) the origin and the purpose of the school;
(2) its relation to the work of the