# The shape of an argument

Writing is a way of discovering what we mean. A sentence begins with an observation, then asks what the observation can support. The useful detail is often the one that changes the next question.

## Reading with a question

A marked passage holds more than a quotation. It preserves a moment of attention, a reason to return, and a possible connection to the work taking shape beside it.

The draft needs room for both certainty and revision. We can keep a precise claim in view without pretending that every consequence has already been settled.

### The work of a paragraph

Each paragraph carries one thought far enough for a reader to examine it. Evidence gives that thought its weight; a clear transition explains why the next thought belongs here.

## Keeping the thread

An outline is useful when it reveals the movement of the argument. It should make the relationships easier to see while leaving the writer free to change direction.

## When evidence changes the question