When I was at Uni in my very last semester, my professor offhandedly said that she appreciated having more mature students because they didn’t just explain what, what, what, what. She then went on to say that they already understood that they had to add in the Why and How. This moment was a stunner for me. Almost like someone had just given me the key to creating the best research papers that the university had ever seen! Why was this not on the school jackets and on the flag! It should have been! What a brilliant formula for writing!

I have thought about this again and again, and how essential it is to explain what, as clue the reader in on what you are writing about, then moving into How which shows that you understand what you are talking about, preferably with relevant references, and then into Why which is where you analyze and interpret it all.

What? How? and Why? is so brilliant because it’s a formula for success and allows others to understand what you are talking about in such a clear way! What a great way to build a solid argument or point of view, or even for clearly describing a situation. I could have done even better at Uni had I known this key to success! Obviously this has come in handy and will continue to as I think and write and share!