by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: March 10, 2009

The vast majority of us have at least one subject which we are intensely passionate about and upon which we hold very specific and even extreme views. This may be a particular shade of political opinion, it may be a subject of social change such as environmental protection issues or it may even be regarding our favourite sports' team and how we believe they are superior in every way to all their main rivals. Whatever the subject in question may be, if we are faced with the situation of having to write about it, there is an excellent chance that we will be required or expected to do so in an objective fashion.

So how can we write regarding something we feel so passionate about in an objective fashion? Can it indeed be done?

I would submit that it most certainly can be done and the easiest and quickest way in which to do so is to first of all write about it passionately. Do not hold back in this sense but rather ensure to espouse your theories in support of your opinion, what may be all your radical beliefs, or even your blind prejudices as to why you love your team so much in comparison to all others. Don't plan this piece of writing - write it off the cuff and from the heart. This will produce a much more authentic and useful draft for you to develop.

The next step is to read through your work and take very brief notes of the hard and established facts only. Ignore all the opinionated prose - simply get down on paper, preferably in simple list form at this stage, the facts surrounding the major issues of your topic.

When you have done this, you can take each fact in turn and look at both sides of the coin. Why do you feel so strongly about this one particular point? How and why may others feel differently? Note the reasons for your opinion and why others may not share it next to the fact itself. Proceed in this way until you have covered the entire list of facts.

Perhaps even without realising it, what you have essentially created here are the bare bones of your objective article. Create the introduction paragraph, introducing your reader to the subject only, then by perhaps taking a paragraph for each of your facts, state the fact and the two (or more!) most common viewpoints upon same. Remember, you have had your emotional outburst earlier - it should be out of your system now, allowing you to write simply in cold, hard, logical facts.

When you have gone through all the facts in this way, close your article with a further summary paragraph and read through it to check for revision requirements. By employing this method, you should find that you are capable of writing not only an extremely informative article upon your subject but a totally objective one.

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