Yes, absolutely, clarifying your purpose before you begin to write is essential. I do talk about that some in my workshops (for example, I point out that one of the biggest reasons people produce vague, abstract, bureaucratic writing is that they aren’t sure what they’re trying to say). However, I focus more on what to do AFTER you begin to write. This is partly because I think there are already a fair number of publications and workshops aimed at helping people in environmental fields frame their message, define their target audience, do “market research,” etc. — i.e., stuff that you do before you start writing. But I haven’t seen as much guidance for the next step, where you actually sit down and start putting the words and sentences together. — i.e., the craft of writing. So I’m attempting to fill that gap.

I also hope you will spend some time discussing the need to clarify the purpose of a communication before it is crafted. I was just working with a group on a brochure and the function of the publication was never fully clarified. I kept saying, “What is the point of this educational effort? What do you want the reader to do as a result of reading this? What information will he need to do it?” Without clarity of purpose a communicatin can become cluttered with lots of unnecessary information and jargon.