The inverted pyramid disciplines your thinking

I have always thought of the inverted pyramid as an editorial technique which makes life simpler for both writer and editor—a pragmatic way to serve a front-loaded text to a reader who refuses to wait or concentrate.

But then I stumbled over this excellent article by Chip Scanlan from the Poynter Institute where he writes:

It’s also an extremely useful tool for thinking and organizing because it forces the reporter to sum up the point of the story in a single paragraph.

So true – as soon as you have run your notes and source texts through the Five Ws machinery your text will write itself. The lesson to be learned here is that five minutes of focused thinking can replace one hour of aimless writing agony.