Chapter 3:Understanding the Writing Process

Adapted from Mike Markel, Technical Communication 8th ed.

How Is It Different?

• You took a basic composition course

• Tell me about your approach to writing

Technical Writing v. Creative Writing?

• Do they differ?

An Overview Of The Writing Process

• Planning

• Drafting

• Revising

• Editing And Proofreading

Planning

• Analyze your audience

• Analyze your purpose

• Generate ideas about your topic

• Research additional information– Be careful not to over-research your topic

• Organize and outline your document

• Devise a schedule and a budget

Drafting

• Get comfortable

• Write quickly without stopping to get more information

• If you don’t know the answer to something, make a placeholder for the information and come back to it

Revising

• Reconsider your audience

• Reconsider your purpose

• Reconsider your organization and development

Editing

• Let the document sit, overnight if possible

• Edit the document carefully– Grammar– Punctuation – Spelling– Style– Give it the read-aloud test

Editing and Proofreading

• Format the document carefully

• Check for consistency in style and formatting

• Proofread it and then have someone else proofread it– Do not rely on spelling or grammar checker– Never use universal search and replace

Using Resources for Revision

• Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)– Make it a habit to check with the expert on the

subject

• Preview the document to people most like the target audience

• Measure twice, cut once

A Person From The Target Culture Can Help You Answer

These Questions:

• Have you made correct assumptions about how readers will react to your ideas?

• Have you chosen appropriate kinds of evidence?

• Have you organized the draft effectively?• Have you designed the document and

crafted the sentences appropriately?

Templates

• Drafting is the same process in technical communications as in composition.

• However, many technical documents are created using templates.

• Templates have advantages in saving writers time and helping them achieve an attractive document, but they can unconsciously encourage writers to organize and develop the document in a way that is inappropriate for the subject.

Commercial Templates Can Lead To Three Problems:

• They do not always reflect the best design principles.

• They bore readers.

• They cannot help you answer important questions about your document.

Your Own Techniques

• Writers must develop their own techniques for revising technical documents.

Using A Word ProcessorInvolves Using These Tools:

• Outline View

• Templates

• Styles

• The Spelling and Grammar Checker

• The Thesaurus

• The Find and Replace Feature

Strategies for Revision

• The chapter presents three strategies for revising. – Study the document using a checklist– Seek help from someone else. – Usability-test the document.

• Usability testing is the process of conducting controlled experiments to determine how users interact with and work from a document.

Cultural Awareness

• What if our audience is from another culture?

QUIZ

• Chapter 3 describes the writing process as a series of stages. One stage is drafting. What are the other stages discussed in Chapter 3?

QUIZ

• Answer: planning, revising, editing, and proofreading

• Chapter 3 discusses three questions to consider about audience during the planning stage of the writing process. One is: What do they know about your subject? What is another one?

• Answer: What do they want to know? How are they going to read the document?

• Styles are preformatted designs for different kinds of documents, such as business letters, memos, newsletters, and reports. TRUE or FALSE

• Answer: False