THE WRITING PROCESS - Office Technology News



THE WRITING PROCESSAn effective letter or memo does not simply appear on your paper or computer screen. Instead, it begins to take shape when you think carefully about the situation in which you must write, when you define your purpose for writing. It continues to develop as you consider your reader, the information you must communicate, and the way in which you plan to present that information. Finally, a document that communicates clearly is the result of good writing and good rewriting; you can usually improve anything you have written. This document represents a process for approaching any writing task.Define PurposeKnowing your purpose for writing is the foundation of any written project. Before you begin writing your memo, letter, or other document, ask yourself the following questions:What am I trying to accomplish?What is my purpose for writing?To request information or products?To respond to a question or request?To persuade someone?To direct someone?Identify ReaderAs you define your purpose, you will need to develop a good picture of the person who will be reading your document. Ask yourself:Who is my reader?What do I know about my reader that will help determine the best approach?Is the audience one person or a group?Is my reader a coworker, a subordinate, a superior, or a customer?How is the reader likely to feel about my message?Select and Organize InformationOnce you have defined your purpose and identified your reader, decide what information you will include. Ask yourself questions such as:What does my reader want or need to know?What information must I include?What information will help my reader respond positively?What information should I not include?To answer these questions, you may find it helpful to spend a few minutes listing all the information you could include in your document. You may also find it helpful to write a rough draft of your document. Write the draft quickly, including any information that comes to you. Once you have it all on paper, you can work with it, deciding what to include and what to leave out.Write First DraftOnce you are ready to write, do not allow yourself to stare at a blank sheet of paper (or the computer screen) for more than a few seconds. A first effort is rarely a final draft, even for the best writers; therefore, write something to get started. Let your purpose, reader, and organizational plan guide you, but do not let them stifle you. Keep going even if you occasionally lose your focus. Once you have a full draft, you can add or delete information, reorganize, and edit sentences.Write Strong ParagraphsMost of your written business communication will be too complex to be conveyed in a single sentence. Memos, letters, and even simple informal messages often (though not always) require that you state a general idea and follow with more information about that idea: support for the idea, reasons, examples, explanation, further discussion, and so on. If you include one main idea in each paragraph, you can move your reader through complicated information idea by idea—paragraph by paragraph—until you believe your reader can draw a logical conclusion.Occasionally, a good paragraph is a single sentence. More often, a good paragraph is a group of sentences that focus on one main idea. This focus on a single idea is called unity. Good paragraphs also help the reader understand relationships between ideas (from paragraph to paragraph) and between ideas and their supporting details. This clarity of relationships is called coherence. Both unity and coherence improve when a paragraph begins with a sentence that states or implies the main idea.Use Active VoiceUse the active voice most of the time. Active-voice sentences use fewer words and are more direct than passive-voice sentences. Although the active voice is more direct and efficient, the passive voice is useful at times. Use passive voice when:Your writing is so formal or impersonal that you must avoid names and pronouns, as in formal reportsActive-voice options sound awkward or forcedYou want to improve sentence varietyYou wish to deemphasize the subject of the sentenceEdit and ProofreadEditing and proofreading are essential to good writing. Planning and drafting allow you to get your information on paper; editing and proofreading help you communicate your ideas as clearly as possible to the reader.REFERENCESBranson, Jeannette. Writing Efficiently and Effectively. Cincinnati: Davidson & Appleby Publishing Services, 2014.Gilleland, Maureen. “Business Writing.” . Accessed August 15, 2015.Lehnard, Arthur, and Taylor, Patricia. The Writing Reference Manual. St. Paul: Moreland House Publishing, 2014. ................
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