chapter 3 summary 1
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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