Process of Technical Writing

Process of Writing

How to write an essay?

Technical writing is not unplanned

It requires proper planning / steps

Different types of messages require different

organization plans

Process of Writing

Steps to write

Pre Writing Writing Post Writingi. Identify your PurposeDrafting Revising

ii. Analyze your Reader Editing

iii. Choose your IdeasProofreading

iv. Collect your Data

v. Organize your Message

Process of Writing

1. Identify Your Purpose• First step is to determine your specific purpose• Purpose determines the tone of writing• Why are you writing this document?• Is the purpose informational? Announcing your

firm’s new location or announcing the opening of new office

• Is the purpose persuasive? Asking customer to buy your product

• Is the purpose directing? Making your employees aware of new policy of the company

Process of Writing

Purposes can be..•To inform•To instruct•To persuade•To order•To recommend•To request•To apologize•To propose•To report•To invite

Process of Writing

2. Analyze the Reader• Adapt your message to your receiver’s views,

needs, mental filters, and cultures• Your reader also determines the appropriate tone

of writing• Different people have different mental filters and

they are affected by their education, view points, interests, attitudes and even cultures as

• Dear Mr. Raza• Mr. Raza Sb

Process of Writing

Readership involves …. Whether the person

is

Business or Professional person, laborer,

superior, colleague or subordinate, woman

or man, new or routine customer, young,

middle aged or elderly, educational level,

attitude and probable values, already

informed or uninformed, and whether he or

she will react positively or negatively.

Process of Writing

3. Choose your Ideas•Keeping the purpose and receiver in mind, choose your ideas for your message•If you are answering a request, underline the main points to discuss and write your ideas in he margin.•If writing unsolicited or complex message, begin by listening ideas as they come to you and choose the best ideas for your receiver• The choice of ideas depends upon the type of message to be communicated

Process of Writing

4. Collect your Data• Determine whether you need specific

facts, figures, quotations or other form of evidence to support your points

• Data includes names of individuals, dates, addresses, and statistics.

• Sometimes you need to include brochure, table, picture, or sample of product

• Facts and figures make the ideas more persuasive and acceptable

Process of Writing

5. Organize your Message

• Before writing first draft organize the message mentally or on paper

• Disorganized, rambling messages are not effective

Organizing MessageTwo Approaches

Deductive, Direct

Inductive, Indirect

Organizing MessageFour types of Messages

Good NewsDirect RequestPersuasive MessagesBad News

WritingDraftingWhen you have established your

purpose, your readers’ needs, and your scope and have completed your research and your outline, you will be well prepared to write a first draft. Expand your outline into paragraphs, without worrying about grammar, refinements of language usage, or punctuation. Writing and revising are different activities; refinements come with revision.

Writing Write the rough draft, concentrating entirely on

converting your outline into sentences and paragraphs. You might try writing as though you were explaining your subject to a reader sitting across from you.

Do not worry about a good opening. Just start. Do not be concerned in the rough draft about exact word choice unless it comes quickly and easily—concentrate instead on ideas.

Even with good preparation, writing the draft remains a chore for many writers. The most effective way to get started and keep going is to use your outline as a map for your first draft. Do not wait for inspiration— you need to treat writing a draft as you would any on-the-job task. The entry writing a draft describes tactics used by experienced writers—discover which ones are best suited to you and your task.

WritingConsider writing an introduction last because

then you will know more precisely what is in the body of the draft. Your opening should announce the subject and give readers essential background information, such as the document’s primary purpose. For longer documents, an introduction should serve as a frame into which readers can fit the detailed information that follows.

Finally, you will need to write a conclusion that ties the main ideas together and emphatically makes a final significant point. The final point may be to recommend a course of action, make a prediction or a judgment, or merely summarize your main points—the way you conclude depends on the purpose of your writing and your readers’ needs.

Revision When you revise your draft, read and evaluate it

primarily from the

point of view of your audience. In fact, revising requires a different frame of mind than writing a draft. To achieve that frame of mind, experienced writers have developed the following tactics:

• Allow a “cooling period” between writing the draft and revision in

order to evaluate the draft objectively. • Print out your draft and mark up the paper copy; it

is often difficult to revise on-screen. • Read your draft aloud—often, hearing the text will

enable you to

spot problem areas that need improvement. • Revise in passes by reading through your draft

several times, each

time searching for and correcting a different set of problems.

RevisionWhen you can no longer spot

improvements, you may wish to give the draft to a colleague for review—especially for projects that are crucial for you or your organization as well as for collaborative projects.

What to revise?Completeness. Does the document

achieve its primary purpose? Will it fulfill the readers’ needs? Your

writing should give readers exactly what they need but not overwhelm them.

Appropriate introduction and conclusion. Check to see that your introduction frames the rest of the document and your conclusion ties the main ideas together. Both should account for revisions to the content of the document.

What to revise?Accuracy. Look for any inaccuracies

that may have crept into your draft. Unity and coherence. Check to see

that sentences and ideas are closely tied together (coherence) and contribute directly to the main idea expressed in the topic sentence of each paragraph (see unity). Provide transitions where they are missing and strengthen those that are weak.

What to revise?Consistency. Make sure that layout and design,

visuals, and use of language are consistent. Do not call the same item by one term on one page and a different term on another page.

Conciseness. Tighten your writing so that it says exactly what youmean. Prune unnecessary words, phrases, sentences, and even

paragraphs. See conciseness. Awkwardness. Look for awkwardness in

sentence construction—especially any garbled sentences.

Ethical writing. Check for ethics in writing and eliminate biased language.

What to revise? Active voice. Use the active voice unless the

passive voice is more

appropriate. Word choice. Delete or replace vague words and

unnecessary intensifiers. Check for affectation and unclear pronoun references.

Jargon. If you have any doubt that all your readers will understand

any jargon or special terms you have used, eliminate or define them.

Clichés. Replace clichés with fresh figures of speech or direct

statements. Grammar. Check your draft for grammatical errors.

Use computer grammar checkers with caution. Because they are not always accurate, treat their recommendations only as suggestions.

What to revise?Typographical errors. Check your final

draft for typographical errors both with your spell checker and with thorough proofreading because spell checkers do not catch all errors.

Wordy phrases. Use the search-and-replace command to find and revise wordy phrases, such as that is, there are, the fact that, and to be, and unnecessary helping verbs such as will.

Editing

Edit the document and omit the errors

Proofreading Proofreading is essential whether you are

writing a brief e-mail or a résumé. Grammar checkers and spell checkers are important aids to proofreading, but they can make writers overconfident. If a typographical error results in a legitimate English word (for example, coarse instead of course), the spell checker will not flag the misspelling. You may find some of the tactics discussed in revision useful when proofreading; in fact, you may find passages during proofreading that will require further revision.

Proofreading Whether the material you

proofread is your own writing or that of someone else, consider proofreading in several stages. Although you need to tailor the stages to the specific document and to your own problem areas, the following Writer’s Checklist should provide a useful starting point for proofreading

Proofreading FIRST-STAGE REVIEW Appropriate format, as for

reports or correspondence Consistent style, including

headings, terminology, spacing, fonts

Correct numbering of figures and tables

Proofreading SECOND-STAGE REVIEW Specific grammar and usage problems Appropriate punctuation Correct abbreviations and

capitalization Correct spelling (especially names and

places) Complete Web or e-mail addresses Accurate data in tables and lists Cut-and-paste errors; for example, a result

of moved or deleted text and numbers

Proofreading FINAL-STAGE REVIEW Survey of your overall goals:

audience needs and purpose Appearance of the document Review by a trusted colleague,

especially for crucial documents