Effective Business Writing and Communications

Archive for the ‘Techniques’ Category

Pre writing does not consist of a single method. In fact, pre writing involves several techniques that can help you plan and write a far better paper than if you simply dove right in. Most people find that some pre writing strategies work better for them than others. Bubbling, like freewriting , is a great technique when you have not yet developed a clear idea of where you are going with your topic.

Determining one’s audience is the most critical part of prewriting. All the other techniques depend on who the audience is. The audience is the one thing that is pre-determined and not in your control.
To do this I would use the prewriting technique “Answering the Reporter’s Questions; who, what, when, where, why, and how.”
Once these are answered, the writer can start to build on the other four prewriting objectives:

1.Examine your purposes
2.Determine your goals
3.Gather your data
4.Determine how the content will be provided

By identifying the audience first you can make sure you gather the correct information more quickly and easily. You can focus on gathering data and performing research that is pertinent to the audience. In this manner, you don’t waste time or materials gathering data that you will not use. If your audience is high-tech, you need not define everything you would have to for a lay audience.

Selecting the audience helps to determine whether the data collected has any value. The determined goals are another consideration while evaluating the data. Determining how the content will be provided would follow the other steps. The writing process and each of the steps builds on one another. In order to retain the integrity and foundation of the goal and purpose of the document all steps should be completed and are equally important.

Instead of just turning on the computer and writing until you have the number of pages required for the assignment, you may want to try break the writing process down into small chunks. For example, set aside a specific block of time in your day (20 minutes or so) to brainstorm ideas for your paper. Once you have completed this step, take a break. Next, develop an outline that summarizes the main points you want to cover in your paper. After this step is finished, you may then begin to jot down some ideas that could be considered for a thesis statement. This whole process could take place within an hour, or you could spread it out over a day or two if you prefer.

The  pre-writing you do for your essay or manual can have big benefits. One major focus is that it will help you to find the focus of the paper. To find the focus you need to write a thesis statement. To decide on an organizational pattern, you need to consider a method of development. You need to consider several things simultaneously : Thesis, outline, and method of development. The thesis helps you shape your view or opinion on the subject, the outline helps you organize your presentation of the ideas, and the method of development helps you see the shape that your paper will take.