Effective Writing: Planning, Composing, and Revising

2. Chapter 5 Planning, Composing, and Revising • Good Writers • Composing Activities • Half-Truths • Ten Ways to Make Writer Easier to Read • Revise, Edit, and Proofread

3. Chapter 5 Learning Objectives • LO 5-1 Activities involved in the composing process, and how to use these activities to your advantage • LO 5-2 Guidelines for effective word choice, sentence constructions, and paragraph organization • LO 5-3 Techniques to revise, edit, and proofread your communications

4. Ways Good Writers Write • Revise first drafts • Write regularly • Break big jobs into small chunks • Focus on purpose, audience • Choose from several different strategies • Use rules flexibly • Finish a draft before editing text

5. Basic Composing Activities: Planning • Analyze problem, define purposes, analyze audiences • Brainstorm information to include • Gather information • Select the points you want to make • Choose organization pattern

6. Basic Composing Activities: Writing • Put ideas into words on paper or screen • Make a list • Develop headings • Jot notes • Do stream-of-consciousness writing • Create partial drafts

7. Basic Composing Activities: Revising • Evaluate in terms of audience, goals, and situation • Will audience understand it? • Is it complete? • Is it convincing? Friendly? • Get feedback from someone else • Add, delete, substitute, or rearrange single words or large sections

8. Basic Composing Activities: Editing • Focus on surface of message • Standard English • Grammar and spelling • Capitalization and punctuation • Business principles • Build goodwill • Use conventional format • Proofread; correct typographical errors

9. More About Composing Activities • Don’t have to do in specific order • Don’t have to finish one to start another • Don’t have to use all activities for every message

10. Write as you talk Never use I Never use You Never begin sentence with And or But Never end sentence with preposition Never use sentences with more than 20 words, or paragraphs with more than 8 lines Big words impress people Business writing does not document sources Half-Truths about Style 1/2

11. Write as You Talk: Yes . . . But • Yes • Do it for first draft • Read draft aloud to test • But • Expect awkward, repetitive, badly organized prose • Plan to revise and edit

12. Never Use I: Yes . . . But • Yes • I can make writing seem self-centered • I can make ideas seem tentative • But • Use I to tell what you did, said, saw—it’s smoother

13. Never Use You: Yes . . . But • Yes • Writing to familiar audiences • Describing audience benefits • Writing sales text • But • Avoid in formal reports or other situations where formality is required

14. Never Begin Sentence with And or But • And may make idea seem like afterthought • And gives effect of natural speech • But serves as a signpost, signals a shift • But can make writing smoother

15. Never End a Sentence with a Preposition: Yes . . . But • Yes • A preposition may not be worth emphasizing this way • Readers expect something to follow a preposition • Avoid in job application letters, reports, formal presentations • But • OK now and then

16. Never Use Sentences With More Than 20 Words, or Paragraphs With More Than 8 Lines: Yes . . . But • Yes • Sometimes long sentences and paragraphs can be difficult to read • But • Long sentences with parallel clauses may be clear • Longer paragraphs with bulleted lists may be clear • Use the expectations of your audience, context, and purpose

17. Big Words Impress People: Yes . . . But • Yes • You may want to show formality or technical expertise • But • Big words distance you from audiences • Big words may be misunderstood • Misused words make you look foolish

18. Business Writing Does Not Document Sources: Yes . . . But • Yes • Much business writing does not and uses its own boilerplate • But • If you borrow words, you must acknowledge source or you’ll plagiarize • If the source is not widely know or was controversial, it’s best to acknowledge

19. Ten Ways to Make Your Writing Easy to Read As you choose words— • Use accurate, appropriate, and familiar words • Avoid technical jargon; eliminate business jargon

20. 1. Use Accurate, Appropriate Words • Denotation—literal meanings; dictionary definitions • Bypassing—two people using same word to mean different things; causes mix-ups • Connotation—emotional association; attitude - / + • nosy / curious • fearful / cautious • obstinate / firm • tax / user fee

21. 1. Use Familiar Words • Words most people know • Words that best convey your meaning • Shorter, more common words • Specific, concrete words

22. 1. Use Short, Simple Alternatives StuffySimple residelive commencebegin enumeratelist finalizefinish, complete utilizeuse

23. Jargon—special terms of technical field Use in job application letters Use when essential and known to audience Replace with plain English, when possible 2. Avoid Jargon—Mostly

24. 2. Omit Business Jargon • Businessese—needless, old-fashioned wording ExampleAlternative Enclosed please findHere is As per your requestAs you asked I acknowledge receipt of(begin reply) The undersignedMe

25. Ten Ways to Make Your Writing Easy to Read, continued… As you write and revise sentences— • Use active voice most of the time • Use verbs—not nouns—to carry weight of sentence • Eliminate wordiness • Vary sentence length and structure • Use parallel structure • Put readers in your sentences

26. 3. Use Active Voice • Active—subject of sentence does action the verb describes • Passive—subject is acted upon • Usually includes form of “to be” • Change to active if you can • Direct object becomes subject

27. 3. Passive vs. Active Voice P: The program will be implemented by the agencies. A: The agencies will implement the program. P: These benefits are received by you. A: You receive these benefits. P: A video was ordered. A: The customer ordered a video.

28. Active voice is better because— Shorter Clearer More interesting Passive voice is better to— Emphasize object receiving action Give coherence by repeating word in previous sentence Avoid placing blame 3. Passive vs. Active Voice, continued…

29. 4. Use Verbs to Carry Weight Replace this phrase with a verb • make an adjustment • make a decision • perform an examination • take into consideration =adjust =decide =examine =consider

30. 5. Eliminate Wordiness • Wordy—idea can be said in fewer words • Concise; a mark of good writing • Omit words that say nothing • Combine sentences to save words • Put the meaning in subject and verb

31. 5. Omit Words that Say Nothing • Cut words if idea is clear without them • . . . period of three months • . . . at the present time • Replace wordy phrase with one word • Ideally, it would be best to put the… • If possible, put the… • There are three reasons for our success… • Three reasons explain the…

32. 5. Combine Sentences to Save Words • Infante projected sales of $43 million in the first quarter. Our actual sales have fallen short of that figure by $1.9 million. • Although Infante projected first-quarter sales of $43 million, actual sales are $1.9 million less than that. wordy tight

33. 5. Put Meaning of Sentence into the Subject and Verb • The reason we are recommending the computerization of this process is because it will reduce the time required to obtain data and will give us more accurate data. • Computerizing the process will give us more accurate data more quickly. wordy tight

34. Edit sentences for tightness Use short sentences when subject matter is complicated Use longer sentences to Show how ideas link to each other Avoid choppy sentences Reduce repetition Group words into chunks Keep verb close to subject 6. Vary Sentence Length and Structure

35. 7. Use Parallel Structure • During the interview, job candidates will • Take a skills test. • The supervisor will interview the prospective employee. • A meeting with recently hired workers will be held. • During the interview, job candidates will • Take a skills test. • Interview with the supervisor. • Meet with recently hired workers. faulty parallel

36. 8. Put Readers in Your Sentences • An election to name a beneficiary other than the participant’s spouse must be made with spousal consent, for any participant who is married. • If you are married, you need your spouse’s consent to name a beneficiary other than your spouse. “You” gives the second example more impact

37. Ten Ways to Make Your Writing Easy to Read, continued… As you write and revise paragraphs— • Begin most with topic sentence • Use transitions to link ideas

38. 9. Begin Most Paragraphs with Topic Sentence • Unity—¶ discusses one idea; a mark of good writing • Topic sentence—states main idea • Tells what paragraph is about • Forecasts paragraph’s structure • Helps readers remember points

39. Transition—signals the connections between ideas to the reader Tells if next sentence continues or starts new idea Tells if next sentence is more or less important than previous Examples: in addition, similarly, for example, however, on the other hand 10. Use Transitions to Link Ideas

40. Revise, Edit, and Proofread • Revise – change content, organization, and tone to satisfy purposes and audiences • Edit – change mechanical flaws, grammar errors • Proofread – correct typing errors

41. Revise draft three times or more Content and clarity Organization and layout Tone and style Read the document from start to finish Do light revision when time is short When You Revise

42. When You Edit • Revise first; then edit • Edit hard copy, not screen • Check errors you often make: • Sentence structure • Agreement: subj./verb, noun/pro. • Punctuation, numbers • Word usage, spelling

43. When You Proofread • Check with spell checker and by eye • Swap copy with proofing buddy • Read once quickly for meaning • Read again slowly • Correct any error; reread that line • When you know text well— • Read backward (short) • Read pages out of order (long) Triple-Check Numbers Headings First ¶ Last ¶ Reader’s name