Word Craft

Learn Writing Style - What Is Technical Writing?

2008-09-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

Technical writing, sometimes called business writing, is writing for a specific purpose and with a specific goal. Usually its goal is to inform/instruct or persuade/argue. Technical writing can really be considered transactional writing because there are two people or groups involved in the communication. One party has a clear goal to inform or persuade the other party. This is real-world writing in every sense. You may not be aware of how much it already impacts your world through textbooks, instructions, web sites, and communications from many businesses and service organizations. There are professional technical communicators but only large organizations have them and even then they are not there to do your daily work for you and that is why it is so helpful for many to take at least an introductory technical writing class.

Why is technical communication important and what will you use it for? Actually, technical writing will be used by most college graduates as a regular part of their work. It is much more likely that you will use technical writing than either academic or creative writing unless you specifically enter those fields. A few examples of why you will likely need these skills include: getting a job – preparing a resume or curriculum vitae, cover letter, application, and portfolio; doing your job – preparing memos, letters, reports, instructions, case reports, reviews, assignments, descriptions, etc.; and keeping your job – communicating with management, co-workers, peers, patients/students/public.

What separates technical communication from other forms of writing, such as academic writing? Technical communication has a specific audience and is purposeful, usually intended to solve a problem for that audience. One area that really sets technical communication apart is that it is quite often collaborative. Technical communication is also focused on readability issues, not only the use of clear writing, but also page design and graphics. The excellence of technical writing is judged by clarity, accuracy, comprehensiveness, accessibility, conciseness, professional appearance, and correctness.

There are seven principles to guide technical writing: remember your purpose (to inform or persuade), remember your audience (their concerns, background, attitude toward your purpose), make your content specific to its purpose and audience, write clearly and precisely (active voice, appropriate language to audience), make good use of visuals (good page design and graphics), and be ethical (truthful, full disclosure, no plagiarizing).

Technical communication serves both explicit, or clear, and implicit, or implied, purposes. Explicit purposes include to provide information, to provide instructions, to persuade the reader to act upon the information, or to enact or prohibit something. Implicit purposes include establishing a relationship, creating trust, establishing credibility, and documenting actions. Most technical communications are based on a problem statement which gives your document a clearly stated objective for your benefit as well as your reader's. The problem statement defines the problem, by doing more than simply stating your topic, it goes on to explain what about that topic is at issue. For example, if your topic is career guidance then your problem could be the fact that many adults need help identifying a career that suits their strengths and abilities and the solution that your document will present is to create a comprehensive clearing house that helps people identify career paths through military, vocational training, and higher education.

You can learn writing style and find more writing advice at http://answersaboutwriting.com

Learn Writing Style - What Is Technical Writing?

2008-08-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

Writing - How Can You Become A Better Writer?

2008-08-15T04:52:00.000-07:00

Writing is one of the most essential skills we must learn in today's society. It is important to success in school. It is important to success in the work force. Writing is important to participate in the new global economy. Not only is writing important for communicating with others, it is also an important part of learning and problem solving. While most people fully recognize just how important writing is, many still do not fully understand how to develop this important life skill. There are four important rules to remember when working to develop your writing skills.

Writing cannot be learned in a short time. You can take a writing class that can help you improve your skill but drastic improvements to your writing skill is really the task of a lifetime. Writing is complex and challenging and takes time to learn then even more time to fully develop your potential as a writer.

Writing cannot be learned from a book or a lecture. A good writing teacher is more of a coach than a lecturer because truly the only way to improve your writing is through practice. Writing is a skill that requires you to develop your muscle memory just as other arts, such as music and dance, as well as sports. You must continually practice a dance step or football play before it becomes second nature. The same principle holds true of writing.

Writing is a process. Writing must proceed through a series of steps: invention, drafting, revising and editing. While the process is universal, each individual writer has a unique process that can be adapted to changing writing tasks. The writing process is recursive and writers may find themselves moving back and forth between steps on some writing projects.

Writing is socially situated. Unless writing strictly for yourself, it is important to spend time contemplating the social situation of your writing task. Who is your audience? What type of language use does that audience expect? Should the writing be formal or casual? What knowledge can you expect the audience to possess and what knowledge does the audience expect of you as the writer?

Anyone can be a writer. Writing well is not a gift from the gods or an inherited trait. It is a skill that can be learned and refined through practice. It takes time and effort to learn to write well, just as anything worth doing does, but the rewards for your effort can be infinite.

Learn more about teaching writing at http://teachingwritinghome.com/

Developing an Individual Writing Process

2008-05-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

Developing an individual writing process is key to your success as a writer. Studies of struggling writers show that one of the reasons they struggle is that they focus on only one aspect of writing.

So what is the writing process? First it is important to note that there is no such thing as "the writing process". Yes, there is a writing process that embraces the notion that there are certain essential steps that successful writers employ when writing but that process varies greatly depending on the writer and then individual writers also vary their process according to the writing task at hand. That means that there is no such as "the writing process" but that a personal, individual writing process which you adjust to the varying circumstances of your writing can be tremendously helpful.

However, before you can begin to individualize your writing process and then adjust it to different tasks, you must learn more about the theory behind the writing process.

The theory of writing process begins with prewriting or invention stage. This is when you may need to do brainstorming, research, and planning to get started with your writing project. This is the stage that struggling writers spend the least time on and experienced writers spend much more time as they know that more attention and thought at this stage can save time and effort later. This stage may have a lot to show for it in terms of prewriting and research or it might take place primarily inside the writer's brain. This depends on the individual writer, the complexity of the task, and the familiarity of the writer with the task.

Only after spending time at the prewriting stage do writers move on to drafting. This is where the actual writing takes place but encompasses more than one draft and several sessions of writing spread over time. Drafting focuses on simply getting words on paper and emptying the brain of ideas for this project.

Writers move on to revision after those early drafts have filled out and developed some substance. It is during the multiple drafts of the revision stage that the writing project shapes into something resembling the intended final project. The paper is not yet done but it looks and feels like the intended genre, the ideas are fully developed and the organization is functional.

Then writers move on the editing stage where they attend to correctness issues including cleaning up spelling, grammar, word choice, and polishing the writing. This is the correct time to deal with these issues as concentrating on them earlier in the writing process will slow down the development of ideas.

After editing, writers should seek out feedback for the final stage of the writing process to determine what further revision or editing might be necessary to complete the writing project. Feedback should be sought from skilled readers familiar with either the subject matter or the type of writing project so they can offer more informed review.

While each individual writing process will include some general variation of these elements it is important for writers to recognize that an effective writing process reflects their own individual strengths, weaknesses, and work habits. The writing process should also vary according to the project as well. Obviously a new, complex project will demand much more during prewriting and invention than a familiar topic and comfortable project genre.

Deanna Mascle is a professional writer as well as a teacher of writing. Find more of her writing tips at http://renaissancewomanonline.com

Understanding Discourse Community And Its Importance

2008-05-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

As an experienced conversationalist who has been wielding verbal words since toddlerhood, you easily move from one group of people to another adjusting your tone, your vocabulary, and your syntax accordingly. Often without thinking about it, you speak differently to your parents than you do to your teachers and differently from both groups when alone with your friends. You would not dream of using the same speech patterns in the locker room and the church sanctuary.

Most writers understand the concept of audience and why it is important to understand who their audience is when composing. Yet simply understanding the "who" of your audience is only the beginning for experienced writers. Effective writing, writing that works and delivers the intended message and effect, must fit within the discourse community it is destined to serve.

What is a discourse community? A discourse community is a group of people who "speak the same language" or in other words people who share an interest in certain topics, share a body of knowledge about those topics, and possess a common vocabulary for discussing those topics. Have you ever been around a group of people who shared a common passion that you knew nothing about? Perhaps it is a particular sport or activity, an artistic talent, or a job, but it is likely that without sharing that same passion you find it difficult to follow their conversation. That is because you are not a member of that discourse community. While they are speaking the same language as you -- English -- the context of the discourse community changes the way language is used as well as the content of that language.

You already belong to several discourse communities as a result of your family, ethnic, and religious background as well as your personal interests and activities. Students enter the larger discourse community of the instituion they attend as well as numerous smaller discourse communities within that institution including specific classrooms, clubs and organizations, and majors and programs.Workers enter the larger discourse community of their employer and depending on the size and focus of the institution may also enter smaller discourse communities within it as well. For example, in a hospital a nurse might belong to the discourse community of the hospital, the nursing staff, and the Emergency Department.

So why is it important for writers to consider discourse community?

Discourse is a conversation or more extended and more formal discussion of our ideas in either speech or writing. Discourse is important as this is how we communicate in the social world that we live and work in. The social groups we communicate within are called communities. A community is a group of people connected for a common goal or purpose. So then a discourse community is a social group that is involved in discourse.

When you participate in a discourse community you must understand what language is used, how language is used, what knowledge is generally possessed within the community, and what motivated and interests the community. Understanding discourse community extends beyond simply knowng your audience and purpose -- it means understanding what words to use, how to frame those words into units (sentences, paragraphs, etc.), and what information is already possessed by community members.

Once you understand the concept of discourse community and begin to apply it to your writing you will immediately see a rise in the effectiveness of your writing. Then you can begin to make informed decisions about every aspect of your writing from the word choice, grammar, and sentence/paragraph construction to tone and level of formality.

Deanna Mascle is a professional writer as well as a teacher of writing. Find more of her writing tips at http://deannamascle.com

Refining your writing process is key to your writing success

2008-01-09T17:24:00.000-08:00

Many struggling writers are convinced there is a secret to the success of more confident writers. There is in fact a secret but it is one that you too can embrace to improve your writing. The simple truth is that refining your own personal writing process to your unique strengths and weaknesses can not only make writing easier it can also improve writing as well. Every writer's writing process includes the same basic five elements: inventing, organizing, drafting, revising, and editing; however, in order for the writing process to improve writing that process must be tailored to fit the individual writer's strengths and weaknesses.

Invention is one area that many beginning and struggling writers simply do not spend enough time on. Many beginning writers believe any time not spent writing is a waste of time. However, experienced writers know that the more time spent thinking about and preparing for the writing task then the less time that will need to be spent on actually writing. Invention might simply include thinking but writers can also use various methods to brainstorm from free writing to clustering. Experiment with many types of brainstorming and invention to determine which methods work best for you.

Organization is also a key part of writing preparation that many novice writers do not give proper attention. Depending on the length and complexity of the writing task this can take a lot of time or very little time, but do not overlook this important element.

Writing is of course an obvious part of the writing process, but many struggling writers simply overlook the fact that multiple drafts can make a big different in the quality of the work produced. The more time a writer allows between drafts then the more effective the drafting process can be.

Many poor writers believe that proofreading is the same as revising and editing, however experienced writers understand that revision is the reworking of content so that all ideas are fully expressed, transitions are clear between topics, and organization is effective. Experienced writers know that proofreading is more closely associated with editing but even then editing is more than simply proofreading for the simple surface errors of spelling and punctuation. Editing is looking at the structure of sentences and paragraphs as well as looking at grammar and word choice. Revision and editing should include at least two more draft but may require more depending on the writer's weaknesses.

It is quite simple. Creating an individual writing process can improve writing and make writing easier as well. Scratch the surface of any successful writer and you will find an individual writing process.

Find out how you can learn writing style at http://answersaboutwriting.com/

Writing - Selected Resources For Writing

2005-03-05T17:43:00.000-08:00

Writing - Selected Resources For Writing: "Publishing a Book?
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Writing - Selected Resources For Writing

2005-03-05T17:42:00.001-08:00

Writing - Selected Resources For Writing: "Become a Copywriter
Become a copywriter, with the help of this Diploma home-study course. You'll have your own friendly tutor, as well as access to other students."

Writing - Selected Resources For Writing

2005-03-05T17:42:00.000-08:00

Writing - Selected Resources For Writing: "Poetry.com
A writer like you can win $10, 000 in our free amateur contests, read our poem of the day, view poetry links and learn how to get published."

Writing - Selected Resources For Writing

2005-03-05T17:41:00.000-08:00

Writing - Selected Resources For Writing: "Word Craft ~ Writers Helping Writers

Our goal is to help you improve your writing skills whether you write for fun or profit. All writers need to continually work to perfect their craft and Word Craft provides the resources to help."

Writing - Selected Resources For Writing

2005-03-04T17:17:00.001-08:00

Writing - Selected Resources For Writing

2005-03-04T17:17:00.000-08:00

Writing

How to feed your creativity

Topics include:
* Writing prompts
* Writing exercises
* Finding inspiration in other creative arenas
* Support for your inner writer
* Fighting writer's block and burnout
* And much, much, more!

Writing - Selected Resources For Writing

2005-03-04T17:16:00.000-08:00

Writing - Selected Resources For Writing: "Word Craft ~ Writers Helping Writers "