Lecturer: Gareth JonesLecturer: Gareth JonesClass 2: The Writing ProcessClass 2: The Writing Process

Introduction Business writing Communication strategies Deciding to write Writing Stages

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Take your time Organise your thoughts Write and rewrite

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Introduction Business writing Communication strategies Deciding to write Writing Stages

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Business writing is not like normal writing…

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Work under huge time pressure Must write quickly and under pressure Must be accurate Must be succinct

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Deadlines to meet Clients to please Meetings to schedule

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We must learn how to increase efficiency Objective: WRITE FASTER!

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Before we write, we must make some decisions:◦Set Communication Strategy◦Decide whether to write or not◦Split writing into stages

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Set Communication Strategy Decide whether to write or not Split writing into stages

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Introduction Business writing Communication strategies Deciding to write Writing Stages

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Covered in lecture 11

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Introduction Business writing Communication strategies Deciding to write Writing Stages

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Set Communication Strategy Decide whether to write or not Split writing into stages

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“To write or not to write, that is the question”

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Do you have an important reason to write?

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Reasons:◦Someone has asked you to◦Way to stay organised◦Good format for making mistakes

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Is writing the best thing to do?◦Maybe a meeting or a phone call would be better?◦Why?

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Do I want a permanent record? Are my feelings real or temporary? Are you the right person to be writing?

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Sometimes speaking is a better option... Do you need more audience feedback? Do you need a quick response? Okay so you have decided…

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I will write

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Set Communication Strategy Decide whether to write or not Split writing into stages

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Introduction Business writing Communication strategies Deciding to write Writing Stages

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It will be more efficient to split your writing into the five stages of the writing process

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Gathering Organising Focusing Drafting Editing

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Gathering Organising Focusing Drafting Editing

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This is the first step There are different ways to go about it…

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Option 1: Collect from outside sources

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Books Files Financial Statements Printouts Websites Interviews Etc.

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Option 2: Be more intuitive

◦USE YOUR BRAIN

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Brainstorm: think very hard about your topic, alone or with others. Write it down!

Free writing: make yourself write (even if it doesn’t make sense)

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Always keep notes and carry paper and a pen (Android, iPhone, iPad & other tablets also good)◦You never know when you might get an idea you

need to write down!

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Gathering Organising Focusing Drafting Editing

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Once you have enough info, you must organise your thoughts.

Many different ways of doing this…

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This should be a way for you to visualise your information, such as…

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A traditional outline A mind map A pyramid shaped chart

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A traditional outline A mind map A pyramid shaped chart

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Use different labels (bullets and/or numbering)◦1,2,3;◦a,b,c;◦ i,ii,iii;

For items of different importance

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A traditional outline A mind map A pyramid shaped chart

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Put the main point in the middle and supporting points around it

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A traditional outline A mind map A pyramid shaped chart

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Main ideas on top Ideas get more specific as we work our way down In the core text page 39

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Gathering Organising Focusing Drafting Editing

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Now that you have your ideas organised, decide what are the important parts of your message

There are many techniques, follow along on Page 40

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Skimming Teaching 2 minute Summary

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Imagine the reader “skimming” Skimming = to read very fast, focusing on main points,

not details

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What do they need to know the most? Summarise a large number of ideas into a few

sentences This helps separate main and minor ideas

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Teach your ideas Think about how you would teach these ideas to

someone who is not an expert This makes you think about your audience It is most important that they understand! (also a good way to prepare for exams)

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“2 minute summary” “Boss Summary”◦ Imagine your boss wants you to tell him/her about your

report in two minutes

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“2 minute summary”◦What would you say?◦What would you talk about?

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Use one or many of these or other techniques

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Now you have an organised, focused list. You may find now you have to go back and get more

information

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This is fine! Go back and research and organise more if necessary. At least you know your shortcomings

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The first 3 steps are considered:◦Pre-writing

Pre-writing is what you do before writing◦Pre-writing is just as important as writing◦A good writer spends 50% of their free time pre-writing

and 50% of the time writing After pre-writing comes writing

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Once we are done prewriting, we must go to the writing phase.

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Gathering Organising Focusing Drafting Editing

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The first stage of writing

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Write in any order:◦Don’t worry about writing Introduction – Main Body -

Conclusion

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Write in whatever order is the easiest for you Many people say to write Introduction last (I do)

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Avoid editing or correcting Drafting should be creative, not technical Leave editing for after draft is done

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Print! Print! Print! Print your draft and read it. Better to have a hard copy than to stare at the computer

all day! You can scribble on it if you want

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Take your time. After you are done drafting, take a break, relax before

editing. Why?

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Take your time◦This will give you time to organise your thoughts

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Gathering Organising Focusing Drafting Editing

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Edit for content◦Read through your paper◦Make sure it says what you want it to

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We will discuss this in detail in lecture 4

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The tutorial will explore the pre-writing stage of the writing process

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Referencing

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