VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Page 120 S killed performances look easy and effortless. In reality, as every dancer, musician, and athlete knows, they’re the products of hard work, hours of practice, attention to detail, and intense concentration. Like skilled performances in other arts, writing rests on a base of work. Ethics and the Writing Process As you plan a message, Identify all audiences of the message.

In difficult situations, seek allies in your organization and discuss your options with them.

As you compose, Provide accurate and complete information.

Use reliable sources of material. Document when necessary.

Warn your readers of limits or dangers in your information.

Promise only what you can deliver.

As you revise, Check to see that your language is clear to the audience and bias-free.

Use feedback to revise text and visuals that your audience may misunderstand.

Check your sources. Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, you will know 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 construction, and paragraph organization. LO 5-3 Techniques to revise, edit, and proofread your communications. PRINTED BY: SHERIFAT EGBERONGBE . Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted. Page 121 The Ways Good Writers Write No single writing process works for all writers all of the time. However, good writers and poor writers seem to use different processes. 1 Good writers are more likely to Realize that the first draft can be revised.

Write regularly.

Break big jobs into small chunks.

Have clear goals focusing on purpose and audience.

Have several different strategies to choose from.

Use rules flexibly.

Wait to edit until after the draft is complete. The research also shows that good writers differ from poor writers in identifying and analyzing the initial problem more effectively, understanding the task more broadly and deeply, drawing from a wider repertoire of strategies, and seeing patterns more clearly. Good writers also are better at evaluating their own work. Thinking about the writing process and consciously adopting the processes of good writers will help you become a better writer.

Activities in the Composing Process LO 5-1 Composing can include many activities: planning, brainstorming, gathering, organizing, writing, evaluating, getting feedback, revising, editing, and proofreading. The activities do not have to come in this order. Not every task demands all activities. Planning Analyzing the problem, defining your purposes, and analyzing the audience.

Brainstorming information to include in the document.

Gathering the information you need—from the message you’re answering, a person, printed sources, or the web.

Selecting the points you want to make and the examples, data, and arguments to support them.

Choosing a pattern of organization, making an outline, creating a list. A Writer on Writing PRINTED BY: SHERIFAT EGBERONGBE . Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted. “The reality : The writer gets something—anything—down on paper, reads it, tries it again, rereads, rewrites, again and again.” He says his writing was held back by these three false beliefs:

“Good writing was spontaneous writing.

Rewriting was punishment for failure. . . .

Revision was a matter of superficial correction that forced my natural style to conform to an old-fashioned, inferior style.” Adapted and quoted from Donald M. Murray, The Craft of Revision (Chicago: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1991), 1. Writing Putting words on paper or a screen. Writing can be lists, possible headings, fragmentary notes, stream-of-consciousness writing, and partial drafts.

Creating rough drafts.

Composing a formal draft. Revising Evaluating your work and measuring it against your goals and the requirements of the situation and audience. The best evaluation results from re-seeing your draft as if someone else had written it. Will your audience understand it? Is it complete? Convincing? Friendly?

Getting feedback from someone else. Is all the necessary information there? Is there too much information? Is your pattern of organization appropriate? Does a revision solve an earlier problem?

Are there obvious mistakes?

Adding, deleting, substituting, or rearranging. Revision can be changes in single words or in large sections of a document. Editing Checking the draft to see that it satisfies the requirements of standard English. Here you’d correct spelling and mechanical errors and check word choice and format. Unlike revision, which can produce major changes in meaning, editing focuses on the surface of writing.

Proofreading the final copy to see that it’s free from typographical errors. Note the following points about these activities: The activities do not have to come in this order. Some people may gather data after writing a draft when they see that they need more specifics to achieve their purposes. PRINTED BY: SHERIFAT EGBERONGBE . Printing is for personal, private use only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without publisher's prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.