Lecturer: Gareth Jones Class 2: The Writing Process

 Introduction  Business writing  Communication strategies  Deciding to write  Writing Stages 20/08/2015Business Communication (BUS-100)2

 Take your time  Organise your thoughts  Write and rewrite 20/08/20153Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Introduction  Business writing  Communication strategies  Deciding to write  Writing Stages 20/08/2015Business Communication (BUS-100)4

Business writing is not like normal writing… 20/08/20155Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Work under huge time pressure  Must write quickly and under pressure  Must be accurate  Must be succinct 20/08/20156Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Deadlines to meet  Clients to please  Meetings to schedule 20/08/20157Business Communication (BUS-100)

 We must learn how to increase efficiency  Objective: WRITE FASTER! 20/08/20158Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Before we write, we must make some decisions: ◦ Set Communication Strategy ◦ Decide whether to write or not ◦ Split writing into stages 20/08/20159Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Set Communication Strategy  Decide whether to write or not  Split writing into stages 20/08/201510Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Introduction  Business writing  Communication strategies  Deciding to write  Writing Stages 20/08/2015Business Communication (BUS-100)11

 Covered in lecture 11 20/08/2015Business Communication (BUS-100)12

 Introduction  Business writing  Communication strategies  Deciding to write  Writing Stages 20/08/2015Business Communication (BUS-100)13

 Set Communication Strategy  Decide whether to write or not  Split writing into stages 20/08/201514Business Communication (BUS-100)

“To write or not to write, that is the question” 20/08/201515Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Do you have an important reason to write? 20/08/201516Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Reasons: ◦ Someone has asked you to ◦ Way to stay organised ◦ Good format for making mistakes 20/08/201517Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Is writing the best thing to do? ◦ Maybe a meeting or a phone call would be better? ◦ Why? 20/08/201518Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Do I want a permanent record?  Are my feelings real or temporary?  Are you the right person to be writing? 20/08/2015Business Communication (BUS-100)19

 Sometimes speaking is a better option...  Do you need more audience feedback?  Do you need a quick response?  Okay so you have decided… 20/08/201520Business Communication (BUS-100)

I will write 20/08/201521Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Set Communication Strategy  Decide whether to write or not  Split writing into stages 20/08/201522Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Introduction  Business writing  Communication strategies  Deciding to write  Writing Stages 20/08/2015Business Communication (BUS-100)23

 It will be more efficient to split your writing into the five stages of the writing process 20/08/201524Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Gathering  Organising  Focusing  Drafting  Editing 20/08/201525Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Gathering  Organising  Focusing  Drafting  Editing 20/08/201526Business Communication (BUS-100)

 This is the first step  There are different ways to go about it… 20/08/201527Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Option 1: Collect from outside sources 20/08/201528Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Books  Files  Financial Statements  Printouts  Websites  Interviews  Etc. 20/08/201529Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Option 2: Be more intuitive ◦ USE YOUR BRAIN 20/08/201530Business Communication (BUS-100)

 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) 20/08/201531Business Communication (BUS-100)

 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! 20/08/201532Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Gathering  Organising  Focusing  Drafting  Editing 20/08/201533Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Once you have enough info, you must organise your thoughts.  Many different ways of doing this… 20/08/201534Business Communication (BUS-100)

 This should be a way for you to visualise your information, such as… 20/08/201535Business Communication (BUS-100)

 A traditional outline  A mind map  A pyramid shaped chart 20/08/201536Business Communication (BUS-100)

 A traditional outline  A mind map  A pyramid shaped chart 20/08/201537Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Use different labels (bullets and/or numbering) ◦ 1,2,3; ◦ a,b,c; ◦ i,ii,iii;  For items of different importance 20/08/201538Business Communication (BUS-100)

 1. Section Title  Main Point 1  Supporting point 1  Supporting point 2  Supporting point 3 20/08/201539Business Communication (BUS-100)

 A traditional outline  A mind map  A pyramid shaped chart 20/08/201540Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Put the main point in the middle and supporting points around it 20/08/201541Business Communication (BUS-100)

20/08/201542Business Communication (BUS-100)

?? 20/08/2015Business Communication (BUS-100)43

 A traditional outline  A mind map  A pyramid shaped chart 20/08/201544Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Main ideas on top  Ideas get more specific as we work our way down  In the core text page 39 20/08/201545Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Gathering  Organising  Focusing  Drafting  Editing 20/08/201546Business Communication (BUS-100)

 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 20/08/201547Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Skimming  Teaching  2 minute Summary 20/08/201548Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Imagine the reader “skimming”  Skimming = to read very fast, focusing on main points, not details 20/08/201549Business Communication (BUS-100)

 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 20/08/201550Business Communication (BUS-100)

 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) 20/08/201551Business Communication (BUS-100)

 “2 minute summary”  “Boss Summary” ◦ Imagine your boss wants you to tell him/her about your report in two minutes 20/08/201552Business Communication (BUS-100)

 “2 minute summary” ◦ What would you say? ◦ What would you talk about? 20/08/201553Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Use one or many of these or other techniques 20/08/201554Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Now you have an organised, focused list.  You may find now you have to go back and get more information 20/08/201555Business Communication (BUS-100)

 This is fine!  Go back and research and organise more if necessary.  At least you know your shortcomings 20/08/201556Business Communication (BUS-100)

 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 20/08/2015Business Communication (BUS-100)57

 Once we are done prewriting, we must go to the writing phase. 20/08/2015Business Communication (BUS-100)58

 Gathering  Organising  Focusing  Drafting  Editing 20/08/201559Business Communication (BUS-100)

 The first stage of writing 20/08/201560Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Write in any order: ◦ Don’t worry about writing Introduction – Main Body - Conclusion 20/08/201561Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Write in whatever order is the easiest for you  Many people say to write Introduction last (I do) 20/08/201562Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Avoid editing or correcting  Drafting should be creative, not technical  Leave editing for after draft is done 20/08/201563Business Communication (BUS-100)

 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 20/08/201564Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Take your time.  After you are done drafting, take a break, relax before editing.  Why? 20/08/201565Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Take your time ◦ This will give you time to organise your thoughts 20/08/201566Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Gathering  Organising  Focusing  Drafting  Editing 20/08/201567Business Communication (BUS-100)

 Edit for content ◦ Read through your paper ◦ Make sure it says what you want it to 20/08/201568Business Communication (BUS-100)

 We will discuss this in detail in lecture 4 20/08/201569Business Communication (BUS-100)

 The tutorial will explore the pre-writing stage of the writing process 20/08/2015Business Communication (BUS-100)70

 Referencing 20/08/2015Business Communication (BUS-100)71