2. Writing games are what skillful writers—and skillful readers— do within texts, within rhetorical situations. Writers play with ideas and images, crafting them into language (i.e., creating prose or “prose styling”), finding ways to develop and structure them, and designing their appearance on the “page.” The overarching goals are to create a piece that integrates all the writing games in order to achieve specific purposes with readers to have aesthetic appeal and effects. Readers play the game of understanding and appreciating all the games the writer has played in the text. A sophisticated reader understands not only the content but the nature and quality of the writing games: a sophisticated reader constructs both intellectual and aesthetic understanding.

3. Focusing is a mysterious and multifaceted act of consciousness. Writers structured focal points in texts to achieve effects upon readers. Thus, a good reader is one who accurately constructs the focal points and understands the effects of their sequencing. When a writer sustains a focal point, s/he is playing the developing game. When a writer shifts from one focal point to another, s/he is playing the structuring game. When a writer evokes any of the myriad functions of language, s/he is playing the prose styling game. When a writer arranges & styles the content on the “page,” s/he is playing the designing game.

4. Art is created through intelligent and aesthetic craftsmanship. We say a written work is artistic when all the elements resonant with each other such that the whole becomes much more than the sum of the parts—when the work resonates with the human spirit. Craftsmanship may integrate all aspects of a work to a unity of means and purpose, but art takes the work to a level in which writer and reader find nuance and richness beyond the ostensible purposes. To pass into the realm of art is usually not the goal of most rhetorical acts—but achieving high levels of craftsmanship should be.

5. Strategizing is a rhetorical act: the writer planning coordinated effects on readers. All rhetorical acts— whether in speech or in writing—are situated in five basic elements: the subject & purpose, the audience, the persona presented, the multiple contexts surrounding each event, the genre through which the subject and purpose are presented. The writer’s work is to figure out appropriate and cohesive strategies to accomplish her purpose.

6. Prose style is the craft/art of casting ideas and feelings into language. In expertly crafted prose, every word, every punctuation mark is designed to create integrated, carefully designed effects on the reader. Expert prose is designed to fit the rhetorical situation and, hence, varies widely. Expository prose usually tries to be concise, efficient, rhythmical, appropriately emphatic, coherent, clearly voiced, evocative, layered, referential, engaging.

7. Designing refers to all the ways a text may be manipulated to guide a reader’s attention, including page layout, use of illustrations, tables, & figures, font choices, visual devices for emphasis, hypertexting and access/navigation structures, transitions & animations. Text design must be transparent, functional, and aesthetically appealing—working skillfully with the various conventions that come from discourse communities and genres.