Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Chapter 6 Organizing and Drafting Documents

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Predrafting ‣ Confirm your purpose ‣ Analyze your audience ‣ Gather your information ‣ Develop ideas about the information ‣ Organize your information

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Drafting ‣ Nearly every workplace document can be divided into three primary parts ‣ Front Matter ‣ The Body ‣ The End Matter

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Organizational Strategies ‣ Consider audience — to whom the document is written ‣ Consider purpose — why the document is written ‣ Consider logic — how to construct the document to lead the audience ‣ Consider ethics — what information to include and what not to include

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Organizational Strategies bigfoto.com

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Sequential ‣ Works by placing information in the order that the information progresses or should progress ‣ Asks readers to move through information from beginning to end in a linear fashion ‣ Is usually simple for readers to follow and moves them through a process or procedure

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Chronological ‣ Moves readers through a sequential process; however, the sequence is one related to time ‣ Moves from a beginning to an end ‣ Guides readers through the events of a particular time from start to finish

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Order of Importance ‣ Presents information in either an increasing or decreasing order of importance ‣ Emphasizes or de-emphasizes particular information ‣ By putting the most important information first in an “increasing order of information” ‣ By putting the most important information last in a “decreasing order of information”

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. General/Specific ‣ Can be used in two ways ‣ Move from general information to specific information to provide background, scope, and/or context first ‣ Move from specific information to more general information to provide details or examples

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Division ‣ Divides — and even sub-divides — a whole idea, object, or phenomena into various parts ‣ Is particularly relevant in documents that include parts lists or describe the parts of a process, procedure, policy, or event ‣ Often includes visuals for clarification

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Classification ‣ Groups items, ideas, phenomena, or events together according to their similarities ‣ Often uses categories to determine how various items will be classified ‣ Are particularly useful in feasibility studies that present multiple solutions to presented problems

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Cause and Effect ‣ Explains relationships between events ‣ Explains the reasons why something happened ‣ Explains why something will happen

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Comparison/Contrast ‣ Lets readers compare possible solutions to a problem ‣ Requires that writers understand the scope of the problem and the scope of solutions ‣ Can present the parts of the whole in a way that allows readers to compare and contrast the whole together ‣ Must consider ethics — all options should be presented in the same light

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Spatial Organization ‣ Assists readers in navigating information pertaining to physical space or objects ‣ Can provide information about a distance or proximity, like a map ‣ Can guide readers through a process using a particular object or piece of equipment ‣ Can also indicate movement, like the path of a hurricane

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Spatial Organization Example

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. The Conclusion ‣ Is often drafted before the introduction ‣ Offers summaries of information ‣ Provides analytic predictions based on the information in the body ‣ Makes recommendations to the reader about how to respond or act ‣ Issues a judgment about the information

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. The Introduction ‣ Is frequently written after the body and conclusion ‣ Forewarns or alerts readers about what is to follow ‣ Is composed differently for each genre of document ‣ Contain generally the same information as the conclusion

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Introductions Should Contain ‣ The purpose or objective of the document ‣ The scope of the document ‣ A statement of the problem ‣ Relevant information or background ‣ Key terms or definitions ‣ An overview of the organization ‣ A summary of the body

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Web Page Introductions ‣ Are generally more concise ‣ Should be more visually-constructed ‣ Imply information with images, bulleted lists, and linked phrases ‣ Provides writers with different opportunities and rhetorical choices to make ‣ Appears on a home page or index

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Write the First Draft ‣ Include all the parts the document requires, including parts in the front-matter, the body, and the end-matter ‣ Include all relevant data needed to convey to your audience ‣ Include a strong statement of objective or purpose to ensure that your audience understands the function of the document ‣ Include information that logically and concisely supports the purpose of the document ‣ Include strong conclusions and recommendations

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Electronic Templates and Wizards ‣ Allow the user to fill in information in a pre- designed document layout ‣ Allow for convenience and ease-of-use ‣ Can be customized and designed ‣ May become boring if used too much ‣ Can overly limit a writer ‣ Should be used sparingly