Transcript Chapter 7 - COMM212

Writing Process Phase 3
Chapter 7
Kareem Babeel
Shihab El Dessouki
Saïd Isse
Karim Sehaqui
Vasken Vosguian
3x3 Writing Process.
• Prewriting - Involves Analyzing,
Anticipating and Adapting.
• Writing - Involves Research, Organizing
and Composing.
• Revising – Involves Revising,
Proofreading and Evaluating.
Revising
• Final phase of 3x3 writing process.
• Revising means improving content and
sentence structure of message.
• Proofreading involves correcting grammar,
spelling, punctuation, format and
mechanics.
• Evaluating is analyzing weather message
has achieved its purpose.
Revising
• In revising, one should be especially
concerned with improving:
1. Clarity.
2. Conciseness.
3. Vigor.
4. Readability.
Revising for Clarity
• A clear message is one that is immediately
understood.
• Do not try to show off or be fancy.
• Goal of business writing is to express not
impress.
• This involves two simple rules:
1. Keep it Simple.
2. Keep it Conversational.
Revising For Conversational
Tone
• Clarity is enhanced by language that
sounds like conversation
• Strive to sound professional, but not
artificial or formal.
• Avoid:
1. Legal Terminology
2. Technical words
3. 3rd Person Constructions
Revising For Conversational
Tone
• Business message should sound warm,
friendly and conversational, not stuffy.
• To sound friendly, include:
1. Occasional contractions (can’t, doesn’t)
2. First person pronouns (I/We)
• Warmth is appropriate in all but the most
formal business reports.
Revising for conciseness
• Make sure a message makes its point in
the fewest possible words
• Short messages require more effort than
long, flabby ones
Revising for conciseness
(5 steps)
• Filters: Avoid filters that fatten sentences with excess
words.
• Long lead-ins: Delete unnecessary introductory
words.
• Eliminating redundancies: Redundancies convey
the same meaning more than once; advance warning,
exactly identical, few in number
• Compound prepositions: Single words can often
replace wordy prepositional phrases
• Empty words: Avoid stating the obvious
Revising for vigour and
directness
• Reduce wordiness and improve vigour by
– Kicking the noun habit
– Dumping trite business phrases
Kicking the noun habit
• Don’t needlessly change verbs into nouns!
Wordy Noun phrase
Verb
Conduct a discussion of
Create a reduction in
Engage in preparation of
Give consideration to
Make an assumption of
Take action on
discuss
reduce
prepare
consider
assume
act
Dumping trite business phrases
• Avoid trite phrases or expressions that are
overused in business writing.
Trite phrase
As per your request
Enclosed please find
Every effort will be made
Please do not hesitate to
In receipt of
With reference to
Improved version
as you request
enclosed is
we’ll try
please
have received
about
Revising for readability
• To improve readability use:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Parallelism
Lists and bullets
Headings
Other techniques
Parallelism
– It means matching nouns with nouns, verbs
with verbs, phrases with phrases, and so on.
• For example: The policy affected all vendors,
suppliers, and those involved with
consulting.
not parallel
The policy affected all vendors,
suppliers and consultants.
Improved
Using and Bulleted Lists for
Quick Comprehension
• Forces writers to organize ideas and to
write efficiently
• Listed ideas convey a message clearly
• Readers may use the list to read quickly
and grasp main ideas
Adding Headings for Visual
Impact
• Use headings to help the reader understand the
difference between major ideas and details
• Provide a quick preview
• Improves readability
Improving Readability With
Other Graphic Techniques
•
•
•
•
Highlighting
Use of CAPITALS
Use of underlying
Use of bold
Measuring Readability
• Flesch-Kincaid grade-level of readability
• Must maintain a 8-12 grade
Flesch-Kincaid grade-level
Grade-level of 12.2
Grade-level of 11.7
• Measuring Readability
• Measuring Readability
– Use of the Flesch-Kincaid
grade-level of readability
– Writer must maintain a 812 grade
– The Flesch-Kincaid gradelevel of readability
determines how easy it is
to read a certain text.
– Use of the Flesch-Kincaid
grade-level of readability
– Writer must keep a grade
of 8 to 12
– The Flesch-Kincaid gradelevel of readability
determines how easy it is
to read a text.
PROOFREAD
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Spelling
Grammar
Punctuation
Names and numbers
Format
PROOFREAD
• Proofreading before a document is
completed is a waste of time
• Routine documents need a light
proofreading
• For both routine and complex documents,
it’s best to proofread from a printed copy,
not on a computer screen
• Complex documents should be proofread
at least twice
PROOFREAD
• Print a copy double-spaced, then take a breather
before proofreading
• Allow adequate time to proofread carefully
• Be prepared to find errors
• Reduce reading speed
• Read aloud to hear mistakes
• Have someone else proofread your document
• Most proofreaders use standard marks to indicate
revision
EVALUATE
• A good way to evaluate messages is
through feedback
Useful Link
• http://comm212.wikispaces.com/