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 discuss

Create a reduction in reduce

Engage in preparation of prepare

Give consideration to consider

Make an assumption of assume

Take action on act

Dumping trite business phrases

• Avoid trite phrases or expressions that are overused in business writing.

Trite phrase Improved version

As per your request as you request

Enclosed please find enclosed is

Every effort will be made we’ll try

Please do not hesitate to please

In receipt of have received

With reference to about

Revising for readability

• To improve readability use:1. Parallelism

2. Lists and bullets

3. Headings

4. 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-levelGrade-level of 12.2

• Measuring Readability– Use of the Flesch-Kincaid

grade-level of readability– Writer must maintain a 8-

12 grade– The Flesch-Kincaid grade-

level of readability determines how easy it is to read a certain text.

Grade-level of 11.7

• Measuring Readability– Use of the Flesch-Kincaid

grade-level of readability– Writer must keep a grade

of 8 to 12– The Flesch-Kincaid grade-

level of readability determines how easy it is to read a text.

PROOFREAD

• 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/