December 5, 2008

They met under unusual circumstances, but it was something--she felt--worth pursuing. It's hard to put into words what it was she saw in the relationship, knowing it would be a struggle at every turn. For her it was something bigger than what she was able to grasp, and who was she to question destiny or fate? What she did know is he captivated her. Every sound, every expression, and she couldn't let it go. Challenged in just the first few encounters, the calming attraction overpowered any fleeting doubts about their interactions.

At first, there were hesitations about what was acceptable and what would remain off limits. Uncertainty, self-consciousness, and a distinct fear of losing the ever-fragile, indescribable feeling she experienced at every thought of him, kept her on a fine line. The line between meaningless infatuation he would dismiss without so much as a thought, and what seemed like an impossible and unsubstantiated romantic love he too, may just as easily dismiss.

November 24, 2008

Response to Aaron and Rhiannon

I was just now getting an opportunity to see what everyone was writing about, but as I read your posts regarding the webmaster's response, I recall feeling much the same way as I read it almost two weeks ago. This person was not writing with the reader in mind, unless they meant to make us feel like we were no help at all.

The one comment I was completely confused with was this, "[r]emember that down the line the entire university may do a rebranding, and IT will be implementing a different site system that may or may not come with templates that override any design that is in place now." Wasn't one of our suggestions to use the more standard layout you see on most other WSU pages?

Hopefully we were able to offer some ideas they can "happily" use. I look forward to seeing changes if/when they happen.

November 21, 2008

I have learned so much in this class; it is hard to determine where to begin. First, and foremost, I learned to think about my reader in everything I write. This is so far from anything I've ever been taught. Typically, instructors want you to write to prove you learned something, and the content is virtually useless long-term. In English 402, not only were we encouraged to research something of true interest, but also we were instructed to write it in a way someone might actually use it. I have started a file of what I wrote in this class, and I am confident I will refer to it again either for content or structure.

I have also learned to love (sort of :) ) writing for this blog. This was a brand new experience, but I like how you can at any moment share your thoughts and read about what other people are thinking. I hope to continue this practice.

In all, I enjoyed this class very much. I think we had great discussions. Thank you, everyone for making it fun. Thank you, Kat for facilitating the experience.

November 17, 2008

Response to Sergiy Kondrenko

I too will be taking information from this chapter reader to help prepare a quality presentation. While classes both in English and Speech always gave information on "this is what you do," "you should have these visuals," etc., no class has ever provided the WHY. Knowing why certain visuals work better than others do in different situations, and also knowing why a certain style works better than another for different presentations not only helps you buy into the idea but also helps you remember for future presentations. Although I am not promising a perfect presentation, I definitely have the information to translate into skills as I prepare for both the group and individual presentations in this class. English 402 is quite possibly the most usable information I have received in my academic career thus far.

November 14, 2008

Chapter 17

This chapter gave suggestions for carrying over your reader-centered approach in your writing to a listener-centered approach in your oral presentations. There are guidelines ranging from defining your presentation's objectives, to setting up your visuals and rehearsing. You must start similar to when you plan your writing. Determine what your listeners want to know, need to know, and best way to deliver it to them.

There are three different styles for oral presentations. The scripted style is good for complex information, but it limits your ability to interact with your audience and make adjustments should you discover you need them. The outline style starts with bulleted points, and while it allows for a more flexible presentation, you are less likely to seem unorganized and miss key points. The impromptu style is best when you know the subject forward and back. There is little preparation and allows for a more interactive presentation.

Group presentations do not require a whole lot of different preparation techniques. It is important to plan well, all for some individual differences, move well between presenters, respect each other, and practice together for the best results.

Chapter 18

This chapter gives guidelines for developing a web page or site with the reader in mind. While there were some points that made sense, even though I had not consciously thought of them while surfing websites on my own, constructing the site so readers with disabilities can use it was one area I had not considered. There was information on what type of text to use so a visually impaired person can enlarge it, and the tag that will help convert your written type to audio with specific programs. There are ways to add captions. Making a clickable area larger can help readers who have difficulty operating a mouse. It can also be important to include visual prompts as a supplement to audio cues for those with hearing impairment.

It is no surprise the book again offers excellent information on targeting your reader (or listener).

November 10, 2008

Response to "The Persuaders"

In my line of work, banking, some of my fellow employees were surprised to learn we are in the business of selling. We do not think of ourselves as sales people, but rather customer service providers or financial professional, etc. While we are not working with advertisement per say, it all seems to be a part of a whole big plot.

The way a customer feels when they call on the phone or visit a branch does a lot for whether they will tell a friend something positive or negative. As part of our sales training clearly states, people do not choose their bank, car, or drink (or whatever it may be) for logical reasons. It is human nature to buy with emotion and then rationalize with logic. Advertising agencies know this, of course.

Even in a non-marketing specific position at a bank, I am trying to appeal to the needs of welcoming and confidence with every customer. I do not know about the scientific approach of establish code and all of that, but in a society where there are a million choices, surely every company is trying to win the emotional vote of the consumer.

I did not find the information in the video to be disturbing, but perhaps that is because I was already conducting myself under these assumptions. Does it bother me the amount of information there is about me that is available to companies? Yes and no. Am I going to start spending cash only and cancel my internet and magazine subscriptions? No. Like many people, I will continue trying to weed through all the noise, and try to make purchases based on logic rather than emotional motivation. Well, at least I'll be sure my logical reasoning after-the-fact sounds good.

November 7, 2008

Chapter 2 provides helpful information for creating a resume and cover letter. It gives specific help for resumes that will appear online. I have not yet used a resume to seek employment, but I anticipate needing to use its structure to obtain a possible promotion following the completion of my degree. I also appreciated this chapter because I see resumes on a regular basis, and it is easy to see where applicants have not been privey to this information.

Providing significant information, arranging it so it is easy to read and follow, and revising it in an attempt to show you've reviewed your work are all important aspects of constructing your resume and cover letter. Once again, thinking about your reader through all steps, and using what you know about your reader to guide you are at the peak of importance for this type of communication. A cover letter or resume may be your only opportunity to sell yourself to a possible employer, so they have to be the best they can be.

Chapter 9 and 10 give great guidelines to follow for writing both introductions and conclusions. These are typically difficult areas to write effectively. While guidelines 1-3 of writing introductions are similar to those we learned when starting a paragraph. They are perhaps more important in this stage of writing because they open the door to your entire communication. The guidelines for writing introdutions are:

• Give your readers a reason to pay attention
• State your main point
• Tell your readers what to expect
• Encourage openness to your message
• Provide necessary background information
• Include a summary unless your communication is very short
• Adjust the length of your beginning to your readers' needs
• Adapt your beginning to your readers' cultural background
• Begin to address unethical practices promplty-and strategically

The conclusion is possibly the second place a reader may look when deciding whether or not read an entire communication. In the introduction, you described what you planned to tell your reader and how you were going to accomplish that task. The conclusion is a quick place to find the answers to questions and review what you communicated in the entire piece. The guidelines for constructing a good conclusion are:

• After you've made your last point, stop
• Repeat your main point
• Summarize your key points
• Refer to a goal stated earlier in your communication
• Focus on a key feeling
• Tell your readers how to get assistance or more information
• Tell your readers what to do next
• Identify any further study that is needed
• Follow applicable social conventions

While your content is not to be discounted, without a good introduction and conclusion, it may not ever be read.

November 3, 2008

Response to Peter's Response

I like that Peter points out how being revision happy can actually hurt your work. I do think, however, there are certain types of writing where less is more and other types where a lot of revision, making the communication very formal, is necessary. Since this class discusses "technical" writing, I have (perhaps unnecessarily) classified the type of writing to which each of these chapters is referring.

Certainly Peter's other blog is supportive of his style to just "go." The way he writes in this media keeps you reading. On the other side, a set of directions on how to perform a task online probably would not be as effective with the same style.

October 31, 2008

There are three steps to revising your work. These steps are identifying possible improvements you could make in your draft, deciding which of the possible improvements to make, and making the selected changes. While all are necessary to produce your best work, the third step, making the selected changes, is no different than the process of writing your draft and therefore is not included in this section. The two parts of identifying possible improvements are checking and reviewing. Chapter 14 lays out guidelines for both of these activities. The second step of deciding which of the possible improvements to make is also included in the chapter.

Guidelines to follow for checking your draft yourself are as follows.

• Check from your readers' point of view
• Check from your employer's point of view
• Distance yourself from your draft
• Read your draft more than once, changing your focus each time
• Use computer aids to find (but not to cure) possible problems
• Consider the stakeholders' perspective

Guidelines to follow for having your draft reviewed are as follows.

• Discuss the objectives of the communication and the review
• Build a positive interpersonal relationship with your reviewers or writer
• Rank suggested revisions--and distinguish matters of substance from matters of taste
• Explore fully the reasons for all suggestions
• Use computer aids for reviewing in a reader-centered way
• Review from the stakeholders' perspective

While the guidelines for checking your own work is more obviously steps you will perform on your own work, the guidelines for reviewing can be used whether you are the reviewer or the one being reviewed. Ultimately, what I took from the information is making sure your writing is useable and persuasive can be more important than the spelling and grammar, since most of these guidelines focus on the point of view your reader will use when reading. This is not to say spelling and grammar can be thrown aside, because surely a piece of writing draped with errors will distract from both the usability and the persuasiveness. It is important, however, to not get caught up on the detailed things and view the writing as a whole and try to determine where whole ideas are ineffective and intended meaning is lost.

Once possible areas for revision are highlighted, you have the task of performing the revisions. Sometimes you will not have time to do all of the suggested revisions, you may have received advice from multiple reviewers that contradict each other, and you may even have received suggestions from someone such as a boss you think will weaken the effectiveness of the writing.

The following guidelines help deal with these issues in the revising stage.

• Adjust your effort to the situation
• Make the most significant revisions first
• Be diplomatic
• To revise well, follow the guidelines for writing well

Taking the time to do this step, and do this step well, will greatly improve your writing. Deadlines sometimes get in the way of making all the possible changes, but that is why a timeline of your writing process is so important in the beginning of the project.

Chapter 15 gives guidelines for testing your draft. I had a hard time distinguishing this process from the reviewing step of identifying areas of improvement, but perhaps it is not meant to be a separate process. I suppose I can see how testing is more specific than reviewing because testing is done with an entire process of planning, conducting, and interpreting. Testing your draft, like the entire writing process, goes to improve both usability and persuasiveness of your communication.

The following are guidelines for conducting a test of your draft.

• Establish your test objectives
• Pick test readers who truly represent your target readers
• Focus on usability: ask your test readers to use your draft the same way your target reader will
• Focus on persuasiveness: learn how your draft affects your readers' attitudes
• Interview your test readers after they have read and used your draft
• Avoid biasing your test results
• Interpret your test results thoughtfully
• Test early and often
• With communications for readers in other cultures, choose test readers from the culture
• Obtain informed consent from your test reader

By performing the testing process throughout drafting, you can ensure you are staying focused and not putting too much effort into something that will be ineffective. What I have taken from both these chapters and the class as a whole is to not become too attached to your writing. When constructing technical writing, you are not writing for you. You are always writing for the reader, and you should take every opportunity to change the piece to accommodate what will work best for your reader. Your ideas will not be lost but better received.

October 27, 2008

Seems like most of the class posts I read had to do with broadcast journalism and ethics as Jesse Day spoke to them in class on October 20th. I am leaning toward what Peter said about repetitious ethical questions. It does not seem as though the ethical questions are that difficult. I am sure each instance feels like a big decision, but with network guidelines and past similar circumstances the decisions seem like they would be mapped out. There are the strict rules of what can and cannot be shown or said, and then there are the effects of what your decision was last time on a particular subject or item. If showing or sharing information was favorable last time, chances are you will make the same decision. If the response was overly negative, or if it turns out you missed an opportunity, you will probably make the opposite decision this time around.

Now, I am sure I am bias when listening and reading about others' views on ethics and broadcast journalism. I do not enjoy the majority of the stories I see on this type of media, and I do not find most of it fits my definition of news. Acknowledging the bias is at least a step, right?

October 24, 2008

Perhaps my take on publishing will be different from others in the class, but for me publishing is something I am surrounded by all the time. The very first thing in my mind when I hear or see the word publishing is the many little books my children have published over the years. From as young as kindergarten, my children have published their work. They learn the process from brainstorming to book signing. I love that they get to learn about writing, editing, illustrating, and printing. For them of course, publishing is a much simpler process. They bind their very best work with a cover and title page, and then they read it to everyone who will listen.


Other mainstream, more "grown-up,” writers have to write, have it edited, and then hopefully get published. Clearly, I do not have the exposure to this more professional publishing, so the process is somewhat of a mystery. I enjoy the new information this class is exposing me to am looking forward to hearing from our guest speaker on Wednesday. Perhaps he will be able to broaden my knowledge of publishing beyond what my children have done. I will try not to let my love of my children’s' work cloud my openness to a different process.

October 20, 2008

I, like many, found similarities to the news posts this week. The one thing I found comical was how so many people admitted they did watch the news for the weather. Sure, it is nice to know what to expect and to plan ahead, but really?? It seems like the weatherman is never right. I think if I was going to subject myself to a half-hour (or longer) session of all the negative things almost everyone alluded to, I would want to know I could count on the information I was actually seeking. I prefer to look online, or catch a peek at the paper in the lunchroom at work. Sure, it's still a crap shoot for if the weather report is accurate or not, but it took me all of about a minute to see what the crystal ball said.

October 17, 2008

I used to have a fascination with TV news. I do not watch it very often anymore because of time and all the bad news there seems to be, but once upon a time I watched it every chance I got. My "what do you want to be when you grow up" answer was a TV news anchorwoman from about 6 years old to probably 12 years old. Even when I was too young to understand the implications of what was being said; I would watch intently and admire the pretty smiles and perfect hair of the anchor women. I am not entirely sure what changed my mind, but I do recall my aspiration to appear on TV dwindled as my self-consciousness rose due to puberty and other common teenage "things." Perhaps I just was not TV material, or at least I did not think I was.

The task of writing news for television may or may not be as glamorous as the women communicating it on air. It seems like such a powerful position to be in; determining what is newsworthy (that might be over-stepping what a writer actually gets to do) and what will keep people from turning the channel. With such a variety of ways to get the news, it seems like TV is right at the bottom with the newspaper. That is the way it works in my busy life. I do not have time to sit down and read a paper, and I really do not have time to sit down at home and watch the television. I especially am not going to make the time when it seems like most of what is reported is just tragic and sad. I still admire the men and women who deliver TV news, but this class has shown me there is a translator almost everywhere. Without those who write the news, would the anchors seem so impressive?

October 13, 2008

Response to Holley Schmeck

After reading everyone's posts about freelance writing, it seemed like you could categorize them into four groups. Some people did not address the idea of actually performing freelance writing and stayed focused on what it involves. A few people were not considering freelance writing at all. There were people who did not normally think of themselves as writers, but were now considering the possibilities of freelance writing. Then there were the people who were excited about the opportunity to begin submitting their writing right away.

I was interested to see Holley is part of the last group. I mostly want to say, "Go for it!" I am not sure what it is you do or what you and your boss discussed as possible topics, but I envy your ambition. As my blog depicts, I am not considering freelance writing (or any kind of public writing). I have no desire to see my name in print...or experience rejection! I want to wish you luck, and I hope it is a fulfilling experience for you.

October 10, 2008

Freelance writing seems like a great way to get your ideas out there and highlight your writing abilities while making a few bucks (or more!). For some, the money might not be the driving force, while for others the money is the only thing that matters. I do not believe freelance writing will be a part of my future, but it is easy to say that now. Who is to say I won't need the extra cash? Certainly, the knowledge of how and where to pitch your ideas is worth having. It is interesting to me so many publications rely so heavily on freelance submissions. I understand the reasoning and how it can help keep costs down. Publications are able to maximize the amount of creativity they have available to them and minimize the amount of money they spend on it.


How exciting it must be when you receive a letter of acceptance. The anticipation and frustration that goes along with the art of freelance writing would drive me crazy. I am not so sure I could take it. My desire for immediate (or as close as I can get) feedback would make it a struggle.

October 6, 2008

Response to Peter O'Connor

Writing content aside, I really enjoy peeking at Peter's blog. His thoughts and ideas on the subjects at hand are always interesting and valid, but the added graphics are intriguing. I find myself wanting to see what he adds and how it correlates to his entry.

I too have distain for the idea the customer is always right. I mentioned it in my chapter review as a guideline to follow, but reality has painted me a much different story. I can see how someone wishing to keep employment is required to abide by this idea, but as consumers, we should consider it to be courtesy companies extend to us and not a rule or truth.

October 3, 2008

Technical Communication does not disappoint when it comes to providing ideas for improving your writing's usability and persuasiveness. Chapters 8 and 19 are no exception. While there is a wealth of information in both chapters, I believe I will use the guidelines offered in chapter 8 more often than chapter 19.

Creating your voice, constructing sentences, and selecting words are all important to ensure your writing is not subject to misinterpretation or misunderstanding. Avoiding bureaucratese is one suggestion for creating your voice. The examples amused me because they are not unlike writing I see in my job every day. Seems it is too easy to write in plain language, and some people find it necessary to hide the ideas by using an inflated vocabulary and wordiness. Although I had long ago discredited many of those writing with bureaucratese, I now have a reason other than mere frustration. It was not me having an inability to decipher what these people want to say, rather there is a defined term for the practice, and it is ineffective writing.

The section on constructing sentences, writing in active rather than passive voice specifically, is an area I definitely wish to improve. I never really understood the ramifications of using passive voice, such as losing the identity of the subject or inhibiting speed of comprehension. Chapter 8 points out all the things. Perhaps knowing the reasons to use active voice will aid me in avoiding the use of passive voice more so than simply the notion I should not use it.

While I do not have the need to employ skills for writing with these purposes right now, Chapter 19 provides excellent insight for how to write with a client or for service-learning projects. A writer needs to figure out what their client wants and when the client wants it. The writer also needs to discuss what they will require from the client in order to produce what the client requests. Laying out all the specifics in a written agreement is the best way to make sure everyone gets what they are expecting. Ultimately, the writer must understand the concept that the customer (client in this case) is always right.

September 29, 2008

Response to Melisa Dawson's Rhetoric

I enjoy Melisa's direct approach to writing. I think she understands and implements the strategies we are learning. Her posts are very inviting and easy to read. The rhetoric post stuck with me because we used similar examples for the pathos form of rhetoric. I think those television commercials of starving children that need the viewer to send money and save them is a classic example of rhetoric in the pathos form. Sara also chose this type of commercial as an example of pathos. Three in a class of less than 30 shows more than 10% pick this particular commercial as the most prominent use of emotion to persuade based on the fact it is the example chosen to present, so it must fit the category. Of course, this last sentence is oozing with logos.

September 26, 2008

Chapter 6 is all about a reader-centered approach, only this time the book explains you must start thinking about your reader even before you think about writing. Research techniques, sources, and even how you use the information you find require you to consider your reader. Not only will this help you to create something your reader can use and be persuaded by, but it will also keep you focused during your research and limit any time wasted doing research. There are seven guidelines to consider when starting research.

The first guideline is to "define your research objectives" (152). If you know what you need to find out before you start, chances are you will have better luck locating the information. Second, "create an efficient and productive research plan" (153). Determine which type of materials are going to supply you with the most persuasive information, and set a schedule to keep yourself on track in order to have enough time to do the actual writing. The third guideline is to "check each source for leads to other sources" (155). This includes reading the footnotes or bibliography to see where the information you just read came from. Perhaps these sources will provide more information you still need to find. Fourth, "carefully evaluate what you find" (155). Even when you carefully consider which sources to use, you need to evaluate the information within those sources bias and credibility. The fifth guideline is to "begin interpreting your research results even as you obtain them" (156). Do not take notes randomly. When you read information you think you will use, think of how your reader will use that information. You may need to do additional research, but answering questions for your reader is what makes your writing most useful to them. Sixth is to "take careful notes" (157). The best information is useless to you if you cannot document it correctly. Determine whether you are quoting or paraphrasing, and always collect all the needed information to construct your bibliography. The seventh and last guideline deals with ethics, and it is to "observe intellectual property law and document your sources" (157). You need to know what you can and cannot use, and you need to follow the correct format of documenting the sources you use.

Chapter 7 gives you guidelines on how to put all your information together in a way that allows your reader to find what they are looking for and easily follow what you are saying. Whether it is a sentence, paragraph, or an entire book with many chapters, how you organize the information will make or break all your hard research efforts. The eight guidelines are:

• Begin by announcing your topic
• Present your generalizations before your details
• Move from most important to least important
• Consult conventional strategies when having difficulties organizing
• Consider your readers' cultural background when organizing
• Reveal your communication's organization
• Smooth the flow of thought from sentence to sentence
• Examine the human consequences of what you're drafting
  

I can see how following these guidelines will get my research focused and help me produce writing that has my reader at the center from the very beginning. Not only will I have the information to persuade my reader, but also they will be able to follow and use it based on my organization. I am anxious to use these techniques in the research project we are working on for class.

September 19, 2008

Once again, all the information in the assigned chapters proved to be very interesting, and I can really see how I will incorporate the guidelines into my writing. Chapter 16, specifically, was of interest to me not only for working in our groups, but also because so many of my other classes will require group projects. I am just starting a large group project that will require an 8-page paper along with multiple other written submissions. The guidelines in chapter 16 gave me some great ideas to get my group focused and looking ahead to creating the best finished product possible. I enjoyed the way it described how to use strengths from each member, and while an agenda makes perfect sense in a meeting structure, I have never considered it from a project-meeting standpoint.

Reading chapter 23 was thought provoking as well. I could not help but compare personal experience with directions to the ideas in the book. My experiences range from trying to follow very poorly written instructions or mastering the most well written instructions to completely tossing the instructions aside (perhaps based on an introduction that failed to persuade me to read them). I also did some instruction writing when I worked as an item processor for my bank. The assignment was to write systematic instructions on how to do my job so that someone with no knowledge whatsoever could follow them and be successful. During the testing phase, it did not take long to see that the amount of background and explanation I needed to give for each step well exceeded even the twenty page manual I developed. Ultimately, my employer determined that some skill set and knowledge base was required in order to execute my duties. It was not feasible to create the instruction manual they desired.

I was surprised that chapter 4 describes outlining as one of multiple options for organizing your writing. That shows how this information on writing is so much different from what I have studied in other English classes. It was music to my ears (...or eyes?). Outlining was not ever something that I found to help me. Most of the time I wrote my papers, and then I pulled the outline from the finished product. I always did well, so perhaps that fuels my bias toward outlines.

Direct and indirect patterns are what I focused on in chapter 5. From previous reading, we learned that if the reader may interpret your information negatively, you do not necessarily want to start with it. However, there was not really a suggestion of how to go about this. Figure 5.5 on page 133 is a great visual to help compare the two patterns, and I completely buy in to the idea of stating possible flaws with a current system to gain support of your suggested solution before you even present it. Depending on how you word it, I believe that has to be rhetoric of some sort.

September 22, 2008

Rhetoric is a newly defined term for me; however, it is in so much of everyday life that I am unsure how I failed to assign a proper name to it until now. There are three types of rhetoric: ethos, pathos, and logos. Not having studied rhetoric and with the limited information I received in class, it is still somewhat easy to point out where rhetoric is used in virtually everything I see and hear. Whether an advertisement focuses on the "I,” "we", and "us" of ethos to build credibility and greatness for the company or product, appeals to emotions through pathos, or gives a laundry list of logical data with logos that advertisement is persuading you. Rhetoric is present in more than just the obvious advertisements as well. A simple conversation with a friend will contain rhetoric. "I really know what I am doing because I have done this before and have a lot of experience. I was very good and everyone loved me.” If someone says those two sentences, they are dripping with ethos. I think of the "Save the Children" commercials where children in need of food, clothes, education, and health care surround a celebrity when I think of ethos. Visuals like that can really pull on the heartstrings and invoke strong emotion. A=B and B=C so A=C is an example of how someone might use logic to persuade with logos rhetoric. I am fascinated with this new knowledge and cannot stop trying to determine what type of rhetoric I am seeing, hearing, and using all the time. Aside from persuading someone else using rhetoric, it is important to understand how manipulation of you can occur with rhetoric.

September 15, 2008

Response to Sara Ross



I also was interested in the information about not showing hands in pictures. This is common in order to avoid possible rude gestures. I began thinking about how else pictures might need to be censored. Perhaps certain cultures would not respond well to a communication that contained pictures portraying a woman in power.

The chapter also addressed paying attention to the charts and graphs you put in your writing all the way down to the colors you use within the charts and graphs. While making sure your readers are seeing only graphics that are useful to them seems obvious to me, I have never considered if the type or colors would make any difference. I probably do not find the graphics of things that I read distracting because the writer has made good choices.

September 12, 2008

As many other students have indicated, Chapter 3 provides a great deal of insight to writing with effectiveness. Usability and persuasiveness, while essential, only work if you have written your communication in a way that is usable and persuasive to your intended reader. As I read through the ten guidelines, I could not help but think of how some people within the organization I currently work really implement the guidelines to benefit their writing and how others seem to overlook them completely. I also began realizing what an enormous task writing a reader-center communication is. Our last assigned reading gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling about how great it is going to be to focus my efforts and attain the best results. Chapter 3 pointed out what a magnitude of effort is required just defining objectives.

Objective 3 had me chuckling to myself with its example of a bank manual. I work in a bank, and not long ago our entire computer system was changed. The reader indicated that the best approach for this type of communication would be to show "how easy the system is" (72). Rather than providing such a manual, the powers that be relied on verbal queues that the new system was super simple and possible problems were not even worth discussing. The reality was that many, many problems did arise and the only manual available required a degree in advance double speak to decipher.

Objective 5 had me a bit perplexed right up until the end when it referred to a "3rd context" (80). It seemed counter-productive to constantly be writing the opposite of what comes natural. I was thinking of how there should be some kind of compromise for writing cross-culturally. The idea that this alternate context may arise then felt obvious.

I was very pleased to see Objective 7. From the beginning, I appreciated that there was an abundance of questions to consider before writing a particular communication, but I kept asking myself how I was supposed to know the answers. My own feeling is that if someone is not willing to tell you what it is that they want they do not necessarily deserve it. I am sure this is a perspective I will need to re-evaluate if I want to be successful in my communication efforts.

September 5, 2008

I am even more interested in this class and its potential benefits now that I had the opportunity to read a little and start to understand how it pertains to technical writing. Previous English classes dealt little with persuasion and even less with usability. While my real-world experience clued me in to the need for both of these characteristics in my writing, I think it should be at the height of importance once basic writing skills are attained.

I think the section of Chapter 1, where I was asked to read the example memo and write my reaction line by line, was representative of a major break-down in communication that unfortunately happens every day. Whether it was the writer's intention to create hostility or not, as the recipient I immediately felt defensive and lost all desire to cooperate; therefore, any chance of quick resolution was eliminated.

With so much correspondence going back and forth during my work day, it is easy to lose structure. Chapter 20 brings the reasons for structure and "rules" to light. What I take from this reminder is that although I feel like I am saving time and being more efficient, in reality I am losing effectiveness. I have already considered ways to implement reader-centered practices in my work.

Given that a proposal for our research project is one of the first things we will submit for grading, I am incredibly interested in learning how to compose this type of document using the reader-centered approach. This is the type of writing, discussed thus far, with which I am least familiar. The information in the book is easy to follow and process, but I am hoping that the lecture and class discussion will help strengthen my understanding. I am curious to see how the protection aspect will come into play for our proposals.

September 8, 2008

Writing is a large part of my life. From writing lists of random words when I was first learning to form letters, to writing research papers in school and composing memos and evaluations in my job, writing has fulfilled a need to communicate. I have evolved in how I write and also why I write, or do not write, in certain styles. As a young girl, I wrote simple thoughts and used so much of my secluded imagination to supplement stories that the words alone were not sufficient to effectively express what I wanted to say, according to anyone else. In my teen years, perhaps due to my inability to capture the interests of outsiders in my prior efforts, I believed that I lacked the creativity necessary to write anything fiction; therefore, I despised the thought of writing for purposes other than research. I did, however, rely on the calming effect writing my thoughts had and used diaries and journals as an outlet for so many typical teen issues. Currently, the things I write are vital to the day to day operation of a thriving business. I enjoy the act of writing, whether it is for research, personal reflection, or other communication. Writing more effectively is an ever-present goal of mine. My audience's time is valuable, and I am ill at the thought that reading something I write is an experience that will not satisfy them.