Harty Part 1

Introduction: Know your audience!
*reminded me of upside down pyramid organization

Overview: There are many different strategies for writing/ planning to write but the bottom line is think before you write

John Keenan - the PAFEO system

PURPOSE - make as clear as possible, write it down in a sentence if you have to or want to (this is a thesis, we've been doing it forever and didn't know it), sometimes after thinking over the purpose you will chose not to write

AUDIENCE - most writing has a very specific target, bend and shape the writing to the reader (this is easier said than done though), some tips: how much background does the reader have? Do I have credibility with the reader/need to establish it? attempt to look from their perspective (this comes from experience and diverse readings)

FORMAT - often overlooked part of writing that can be used for clarity and save time and energy for the reader and writer, examples are headings, bullets and whitespace

EVIDENCE - must be given to add any worth to the writing, there was an interesting quote by Marchette Chute "you will never succeed in getting at the truth if you think you know, ahead of time, what the truth ought to be" (idea of self fulfilling prophecies), avoid absolutes, two types of reasoning: inductive which goes from specific to general and deductive which goes from general to specific(think Sherlock Holmes), common fallacies: non-sequitors, post-hoc, and oversimplification

ORGANIZATION - synonym sequence: chronological, spatial, order of importance
one trick is to write points on index cards and arrange them


Michael E. Adelstein - Stages

It is impossible to perform all of these complex activities simultaneously so they must be separated and you need to be good at all of them

WORRYING 15% - worrying is a more accurate term than "thinking", if you have a thought write it down or you will forget it, talk to as many people as you can about it and don't be afraid to look things up

PLANNING 10% - more or less just outlining, the better the preparation the better the work, examine ideas, eliminate and arrange

WRITING 25% - just do it! don't be stopped by "correctness", it's almost just stream of conscience

REVISING 45% - the most heavily weighted portion, put the paper down and come back later (the more time you have the better), need a chance to change from the writer to the critic

PROOFREADING 5% - tidiness shouldn't matter so much but it does! take the time to eliminate careless errors


Peter Elbow - Direct Writing

This is a get-it-done mindset, Set aside half of the time for writing and half for revising, This is not always the best method but it is good for really short deadlines, A key here is to never scratch out "mistakes" (they may be better than their replacement in the end)


Linda Flower and John Ackerman

Readers want to know "Why Read?"
Local revision - grammer and sentence structure
Global revision - text as a whole, organization and focus
Writer-based text needs to turn into reader-based text
avoid the use of "I" and narrations
use knowledge, don't just copy it
Plan your intentions (this can be done with a checklist)
Reveal the intentions via cues in the writing (ex. headings, topic sentences, and pg. 36)
*reminds me of presentation rule - tell them what your going to say, say it, and then tell them what you told them


John S. Harris - The Project Worksheet

The worksheet is a tool for communication between writer and manager to clarify expectations or can be used by a writer simply for guidelines

Once again, importance of audience(reader), sometimes you must juggle two different ones
what should the reader know after reading?
what should the reader do after reading?
what should the reader feel after reading?
Few things are read from beggining to end, format and accessibility are key
The Writers-Purpose - is it something that will get in the way?
Logistics - how long is it? are there prerequisites? graphics needed? copies? where is it going?