Chapter 6 Organizing and Drafting Documents

1. Chapter 6Organizing and Drafting Documents

2. Predrafting • Confirm your purpose • Analyze your audience • Gather your information • Develop ideas about the information • Organize your information

3. Drafting • Nearly every workplace document can be divided into three primary parts • Front Matter • The Body • The End Matter

4. 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

5. bigfoto.com Organizational Strategies

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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”

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. Cause and Effect • Explains relationships between events • Explains the reasons why something happened • Explains why something will happen

13. 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

14. 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

15. Spatial Organization Example

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. Electronic Templatesand 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