It is perfectly okay to write garbageas long as you edit brilliantly.

- C. J. Cherryh

This semester I have grown a lot as a technical writer, both because of our
studies and revision work and simply because I was required to do the work and
get experience writing. Writing has always given me anxiety, Im a whiz at
studying for a test and understanding mathematical concepts but the act of
writing is something I have never been comfortable with. Participating in this
class has given a lot of confidence in my writing and a better understanding of
what it takes to accomplish technical writing.
One of the biggest things Ive learned this semester is the importance of revision.
Thats why I chose to theme my reflection around a quote given by C. J. Cherryh,
It is perfectly okay to write garbageas long as you edit brilliantly. So many of
my fears of failure were put to rest when I just wrote out what I had and focused
on polishing and tuning that, rather than expecting myself to come up with the
perfect sentence the first time I write it.
Thewritingforemploymentmodulewasaneyeopener.Itintroducedthethemesand
typeofworkwewoulddointhisclass.Iinitiallystartedthatprojectusinganoldresume
Ihadfromaboutayearago,itwassimpleenoughupdatingitwithcurrentinformation.
Butthisprojectwasmyfirstinstanceofwritingreadercenterwriting,andIhadtotailor
myresumeveryspecificallytothejobopportunityIwasfocusingon.Thepartofthat
projectwhichgavemethemosttroublewasthecoverletter.Thepeerrevisionprocess
helpedmealotinthatmatter,givingmegoodadviceonhowtoeditmyinitialdraft.
Writingforemploymentwasanexcellentintroductiontoreadercenteredwriting.
Therevisingaprofessionaldocumentmodulemademeconsidertheotheraspectsof
technicalwriting,notjustwhatyousaybuthowyousayit****.AsIwentthroughthe
revisionprocessofmyePortfoliowebsite,ItooknoteofwebsitesthatIvisited,what
madethemlookbetterthanothers?AbigthingthatIthoughtaboutalotasIeditedmy
websitewastheuseofcolor,whichinmyopinionisoneofthebiggestelementsofa
websitesdesign.ItiseasytotellapartanoldgeocitieswebsiteapartfromaFortune500
companyswebsitemerelybythechoiceofcolorsused.Thisentireprojectwasanactof
revisingthewebsitethathadbeenthrowntogetherbeforehand,andwhileitmightnot
havestartedoutasgarbage,thisprojectmakescleartheimportanceofediting
professionaldocuments.
Thewritinginstructionsmoduletaughtmemoreabouttheimportanceofwritinginaway
thateveryreaderwillunderstandclearly,andIalsolearnedalotaboutworking
collaborativelywithagroupofpeople.Thereviewofsomebadinstructionaldocuments
thatweheldinclasshelpedmegainanunderstandingofwhytheywereallsobad.They
assumedafamiliaritywiththedevice,ordidnthaveanygraphicstohelptheuser

understand,ortheywereentirelygraphicsthatweretooambiguous.Weapproachedthe
taskwithagoalmakingourinstructionstobeusablebyeventhemostcomputerilliterate,
specificallyinregardstothetroubleshootingsections.Wesplituptheprojectintoseveral
segments,assignedoneortwopeopletoatask,andusedgoogledocssothatwecouldall
editthesamedocumentsimultaneouslywhichmadethewritingprocessverysmooth.
Sincewewereusingtheagoogledocument,wewereabletoseethechangesmadein
realtime,andwereabletoediteachotherswritingaswewent.Thisprocesscombined
withourteamsstrongdesiretowritetothelowestcommondenominatorofreaders,made
itsowewereabletoproduceaverycleanandhighqualityfirstdraft,onlyafewstylistic
changeswererequiredafterourusabilitytesting.Moreproofthattheimportantpartof
writing,isnotthewordsthatyouputdownbuthowcloselyyoueditthem.
Theproposalandfeasibilityreportwerebigprojects,theyrequiredalotofthoughtand
research.FortheproposalIstartedtheprocessbytryingtoidentifyaproblemthatcould
befixedandthehugelineatthechickfilaoncampuswasmybigidea.WhenIcameup
withtheproblemItriedtothinkofsolutions,andthendraftedoutaproposalfocusedon
thebestsolutionIthoughtof.Iwrotemyproposalasanargumenttoconvincethereader
thatitwasaprojectthatshouldbetakenon.Thewritingprocesswasadifficultone,I
waschallengedtothinkthroughtheprocessandthepiecesneeded,andfindthenecessary
sourcestobackupmyclaims.Ithinkthatwritingtheproposalhelpedmerealizehow
complexitwastoturnanideaintoafullblownproposal,itissimpletosaysomething
andargueforit,butthetechnicalwritingrequiredinaprofessionalenvironmentinvolves
manysteps.Thatcanbeviewedthroughtheperspectiveofmyreflectionsmainidea;itis
perfectlyoktostartaproposalwiththesameideasyoumightusetoarguearoundthe
lunchtable,aslongasyouedititlateritlaterwithafinetoothedcomb,cleaning,
detailing,andbackingupyourclaims.
Thefinalfeasibilityreportwasprobablythehardestprojectformetocomplete,or
perhapsjustthehardesttogetstarted.AsItriedtofigurehowtomakethisbig
assignmentperfect,IforgotthatallIneededtodowastakethefirststeps,writedown
thoughtsandthenexaminethemafterwardstocraftagoodreport.WhenIfinallysat
myselfdownandproducedsomethingIwasabletofinishtheprojectfairlywell.
[GRAPHICS]
Ihavelearnedalotabouttechnicalwritingthissemester.Ivelearnedhowtoevaluatea
professionaldocumentsdesign.Ivelearnedabouttheimportanceofwritingforeach
reader.AndIvelearnedhowtowriteinstructionsinawaythatcanbeunderstoodbyall,
whichisaskillIvealreadyusedoutsideofacademicssincepracticingitinthisclass.
ButmostofallIvelearnedthatIneedtoputasidemyfearsandanxietyaboutwriting
perfectlyandjustwrite.Becauseitiseasiertopolisharoughideathanitistoproduce
flawlessone.
Intro^^*
Writing for employment
-initially started with resume from a year ago, was able to improve

-first instance of reader centered writing

-revision process helped, cover letter specifically [Reference prev reflection memo]
Revising a professional document
-learned to have a critical eye for the design of a professional document
-thought a lot about the importance of color
-even the ugliest of websites initially can be turned into something profession =looking with good editting

Writing Instructions
-learned collaborative writing skills
-we used google docs which enabled for real time collaboration along
with constant editing of each others work.
-by using a process of editing each others work as we went, we were
able to produce a very clean and high quality first draft, few changes
were needed after our usability test.
Proposal & Feasibility Report
-had to identify a problem, chose chick-fil-a.
-initially tried to think of solutions
-thought it through and revised the draft to focus on the best one
-argued for the proposal
-addressed possible solutions
Conclusion