Chapter 2 Using Your Time Effectively To get the best results from the time you spend, spend only a third of your time actually “writing. Spend at least one-third of your time planning your approach, gathering information, and organizing what you have to say. Spend another third of your time evaluating what you've said, revising the draft to better achieve your purposes and meet all the parts of the assignment, editing your draft to correct any errors in grammar or mechanics, and proofreading the typed copy. ‘The Ways Good Writers Write No single writing process works for all writers all of the time. However, good writers seem to use different processes than poor writers.’ Good writers are more likely to Realize that the first draft will not be perfect. Write regularly. Modify the initial task if it's too hard or too easy. Have clear goals focusing on purpose and audience (rather than goals focusing on how long the assignment "has to be"). Have several different strategies to choose from. Use rules flexibly. If a rule is making it hard to write, abandon it--at least for this draft Wait to edit until after the draft is complete. Too-early editing cuts off the flow of ideas. Brainstorming, Planning, and Organizing Business Documents Sometimes you'll find it easy to think of ideas. If ideas won’t come, try the following techniques. Try brainstorming, Think of all the ideas you can, without judging them. Consciously ty to get at least a dozen different ideas before you stop. Brainstorming helps writers10 ‘The Inwin Business Communication Handbook get over the tendency to be overcritical or to develop a mental block after they've thought of one idea or approach. ‘The first idea you have may not be the best. Try freewriting? Make yourself write, without stopping, for 10 minutes or so, even if you must write "I will think of something soon." At the end of 10 minutes, read what you've written, identify the best point in the draft, then set it aside, and write for another 10 uninterrupted minutes. Read this draft, marking anything that’s good and should be kept, and then write again for another 10 minutes. By the third session, you will probably produce several sections that are worth keeping--maybe even a complete draft that’s ready to be revised. © Try clustering? Write your topic in the middle of the page and circle it. Write down the ideas the topic suggests, circling them, too. Drawing circles may help to unlock the nonlinear part of your brain, increasing your creativity. When you've filled the page, look for patterns or repeated ideas. ‘Then use these ideas to develop questions for a survey or content for the body of a report. Figure 2.1 presents the clusters that one writer created about business communication in the United States and France. Thinking about the content, layout, or structure of your document can also give you ideas. Jot down ideas which you can use as the basis for a draft. For an oral presentation or a document with lots of visuals, try creating a storyboard, with a rectangle representing each page or unit. Draw a box with a rough visual for each main point. Below the box, write a short caption or label. Choosing an organizational pattern can also help you write efficiently. You can use a pattern for a whole document or for a paragraph or two in a larger document. The following patterns are useful for essagy exams and reports: ‘Comparison/contrast Identify the similarities and differences between two or more options. Cause-elTect Identify the cause of a problem and its effect. Or start with the effect (the current problem) and identify the causes. Classification Divide your data into categories. The categories might be geographic in an essay on the countries in the Common Market, functional in a report on different ways to invest capital in foreign markets, spatial in a report on the best way to arrange goods in a grocery store. Chronological Start at the beginning and tell what happened.Using Your Time Effectively i Figure 2.1 Clustering Helps Generate Ideas $e French prefer oral oF wetten? ‘Formats . : Gor ietiers Franglai's"? Do French people Krow! English well? Do they Know US OF Brikish Ergion? Problems tarslahng? Tent it hard 4, /gek a prnone, line Or is the. problem oh ane. for individuals? Cates Different order for month date ‘Business Communication USA. /France Frey woe Fax? E-mail Ts it better to write and speak in Engen if my French iant GAOL the letters £¥e seen From Farce a shifty Ts that considered goed? Should Eien — take tihat she when wrihing in Bagh ole Pree bends oo tates ‘ucitten commyn cation ngsand negorations wat iS persuasive? bole at Layout/white. space. Headings Distance. to Organi zation — Stand apart Content-whats —EnFluence, oF Results (ae in included European Common edly language 05.) oF something] Kinds) of evidence Markel — Handshakes — ele? Tmportance. of theirs is weaker” eo ‘Do they see. themselves a French | coe pees) oF European? mortetinf\ Service. brochures» Price12 The Irwin Business Communication Handbook Definition Explain complex terms. In addition to using a dictionary definition, you can also tell how something works (operational definition), give examples, use analogies, and tell how the term was derived, Process Explain the steps in how something is produced and the theories or laws that each step illustrates. Revising, Editing, and Proofreading Good writers make their drafts better by judicious revising, editing, and proofreading, Revising means making changes which will better satisfy your purposes and your audience. Editing means making surface-level changes which make the document grammatically correct. Proofreading means checking to be sure that the document is free from typographical errors. What to Look for When You Revise When you're writing to a new audience or have to solve a particularly difficult problem, plan to revise the draft at least three times. The first time, look for content and clarity. The second time, check the organization and layout. Finally, check style and tone. Figure 22 summarizes the questions you should ask. Be sure to read the document through at least once from start to finish. Add transitions, cut repetitive parts, or change words to create a consistent style throughout the document. What to Look for When You Edit When you edit, check to be sure that the following are accurate: © Sentence structure. Subject-verb and noun-pronoun agreement. Punctuation. Word usage. Spelling--including spelling of names. Numbers. Editing should always follow revision. There’s no point in taking time to fix a grammatical error in a sentence which may be cut when you clarify your meaning or tighten your style. Most writers make a small number of errors over and over. If you know that you have trouble with dangling modifiers or subject-verb agreement, for example, specifically look for them in your draft. Appendix A tells you how to correct these and other common errors.Using Your Time Effectively 3 Figure 22 _ Thorough Revision Checklist Content and Clarity GIs your view of purposes complete? Have you responded to all the parts of the iment? C1 Is each sentence clear? Is the document free from apparently contradictory statements? G1 Is the logic clear and convincing? Are your sources adequate? Organization and Layout G Is the pattern of organization appropriate? C1 Do ideas within paragraphs flow smoothly? G Does the design of the document make it easy for readers to find the informa- tion they need? Is the document visually inviting? Style and Tone 0 Is the message easy to read? GIs the message friendly and free from sexist language? How to Catch Typos To proofread, you must slow your reading speed so you see each individual letter. Proofreading is hard because writers tend to see what they know should be there rather than what really is there. Since it’s always easier to proof something you haven't written, you may want to swap papers with a proofing buddy. An acceptable alternative is to read the document twice. Read once quickly for meaning, to see that nothing has been left out. Read a second time, slowly. When you find an error, correct it and then reread that line. Readers tend to become less attentive after they find one error and may miss other errors close to the one they've spotted. Always triple-check numbers, headings, and names. Reading out loud and reading lines backward or pages out of order can help you proofread a document you know well