Chapter 2: The Communication

Process: Prewriting, Writing,

and Rewriting
The Communication Process
This chapter discusses the following:
The Writing Process: An Overview
Prewriting
Writing
Rewriting
The Writing Process: An Overview
The writing process is recursive.
The 3 steps are dynamic and overlap.
Prewriting, Writing, and Rewriting will help you
perfect your correspondence and enhance your
professionalism.
The Writing Process: An Overview (cont.)

The Writing Process

Prewriting Writing Rewriting

 Determine whether your  Organize your content  Test for usability

audience is internal or using modes such as
external. problem/solution,
 Write to inform, instruct, cause/effect,
persuade, and build comparison,
trust. argument/persuasion,
 Choose the correct analysis, chronology,
communication channel etc.
for your audience and  Use figures and tables to
purpose. clarify content.
 Gather your data.  Format the content for
ease of access.
 Revise your draft by
o adding details
o deleting wordiness
o simplifying words
o enhancing the tone
o reformatting your
text
o proofreading and
correcting errors
Prewriting
Before writing your document, you should accomplish
the following:
Examine your purposes
Determining your goals
Considering your audience
Gathering your data
Determining how the content will be provided
Prewriting (cont.)
 Examine your purposes—are you writing
due to
 External motivation?
 Has someone asked you to write the memo, letter,
report, or proposal?
 Internal motivation?
 Have you decided to write the correspondence based on
your own needs?
Prewriting (cont.)
Determine your goals—are you writing to
Persuade an audience to accept your point of view?
Instruct an audience by directing actions?
Inform an audience of facts, concerns, or questions
you might have?
Build trust and rapport?
Prewriting (cont.)
Consider your audience—are you writing to
High-tech readers?
Low-tech readers?
Lay readers?
Multiple readers with varied levels of knowledge?

Ch. 4 discusses audience in detail.

Prewriting (cont.)
Prewriting
Prewritingis
islike
likemapping
mappingyour
yourroute
routebefore
beforeleaving
leavingfor
foraa
trip.
trip. Know
Knowwhere
whereyou’re
you’regoing
goingbefore
beforeyou
youget
getthere.
there.

 Gather your data—use any of the following

techniques:
 answering the reporter's questions
 mind mapping
 brainstorming/listing
 flowcharting
 outlining
 storyboarding
 org charts
 researching (online and/or library)
Prewriting (cont.)
• Determine how the content will be provided.
• Which of the following communication
channels will you use?
Reports
E-mail
Brochures
Cell phone e-mail
Blogs
Instant Messages
Web sites
Letters
PowerPoint
Memos
Determine how the content will be provided
(cont.)
The type of communication channel
determines the size and shape of the
content.
The communication channel determines
the technological requirements of your
writer and reader(s).
Writing
Organize the draft according to some logical
sequence which your readers can follow easily.
These include
Chronology—good for instructions
Spatial—good for technical descriptions
Importance—good for reports and memos
Problem/Solution--good for proposals
Comparison/Contrast--good for showing alternatives

C h. 3 discusses organization in detail.

Writing (cont.)
Format the content to
allow for ease of access. 90

Use highlighting 80
70
techniques, such as 60
 White space 50 East
40 West
 Headings 30 North
 Bullets 20
10
 Graphics
0
 Font changes 1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr

 Color

Ch. 8 discusses highlighting

techniques in detail.
Rewriting
Revise
Add missing details
Delete wordiness
Simplify word usage
Enhance the tone of your communication
Reformat your text for ease of access
Practice the speech or review the text
Proofread
Correct errors
Process Sample
Prewriting
Writing
Rewriting
Prewriting
Prewriting (Listing)

Who? Matt
What? fixed rate mortgages available
Where? Mortgage bank
When? current quarter
Why? to show availability in the fixed rate market
How? to compare three fixed rate mortgage investments to
determine profitability
Writing—Rough Draft with Suggested
Revisions (boldface/red)

To: Matt Wright

From: Greg McLendon
Re: Fixed Rate Mortgage [what about them?]
Date: May 29, 2008
In an effort To review the mortgage market during this quarter, I have started by looking at fixed rate. I ran three fixed
rate mortgage investments through the PALMS model[,] and Joel downloaded the market shares into a spreadsheet
[what’s “PALMS”?]. The results are in the two attachments to this memo. Attachment #1 has all three of the mortgage
investments funded by what Joel selected. Attachment #2 shows what I picked in mortgage investments (only two bonds-
the highest returns) and what I picked to fund them. [why repeat the two attachments here and below? Combine
them in the body points.]

Attachment #1 show [subject-verb agreement error] that the spread is barely over 5 bps [define “bps”] in the base case.
It [vague pronoun reference] also shows the longer duration and more convexity on liabilities then [spelling = “than”]
assets.
[boldface the headings for greater access]
Attachment #2 shows that the spread is about 27 bps in the base with the liability duration still longer than assets, but the
liability convexity about half the assets. [29 words] To add spread, as attachment #1 and #2 show [subject-verb
agreement error], some convexity risk would need to be added to the portfolio.

My intent was to show you [passive voice] what was available in the fixed rate mortgage market. The three mortgages I
reviewed were plain sequentials, but they do represent the fixed rate mortgage investment market. I can conclude that
[wordy] the fixed rate mortgage market is still very tight making it difficult for the Bank to invest in and make a spread.
Rewriting—Corrected Memo
To: Matt Wright
From: Greg McLendon
Subject: Fixed Rate Mortgage Investments for June 2008
Date: May 29, 2008

To review the mortgage market, I have started by looking at fixed rate. I ran three fixed rate mortgage investments
through the PALMS financial calculator model. Joel downloaded this spreadsheet for your information. The results are
in the two attachments to this memo.

Attachment #1 has all three of the mortgage investments funded by what Joel selected in COs. The spread is
barely over 5 bps (basis points which equal one one-hundredth of a percentage point in the base case). The
attachment also shows the longer duration and more convexity on liabilities than assets.

Attachment #2 shows what I picked in mortgage investments (only two bonds- the highest returns) and what I
picked to fund them. The spread is about 27 bps in the base with the liability duration still longer than assets.
The liability convexity equals about half the assets. To add spread, as attachment #1 and #2 shows, some
convexity risk would need to be added to the portfolio.

In this memo, I have shown what was available in the fixed rate mortgage market. The three mortgages I reviewed were
plain sequentials, but they do represent the fixed rate mortgage investment market. I conclude that the fixed rate
mortgage market is still very tight making it difficult for the Bank to invest in and make a spread.