CHAPTER 4 - 3X3 WRITING PROCESS

DRAFT

PREPARE A FIRST DRAFT, USUALLY QUICKLY FOCUS ON SHORT, CLEAR SENTENCES USING THE ACTIVE VOICE. BUILD PARAGRAPH COHERENCE BY REPEATING KEY IDEAS, USING PRONOUNS, AND INCORPORATING APPROPRIATE TRANSITIONAL EXPRESSIONS

3 STEP WRITING PROCESS

PREWRITING, DRAFTING, REVISING

ANTICIPATE

PROFILE THE AUDIENCE WHAT DOES THE RECEIVER ALREADY KNOW? WILL THE RECEIVERS RESPONSE BE NEUTRAL, POSITIVE, OR NEGATIVE? HOW WILL THIS AFFECT YOUR ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY?

DRAFTING

RESEARCH, ORGANIZE, DRAFT

PREWRITING

ANALYZE, ANTICIPATE, ADAPT

EDIT

EDIT YOUR MESSAGE TO BE SURE IT IS CLEAR, CONCISE, CONVERSATIONAL, READABLE REVISE TO ELIMINATE WORDY FILLERS, LONG LEAD-INS, REDUNDANCIES, AND TRITE BUSINESS PHRASES. DEVELOP PARALLELISM CONSIDER USING HEADINGS & NUMBERED & BULLETED LISTS FOR QUICK READING.

REVISING

EDIT, PROOFREAD, EVALUATE

RESEARCH

GATHER DATA TO PROVIDE FACTS SEARCH COMPANY FILES, PREVIOUS CORRESPONDENCE, & THE INTERNET. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW TO WRITE THIS MESSAGE? HOW MUCH DOES THE AUDIENCE ALREADY KNOW?

ORGANIZE

ORGANIZE DIRECT MESSAGES WITH THE BIG IDEA FIRST, FOLLOWED BY AN EXPLANATION IN THE BODY AND AN ACTION REQUEST IN THE CLOSING. FOR PERSUASIVE OR NEGATIVE MESSAGES, USE AN INDIRECT, PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGY

PROOFREAD

TAKE THE TIME TO READ EVERY MESSAGE CAREFULLY. LOOK FOR ERRORS IN SPELLING, GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION, NAMES, & NUMBERS CHECK TO BE SURE THE FORMAT IS CONSISTENT

ANALYZE

WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE? WHAT DO YOU WANT THE RECEIVER TO DO OR BELIEVE? WHAT CHANEL SHOULD YOU USE?

ADAPT

WHAT TECHNIQUES CAN YOU USE TO ADAPT YOUR MESSAGE TO ITS AUDIENCE? HOW CAN YOU PROMOTE FEEDBACK? STRIVE TO USE POSITIVE, CONVERSATIONAL, & COURTEOUS LANGUAGE

EVALUATE

WILL THIS MESSAGE ACHIEVE YOUR PURPOSE? DOES THE TONE SOUND PLEASANT & FRIENDLY RATHER THAN CURT? HAVE YOU THOUGHT ENOUGH ABOUT THE AUDIENCE TO BE SURE THIS MESSAGE IS APPEALING? DID YOU ENCOURAGE FEEDBACK?