Chapter 4

Planning, Writing, and Revising

To learn'how to
Increase the number of expert processes you use
Use your time effectively.
Revise after feedback
Planning & Writing
Planning
Analyzing the problem, defining your purposes, and analyzing the audience; thinking of
information, benefits, and objection; choosing a pattern of organization or making an outline; and
so on.
Gathering the information you need --- from the message you`re answering a person, a book, or
the Web.
Writing
Putting words on paper or on a screen. Writing can be list, fragmentary notes, stream-ofconsciousness writing, or a formal draft.
Using expert processes will improve your writing
Writers can improve their writing by studying their own processes. Expert writers seem to use
different processes than novice writers.
Expert writers are move likely to:

Realize that the first draft can be revised.

Write regularly

Break big jobs into small chunks.

Have clear goals focusing on purpose and audience.

Have a several different strategies to choose from.

Use rules flexibility.

Wait to edit until after the draft is complete.

What planning should I do before I begin writing or speaking?

Spend at least one-third of your time planning and organizing before you begin to write.

Start by using the analysis questions from Module 1 to identify purpose and audience.

Use the strategies described in Module 8 to develop reader benefits.

Brainstorm
Think of all ideas you can, without judging them. Consciously try to get at least a
dozen different ideas before you stop.
Freewrite
Make yourself write, without stopping for 10 minutes. At the end of 10 minutes,
read what you`ve written and identify the best point in the draft. Get a clean paper or
screen and write for another 10 uninterrupted minutes.
By the third session, you will probably produce several sections that are worth
keeping---maybe even a complete draft thats ready to be revised.
Cluster
Write your topic in the middle of the page and circle it. Write down the ideas the
topic suggest, circling them, too. When you`ve filled the page, look for patterns or
repeated ideas. Use different colored pens to group related ideas. Then use to develop
reader benefits in a memo, questions for a survey, or content for the body of report.
Talk to your audiences
Talking to internal and external audiences helped writers involve readers in the
planning process, understand the social and political relationships among readers, and

negotiate conflicts orally rather than depending solely on the document. These writers
were then able to think about content as well as about organization and style, appeal to
common grounds (such as reducing waste or increasing productivity) which several
readers shared, and reduce the number of revisions needed before documents were
approved. For an oral presentation, a meeting, document with lots of visuals try creating a
storyboard, with a rectangle representing each page or unit.
Revising activities include:
Evaluating your work and measuring it against your goals and the requirements of the situation
and audience. The best evaluation results from re-seeing your draft as if someone else had written
it.
Getting feedback from someone else.
Adding, deleting, substituting, or rearranging.
Editing the draft to see that is satisfies the requirements of standard English.
Proofreading the final copy to see that its free from typographical errors.
What is revision? How do I do it?
Good Writers
Drafts better by judicious revising, editing, and proofreading.
Revising making changes that will better satisfy your purposes and your audiences.
Editing making surface-level changes that make the document grammatically correct.
Proofreading checking to be sure the document is free from typographical errors
Writing to an audience or to solve a particularly difficult problem, it has a three plan to revise the draft:
Look for content and clarity
Check the organization and layout
Check style and tone
Can a grammar checker do my editing for me?
Grammar checker
Good at finding missing halves.
In terms of other errors, all grammar checker can do is to ask you about what you have done
Can tell you that you`ve used a passive verb and ask if you want to change it.
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
You need to know the rules of grammar and punctuation to edit.
I spell check. Do I still need to proofread?

Module 5 Summary
Designing Documents, Slides, and Screens

Good document design saves time and money, reduces legal problems, and builds goodwill. A welldesigned document looks inviting, friendly, and easy to read. Effective design also groups ideas visually,
making the structure of the document more obvious so the document is easier to read. Research shows
that easy-to-read documents also enhance your credibility and build an image of you as a professional,
competent person.'
Guidelines for creating effective paper documents are well supported with research and practice. Much
less research has been done on effective slides and screens. Moreover, as the population in general
becomes more experienced in seeing presentation slides and using the Web, what works may change. Pay
attention to the documents, slides, and screens you see and to the responses they get from other people in
your organization so that you can keep up with evolving standards.
How should I design paper pages?
Follow these five guidelines.
Use the following guidelines to create visually attractive documents.
Use white space to separate and emphasize points.
Use headings to group points.
Limit the use of words set in all capital letters.
Use no more than two fonts in a single document.
Decide whether to justify margins based on the situation and the audience. Use White Space. White
spacethe empty space on the pagemakes material easier to read by emphasizing the material that it
separates from the rest of the text. To create white space,
Use headings.
Use a mix of paragraph lengths (most no longer than seven typed lines).
Use lists.
Use tabs or indentsnot spacingto align items vertically.
Use numbered lists when the number or sequence of items is exact.
Use bullets (large dots or squares like those in this list) when the number and sequence don't matter.
Use Headings.
Headings are words or short phrases that group points and divide your letter, memo, or report into
sections.
Make headings specific.
Make each heading cover all the material until the next heading.
Keep headings at any one level parallel: all nouns, all complete sentences, or all questions.
Decide Whether to Justify Margins Based and the Audience Situation.
Computers allow you to use full justification so that type on both sides of the page is evenly lined up.
This paragraph justifies margins. Margins that are justified only on the left are sometimes called ragged
right margins. Lines end in different places because words are of different lengths. The FYI and Instant
Replay boxes use ragged right margins.
Use justified margins when you
Can use proportional typefaces
Want a more formal look.
Want to use as few pages as possible.
Write to skilled readers.' Use ragged right margins when you
Do not have proportional typefaces.
Want a less formal look.
Want to be able to revise an individual page without reprinting the whole document.
Use very short line lengths.
How should I design presentation slides?
Keep slides simple, relevant, and interesting.
As you design slides for PowerPoint and other presentation programs, keep these guidelines in mind.
Use a big font: 44- or 50-point for titles, 32-point for subheads, and 28-point for examples.

 Use bullet-point phrases rather than complete sentences. Use clear, concise language.
Make only three to five points on each slide. If you have more, consider using two slides.
Customize your slides with the company logo, charts, and scanned-in photos and drawings.
Using Computers to Create Good Design
Standard word-processing programs such as WordPerfect and Word let you control how your page looks.
Different versions of each program handle these commands differently. Look up the bolded terms below
in a manual, a book about the program, or the online Help menu of your computer program to find out
how to use each feature.
Letters and Memos
Choose a businesslike font in 11- or 12-point type. Times Roman, Palatino, Helvetica, and Arial are the
most commonly used business fonts.
Use bold headings. Avoid having a heading all by itself at the bottom of the page. If you can't have at
least one line of text under it, move the heading to the next page. You can check this by eye or set your
program to avoid widows and orphans.
Use tabs or indents to line up the return address. And signature blocks in modified block format.
Change your tab settings to create good visual impact. A setting at .6" works well for the To/From/Subject
line section of memos. Use .4" for paragraphs and .6" for the start of bulleted lists. For lists with 10 or
more items, the setting will need to be a bit further to the rightabout .65".
Use a header (in the Insert or View menu) with automatic page numbering (pull down Format to Page)
for second and subsequent pages.
Printing
To save paper, check print preview on the File menu. You'll be able to see how your document will look
on the page and make minor layout changes before you print. If you prepare your document on one
computer and print it from another, be sure to open the document and check all of it before you print.
Different printers may change margins slightly. Even the same size font may differ from printer to printer,
so that a document that fit nicely on one page in 11-point on one computer may suddenly take up more
room on a different one.
How should I design Web pages?
Pay attention to content, navigation, and the first screen.
Good Web pages have both good content and an interesting design. You should be able to evaluate the
design of a Web page even if you never create one from scratch.
The opening screen is crucial. Not only must the first screen open quickly, but it also must contain the
information visitors need to quickly find what they are looking for. Studies show that users grow
impatient after waiting 15 seconds for a page to load, and Jakob Nielsen says users spend less than two
minutes figuring out a site before deciding to leave. In addition, users tend not to scroll down beyond the
first screen of text.5 To keep visitors around long enough to find (and buy) what they want, make using
the first screen extremely easy.
Provide an introductory statement orienting the surfing reader to the organization.
Offer an overview of the content of your page, with links to take readers to the parts that interest them.
A site index and internal search engine are valuable tools.
Include information that will be most interesting and useful to most readers.
How do I know whether my design works?
Test it.
A design that looks pretty may or may not work for the audience. To know whether your design is
functional, test it with your audience.

 Watch someone as he or she uses the document to do a task. Where does the reader pause, reread, or
seem confused? How long does it take? Does the document enable the reader to complete the task
accurately?
When should I think about design?
At each stage of the writing process.
Document design isn't something to "tack on" when you've finished writing. Indeed, the best documents
are created when you think about design at each stage of your writing process(es).
As you plan, think about your audiences. Are they skilled readers? Are they busy? Will they read the
document straight through or skip around in it?
As you write, incorporate lists and headings. Use visuals to convey numerical data clearly and
forcefully.
Summary Key Points
An attractive document looks inviting, friendly, and easy to read. The visual grouping of ideas also makes
the structure of the document more obvious so it is easier to read.
Good document design can save time, money, and legal problems. To create visually attractive
documents,
Use white space.
Use headings.
Limit the use of words set in all capital letters.
Limit the number of fonts in a single document.
Decide whether to justify margins based on the situation and the audience.
As you design slides for PowerPoint and other presentation programs,
Use a big font.
Use bullet-point phrases.
Use clear, concise language.
Make only three to five points on each slide.
Customize your slides.
Good Web pages have both good content and an interesting design.
Orient the surfing reader to the organization.
Offer an overview of the content of your page, with links to take readers to the parts that interest them.
Make it clear what readers will get if they click on a link.
Keep graphics small.
Provide visual variety.
Unify multiple pages with a small banner, graphic, or label.
On each page, provide a link to the home page, the name and e-mail address of the person who
maintains the page, and the date when the page was last revised.
To test a document, observe readers, ask them to "think aloud" while completing the task, interrupt them
at key points to ask what they are thinking, or ask them to describe the thought process after completing
the document and the task.
The best documents are created when you think about design at each stage of the writing process.
As you plan, think about the needs of your audience.
As you write, incorporate lists, headings, and visuals.
Get feedback from people who will be using your document.
As you revise, check your draft against the guidelines in this chapter.

September 3, 2016
The Manager
EMCOR
Panabo City, Davao Del Norte
Dear Sir/Ma`am:
Good day!
We are the students of Jose Maria College currently taking up Bachelor of Science in Business
Administration a 3rd year students, asking permission to conduct a survey and video documentary
at your company. We are studying about building good will in business matters in our Business
Communication class. It includes, knowing about how your company started and how it also
grow in the past years through having a lot of franchise in other places.
If this letter will be approved the documentation / interview should be take no longer than two
(2) hours. This survey will be remain absolutely confidential and to be used on educational
purpose only.
Your approval to conduct this study will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
CHONA MAE C. LUMINARIAS
Student
NEIL B. GENTERONE
Student

Noted by:

MRS. NOREEN GAY P. CASTILLO

Professor