PROFESSIONAL WRITING
NOTES TO ANDERSON, CHAPTERS 3
THE BASICS
• Writing is an Action
• Writing is an attempt to exert power to achieve some ends.
• It attempts to convince others to think differently and/or act
in a particular way.
• Therefore . . .
• Think Constantly about the Reader
• What do they want from you? And why?
• How will they react to what you say and/or how you say it?
• In short, how will your readers respond?
DEFINING YOUR
COMMUNICATION’S OBJECTIVES
A communication’s objective is to lead readers to
respond in a specific way.
Three factors that influence a reader’s response:
• The reader’s purpose (in reading your
communication)
• The reader’s characteristics
• The context in which he or she will read
We can shorten these factors to purpose, reader,
and context
DEFINING YOUR
COMMUNICATION’S OBJECTIVES
Guidelines
1. Create a mental movie of your reader in the act of reading
2. Describe the task your communication will help the reader
perform
3. Describe the way you want your communication to alter
your reader’s attitudes
4. Describe your reader’s professional characteristics
5. Describe your reader’s cultural characteristics
6. Learn who all your readers will be
7. Describe the context in which your reader will read
8. Identify any constraints on the way you write
9. Identify your communication’s stakeholders
DESCRIBE THE TASK
Describe the task your communication will help your
reader perform
• What is your reader’s purpose for reading?
• For example, Stephanie’s purpose in writing is to persuade
Ms. Land to change the system used to assign Braille
translations
• Ms. Land’s purpose in reading is more complicated
• She will probably need to be persuaded that there is a problem
• She will need to be persuaded that the problem is the current
system for assigning work
• If she is persuaded of the above, then her purpose in reading
will be to compare the existing system to the one
recommended by Stephanie
DESCRIBE THE TASK
Describe the task your communication will help your
reader perform
• What information does your reader want? (What
questions might your reader ask?)
• For example, Stephanie imagines Ms. Land might ask
• What evidence do you have that there’s a problem with the
current system?
• Who would determine which translations deserve highest
priority?
• How would we decide which translators are placed in our top
group?
• Will your system really work? Are other agencies using it
successfully?
DESCRIBE THE TASK
Describe the task your communication will help your
reader perform
• How will your reader search for information? (might use
more than one strategy)
• Three common search strategies used by readers
• Thorough, sequential reading: build argument from one
sentence, paragraph, and section to the next (this kind of
writing is very similar to what you are asked to do in school)
• Reading for key points only: use lists, tables, boldface, and
page design to make the key points stand out (the textbook
does this)
• Reference reading (readers only seeking specific pieces of
information): use headings, table of contents, and indexes to
guide your readers
DESCRIBE THE TASK
Describe the task your communication will help your
reader perform
• How will your reader use the information while
reading?
• Three common ways that readers use your
information while they are reading:
• To compare alternatives: organize your communication
around the criteria used for comparison
• To determine how the information will affect them and their
organization: organize your communication around your
readers’ concerns
• To perform a procedure: use numbered lists for sequential
steps
DESCRIBE THE EFFECT
Describe the way you want your communication to
alter your reader’s attitudes
• What is your reader’s attitude toward your subject?
What do you want it to be?
• For example, Stephanie responded to these questions in this
way:
• She believes that the current system for assigning Braille
translations is the best one possible. I want her to see that mine
is better.
• What other attitudes might Ms. Land have?
DESCRIBE THE EFFECT
Describe the way you want your communication to
alter your reader’s attitudes
• What is your reader’s attitude toward you? What do
you want it to be?
• For example, Stephanie responded to these questions in the
following way:
• Ms. Land thinks that I am a good summer employee. But she
thinks all summer employees are ignorant concerning policy
issues. I want her to think that I am knowledgeable enough to
have a recommendation worth serious consideration.
• How do we (as writers) establish the authority to speak?
DESCRIBE THE EFFECT
Describe the way you want your communication to
alter your reader’s attitudes
• What is your reader’s attitude toward your
organization? What do you want it to be?
• This last point will matter more as you come to identify
yourself and become more identified with organizations.
DESCRIBE YOUR READER(S)
Role in the organization
Role as a reader
Familiarity with the subject
Knowledge of your specialty
Relationship with you
Other personal characteristics you should take into
account
• Cultural characteristics you should take into
account
• Who else might read your communication?
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DESCRIBE YOUR READER(S)
• Role in the organization and as a reader determines what
readers look for and the questions they ask
• Decision-makers
• What are your conclusions?
• What do you recommend?
• What will happen?
• Advisers
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Did you use a reasonable method to obtain your results?
Do your data really support your conclusions?
Have you overlooked anything important?
If your recommendation is followed, what will be the effect on others?
What kinds of problems are likely to arise?
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What do you want me to do?
Why do you want me to do it?
How much freedom do I have in deciding how to do it?
What’s the deadline?
• Implementers
DESCRIBE YOUR READER(S)
• Familiarity with the subject
• What can I assume my reader already knows?
• How much background information do I need to provide?
• Knowledge of your specialty
• Are there special terms and/or concepts that I need to
explain to my reader?
• How can I strike a balance between too little and too much
information?
DESCRIBE YOUR READER(S)
• Relationship with you
• What level of formality is required?
• How great is the distance between my role and my reader’s
role? Does it matter?
• For example, Stephanie responded to this part with “[Ms. Land]
is my boss and likes to maintain a formal superior-subordinate
relationship.”
• Other personal characteristics you should take into
account
• Of course, this reader characteristic only matters when the
reader is a specific person (or group of people) about whom
you know a great deal.
• For example, Stephanie responded to this part with “[Ms. Land]
designed the current system and may feel defensive if I
suggest that it could be improved.”
DESCRIBE YOUR READER(S)
• Cultural characteristics you should take into
account
• Intercultural communication is a surprising rich and
complicated domain. The textbook provides a nice
overview of some of the issues involved as well as resources
for learning more.
• For now, you should be concerned about cultural
differences only when your communication travel across
significant national/cultural borders
DESCRIBE YOUR READER(S)
• Who else might read your communication?
• Phantom readers
• Future readers
• Complex audiences—different readers reading with
different purposes
DESCRIBE THE CONTEXT
Describe the context in which your reader will read
• Under what physical conditions will they read?
• What effect might recent events have?
• What effect might relationships between individuals,
departments, organizations have?
DESCRIBE THE CONTEXT
Identify any constraints on the way you write
• What expectations, regulations, or other factors
constrain the way you can write?
• Organizational culture
• Organizational style guides
• Legal or regulatory requirements
IDENTIFY STAKEHOLDERS
Ethical behavior demands that we take into account the
effect our words and actions have on others.
Stakeholders are those who might be affected by your
communication.
• Who, besides your reader, are stakeholders in your
communication?
• Who will be directly affected by what I say and/or how I say it?
• Who might be indirectly affected by what I say and/or how I
say it?
• Who might be remotely affected by what I say and/or how I
say it?
• How will they be affected by it?