Technical Writing

for Success

A Process for Technical Writing

4 Planning
Drafting and Revising
Copyediting and Publishing
Writing Collaboratively
© 2010
South-Western
Cengage Learning
 Chapter 4 The Writing Process

Identify a writing process that

suits your writing style.

Plan your document.

Go al s Draft and revise your document.

Edit and publish your document.

Collaborate constructively with

others.
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16 A Process for
The Writing Process Technical Writing

The writing process has these stages:

• Planning
• Drafting
• Revising
• Copyediting
• Publishing

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 Chapter 4
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The Writing Process Technical Writing

To manage the stages of the technical writing

process effectively, you should understand
these features of the process:
• Writing is recursive (i.e., the writer moves
back and forth between predictable writing
stages).
• Writing takes sufficient time to complete.
• Writing is different for everyone.

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PLANNING

Planning is the first stage of the writing

process.

Writing is easier when you have a plan.

1. Choose a topic.
2. Decide how to shape and organize the
topic.
3. Conduct research to get more information.

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CHOOSING A TOPIC
Use one or all of these strategies.
Freewriting—write what comes to mind
without judging it or considering grammar or
sentence structure.
• Open freewriting—write and see where it takes you.
• Focused freewriting—choose a topic and write
about it.
• Looping—write for 5 minutes; summarize in a
sentence. Write for 5 minutes about that summary
sentence. Repeat …
Journaling—write in a journal regularly

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SHAPING AN IDEA

Use one or all of these strategies to help focus

your idea and determine the subtopics:
• Ask yourself questions to shape your idea.
What do people need to know? When and
where will they use the information? Etc.
• Read your notes or journal.
• Draw a cluster map to shape your ideas.
• Develop an outline—an informal,
changeable plan for organizing main topics
and subtopics.

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DRAFTING

Drafting is the second stage of the writing

process.
You write drafts (versions) of the document:
• Introduction
• Body (including subtopics)
• Conclusion

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REVISING

Read the draft and look for changes needed

to the content, organization, and readability.
Let your audience analysis and purpose
statement guide the revisions.
Put the draft aside for a while before you
revise it.
Print a copy and make notes on it.

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REVISING THE CONTENT

Do I have enough or too much information for my
reader? Do I need to conduct more research or
remove something?
Is my information clear? Do I need to revise for
clarity?
Is my introduction effective? Do I need to revise
to attract my readers’ attention?
Is my purpose clear? Do I need to add a
sentence that explains the purpose?
Do the details logically support my purpose?

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REVISING THE ORGANIZATION

Is the information in the best logical order for my
reader? Do I need to move paragraphs or
sections? Are my paragraphs and sections
unified? Do I need to remove sentences that don’t
fit the purpose?
Do sections and paragraphs have topic
sentences? Do I need to add topic sentences?
Are transitions clear between sections and
paragraphs? Do I need to add transition
sentences or phrases?
Does my conclusion logically end the document?

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REVISING FOR READABILITY

Does my writing flow from one sentence and
paragraph to the next?
Are sentences varied by length and type? Would
my sentences be more interesting if I combined
them?
Have I selected the best words? Do I need to
replace overused words? Do I need to define
words?

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COPYEDITING

Copyediting a document is proofreading it to

polish it.

Check for spelling, word choice, grammar,

accuracy, and consistency.

Verify the documentation of sources.

Ask yourself if the document looks professional:

• Is the formatting consistent?
• Is the page design balanced and attractive?

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PUBLISHING
Publishing means sending your document to the
person who requested it.
In this final stage, make sure the document:
• Looks professional
• Is ready on time
• Is presented in the form your reader needs
• Uses sources correctly

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The Writing Process
Writing Collaboratively

Many writing projects are done

collaboratively.

The more complex and longer your project,

the more likely you are to work with others.

Writing collaboratively allows you to use

others’ strengths along with your own.

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Writing Collaboratively

ADVANTAGES OF COLLABORATION

• Brings together different knowledge.

• Brings together different talents.
• Allows different perspectives and
viewpoints.
• Improves work relationships.
• Is enjoyable.
• Keeps one person from being responsible
for the entire project.

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DISADVANTAGES OF COLLABORATION

• Can be a dreaded event for people who do

not enjoy working in a group.
• Can include conflict.
• Can take longer than working alone.
• Can take away personal motivation.
• Can encourage groupthink.
• Can lead to unequal workloads.
• Can produce fragmented writing.

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Writing Collaboratively

ORGANIZING COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS

A collaborative writing project can be

organized in one or more of the following
ways:
• Different people submit data to a central
person who compiles the information.
• Different people write different stages.
• Groups divide research tasks and come
together to write.

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Writing Collaboratively

USE POSITIVE WORK HABITS

To apply good work habits and contribute to

the collaborative group effort, you must:
• Do your share of the work.
• Come prepared to each meeting.
• Be interested in the project.
• Be on time to meetings.
• Not take criticism personally.

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