The Writing Process-III

The Writing Process
(Part-III)
Course: Technical Business Writing
Course code: HU-212
Lecture Prepared By:

Ms. Hina Yousaf
Step 3: Completing business messages
The final stage of the writing process is the complete step. Some instructors
using the term the 3×3 writing process may refer to this part as the editing
step.
In this last step, there are three sub-steps that relate to making certain what
you wrote is efficient, effective, and presentable to your audience. The last
step involves:
 Revising the message
 Producing the message
 Proofreading
 Distributing the message
REVISING YOUR MESSAGE: EVALUATING THE FIRST
DRAFT
 The revision task can vary somewhat, depending on the

medium and the nature of your message.
 For important messages, schedule time to put your draft aside

for a day or two before you begin the revision process.
EVALUATING YOUR CONTENT, ORGANIZATION,
STYLE, AND TONE
To evaluate the content of your message, answer these questions:
 Is the information accurate?
 Is the information relevant to the audience?
 Is there enough information to satisfy the readers’ needs?
 is there a good balance between general information and specific

information?
Next, you can review its organization. Answer another set of questions:
 Are all the points covered in the most logical order?
 Do the most important ideas receive the most space, and are they placed
in the most prominent positions?
 Would the message be more convincing if it were arranged in a different

sequence?
 Are any points repeated unnecessarily?
 Are details grouped together logically, or are some still scattered through
the document?
Next, consider whether you have achieved the right tone for your
audience.
 Is your writing formal enough to meet the audience’s expectations

without being too formal or academic?
 Is it too casual for a serious subject?
 Be sure that the opening is relevant, interesting, and geared to the

reader’s probable reaction. In longer messages, ensure that
EVALUATING, EDITING, AND REVISING
THE WORK OF OTHERS
When you evaluate, edit, or revise someone else’s work,

remember that your job is to help that per son succeed,
not to impose your own style.
REVISING TO IMPROVE READABILITY
Readability is a measure of how easily a written text can be understood by its
intended audience.
It assesses the clarity and simplicity of language, sentence structure, and overall
presentation of the content.
Four techniques will make your message easier to read and easier to
skim:
1. Varying sentence length
To keep readers’ interest, look for ways to combine a variety of
short, medium, and long sentences.
2. Using shorter paragraphs
 Short paragraphs have the major advantage of being easy to read.
 Don’t go overboard with short paragraphs.
 In particular, be careful to use one-sentence paragraphs only
occasionally and usually only for emphasis.
3. Using lists and bullets instead of narrative

 Lists are effective tools for high lighting and simplifying material.
 Bullets are generally preferred over numbers, unless the list is in
some logical sequence or ranking or you need to refer to specific list
items elsewhere in the document.
4. Adding effective headings and subheadings.
Use headings to grab the reader’s attention and organize material
into short sections.
Headings and subheadings fall into two categories.

Descriptive headings, such as “Cost Considerations,” identify a
topic but do little more.
Informative headings, such as “Redesigning Material Flow to Cut
Production Costs”.
Informative headings are gener ally more helpful than descriptive

ones.
EDITING FOR CLARITY AND CONCISENESS
Clarity is essential to getting your message across accurately and
efficiently.
 Break up overly long sentences.
 Hedging is appropriate when you can’t be absolutely sure of

a statement, but excessive hedging undermines your
authority.
 When you use parallel grammatical patterns to express two

or more ideas, you show that they are comparable thoughts.
Parallel structure refers to same word pattern within a sentence by
repeating a chosen grammatical form.
Not Parallel: Mr. Evan is a lawyer (noun), a politician (noun) and he

teaches (clause).
Parallel: Mr. Evan is a lawyer (noun), a lawyer (noun) and a teacher
(noun).
Not Parallel: Ryan likes swimming (noun), hiking (noun), and to ride a
motorcycle (phrase).
Parallel: Ryan likes swimming(noun), hiking(noun), and riding a
motorcycle(noun)
EDITING FOR CONCISENESS
Make your documents tighter by removing unnecessary words,
phrases, and sentences.
 Delete unnecessary words and phrases.
 Shorten long words and phrases.
 Eliminate redundancies.
 Rewrite “It is/There are” starters.

PROOFREADING YOUR MESSAGE
The types of details to look for when proofreading include language errors, missing
material, design errors, and typographical errors.
Reference Book
Business communication today

Courtland L. Bovée
John V. Thill
Page 213-216 pdf

Activity:
Identify a company website that in your opinion violates one or
more of the principles of good design discussed on pages 212–
215. Using whatever medium your instructor requests, write a
brief analysis of the site (no more than one page), citing specific
elements from the piece and support from the chapter.
Revising for Readability (Sentence Length)
Break the following sentences into shorter ones by adding more
periods, and revise as needed for smooth flow:
a. The next time you write something, check your av erage sentence
length in a 100-word passage, and if your sentences average more
than 16 to 20 words, see whether you can break up some of the
sentences.
b. Don’t do what the village blacksmith did when he in structed his

apprentice as follows: “When I take the shoe out of the fire, I’ll lay it on
the anvil, and when I nod my head, you hit it with the hammer.” The
apprentice did just as he was told, and now he’s the village blacksmith.
c. Unfortunately, no gadget will produce excellent writ ing, but using a
yardstick like the Fog Index gives us some guideposts to follow for making
writing easier to read because its two factors remind us to use short
sentences and simple words.
d. Know the flexibility of the written word and its power to convey an
idea, and know how to make your words behave so that your readers will
understand.
e. Words mean different things to different people, and a word such as

block may mean city block, butcher block, engine block, auction block, or
several other things.

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The Writing Process

Lecture Prepared By:

 The revision task can vary somewhat, depending on the

 For important messages, schedule time to put your draft aside

 Is the information accurate?

 Is the information relevant to the audience?

 Is there enough information to satisfy the readers’ needs?

 is there a good balance between general information and specific

 Are all the points covered in the most logical order?

 Would the message be more convincing if it were arranged in a different

 Are any points repeated unnecessarily?

 Is your writing formal enough to meet the audience’s expectations

 Is it too casual for a serious subject?

 Be sure that the opening is relevant, interesting, and geared to the

When you evaluate, edit, or revise someone else’s work,

3. Using lists and bullets instead of narrative

Headings and subheadings fall into two categories.

Informative headings are gener ally more helpful than descriptive

 Break up overly long sentences.

 Hedging is appropriate when you can’t be absolutely sure of

 When you use parallel grammatical patterns to express two

Not Parallel: Mr. Evan is a lawyer (noun), a politician (noun) and he

 Delete unnecessary words and phrases.

 Shorten long words and phrases.

 Rewrite “It is/There are” starters.

Business communication today

Page 213-216 pdf

b. Don’t do what the village blacksmith did when he in structed his

e. Words mean different things to different people, and a word such as

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