Reading this chapter reminded me of when I took a communications course here at Purdue. The instructor for the course said the same thing as this chapter. “Tell them what you’re going to tell them. Tell them. Then, tell them what you told them.” I found that this is very helpful for writing speeches and papers. I also think the idea of outlining is good. I have a hard time thinking of what I am going to type. When I make an outline or at least a scattered mess of ideas on a piece of paper it makes it easier for me to start. It also helps me to continue my thoughts as I go. This especially applied to writing speeches. If I don’t put some thoughts down on a piece of paper first I have a hard time writing a speech.
I found it interesting that this chapter didn’t recommend starting with the introduction first. I can understand why they think that other ways would be easier but I like to get a little of an intro and then build on it more. I should probably try starting with what I know and worry about my introduction later. It would probably help my writing. I liked the tips on how to conclude a document. Some times once I get to the point of closing a document I have found that it can be difficult to think of what to say to conclude the document. I hate reading things that just end abruptly. Some times when I read things that end suddenly it feels more like I only read half of it and there is a part missing. I know that I am a big culprit for ending things abruptly. Hopefully after reading this chapter I will be better able to end documents in a good way instead of leaving the reader hanging.
R3 Endings
I definitely agree that a writer should not end their piece abruptly for many reasons. I see the most common factor being that a reader would question him or herself and think that they missed a something and that it could not have possibly ended out of the blue. This would be a bad use of time, which is a major factor in technical writing. Although on the other hand you also don't want to droll on in a conclusion. If you have said everything necessary, don't put in fluff just to ease the reader out of the subject, as this would take up time as well. I think your last four or five sentences are somewhat of an example of this since they could be easily said in one or two sentences.
Shane
On telling them what you're going to tell them
I understand the importance of 'forecasting information' to the audience for a presentation or something along those lines, but I'm in disagreement for use of this in writing. It's much more simple and efficient to say what needs to be said instead of saying that you're going to say it. For presentations, at least, repetition seems like a good idea-hence exposing the audience to the topics several times is ideal, but in a document the readers have access to the whole thing for a long time and can reference back information they have already read. Conclusions are tricky too. The text says to 'wake up' the reader at this point. This seems counter intuitive to me-why would you want to wait until the end to grab the readers attention-you should have their attention throughout.
Mental prep helps
The reason I said tell them you are going to tell them in the introduction is because I think it would serve to prepare the reader, get him or her into the right mindset since you are writing an introduction anyway, for receiving the information. It's always easier you understand a message if you know what to expect beforehand. I mean you have to say more and be more eloquent than "I'm going to tell you about topic xyz," but if readers know what the purpose of your message is before you start going into detail, they wont waste time and mental effort in the beginning of the body of a document just trying to feel out your topic. It's not really a different idea than what was presented in the reading; I just take exception to the wording of the "tell them, tell them, tell them" message.
Oops
I was confused and thought you were responding to my comment in this thread. Sorry!