Chapter 8 explains how to build and organize a document starting from a chosen topic. This chapter also covers different genres of technical documents and identifies two different types of audiences. There are two main ideas that I feel are very important when writing a document: an outline and writing what you know first.
Creating an outline is a very important part of writing a document. Writing an outline will not only create a path to follow in the document, but the writer can also easily reorganize and add new ideas as they feel necessary. The writer also needs to take into account what kind of audience they will have, and organize their outline accordingly. The outline is also dependent on the genre, something that I have never thought about before. This is an easy way to make sure that you have included everything you need to satisfy the particular genre while staying on topic.
I really like Timothy Myers' quote in this reading: "A document is just a puzzle." I skipped around quite a bit writing this response, trying to get all my thoughts out before being interrupted by a roommate or getting sucked back into the endless amount of entertainment found on the internet. This is also how I have written most of my documents. I believe writing a paper is easier and goes much more quickly if you take your ideas and build on them with what you know, instead of trying to force your way straight down the outline. Once you have written what you know, you can look back at your outline and figure out what still needs to be filled in or what should be omitted. I also think that not starting at the very beginning makes the introduction a lot easier to write. After you have written some or all of the body, you will know what needs to be covered in the introduction, and then restated in the conclusion.
Overall, this was mostly just a review chapter for me. However, I did learn a few new things, as well as covering a couple subjects that I needed to revisit.
Avoid Plowing
Putting together a puzzle is an interesting way to approach writing a document. I personally have really never attempted to write this way, but I can see from your examples of how it has worked for you in the past ant that it might be something worth trying. I do agree with you that any writing technique that keeps a writer away from just plowing through a paper will save time and be easier. When using the plow method I feel that it is easy to get hung up and after recognizing this I am striving to approach writing assignments in different ways.
Plowing
I don't think plugging away and "plowing" through a paper is necessarily a bad thing, as long as you go back and refine what you've written.
I will sometimes hold off on the introduction, but what works better for me is writing a temporary introduction to get my thoughts flowing, and then going back to tweak, revise and rewrite where I need to. That process allows me to first get my ideas out of my head and into the document, then go back to look for ways to make the whole thing more cohesive. This is actually how I apporach all of my writing. That's exactly what I've done for reading responses and for the job ad analysis.
To sum it up, for me it helps to write everything down with some but not all my focus going into the structure and the reader's needs, and then use the revision process to clarify my language and really nail down those aspects.
Puzzle Pieces Outline
In my recent years in writing I've found I like to start my writing in the middle, and then complete the introduction and conclusion after. However, I've never thought of using a similar approach to building the outline itself. I just never considered building up the outline in any order other than start to finish. I think since this approach works well for me for actually writing the paper, I think I should apply it to the outlining process as well. Hopefully since we share the approach to writing papers by starting in the middle, that outlining in a similar fashion will work well for me.
Outline
I agree with you on your thoughts about outlines. I always found it easier, when writing any kind of document or paper, to just write what I was thinking and already knew. I actually very rarely even use outlines. The only time I have ever used an outline was when it was required or I really had no clue about what to write. When I do use outline I use them exactly the way you said. I write what I know and then review the outline and fill in any missing parts. I think it is more natural that way.
In the past outlines have
In the past outlines have always been far from my mind when I start to write a paper. This chapter certainly changed the way I will go about beginning a paper in the future. The outline, though it can seem insignificant, can certainly benefit the document overall. The key is that the outline is used properly, as the author of this post went into detail about. The outline will help to assure that all details are included in the final document and to actually consider the audience n your outline. Overall it would seem that identifying which type of outline to use and completing it correctly, we can certainly improve our future documents.
Thanks!
JFlitt
www.JFlitt.com
Response
I really agree with what you had to say when I was reading your response. I found it a lot easier to just start writing and let the words flow than create an outline. I was going to go back and edit my paper anyways so I can add and delete words or phrases that I think deserve some more attention. I also like to write as much as I can then come back to it later to review it. When I do this, it really helps because I come back to the paper with a fresh mind ready to critique my past self.
Jeff
PLOW method
I would have to say that the “PLOW method” is something that normally hurts me as a writer. Normally when I write papers or documents I always try to just “plow” through it as fast as possible and I do not really sit back and think about what I am writing. I just ignore any patterns of writing and let myself ramble on and on with no apparent direction or path. One thing that I need to try to learn how to do is slow myself down when I am writing and to try and different patterns of writing. The plow method has been something that I have struggled with for a while, but hopefully its time for a change.