In this blog I will tell you about what I took from chapter 8 (TCT), The basic principle of the writing formula, and the organizational effectiveness of an outline. Both ideas I have only recently took advantage of within writing.
At first glance Chapter eight seems like pretty basic stuff, well this is true. Chapter eight emphasizes what we have been taught in writing class sense elementary school. Introduction, body, and conclusion, the formula for writing. Although this is a very simple concept sometimes I have a hard time following it. Chapter eight gave an alternate way to view this writing idea, tell them what you will tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them. I have a hard time following this idea because it seems so repetitive to me. “Why should I tell them what I just told them,” this is what I think sometimes. I feel if I follow this principle my writing will be boring. However, the chapter brought up a supporting idea on page 189 in an “at work” column. The column stressed that although the formula, introduction, body, and conclusion, should be followed you don’t necessarily have to write in that order. The article said the writer should begin wherever they feel comfortable.
Outlining was also an important topic brought up in chapter 8. Outlining is something I have only recently started to do. When I am assigned something to write, I begin to generate many ideas I can write about. An outline allows me to record these ideas and then formulate a layout of where they might fit in my writing. Before I used outlines I used to generate ideas and then either forget them or situate them ineffectively within my writing. An outline is a great organizational tool.
In this blog I expressed the writing formula, Introduction, body, conclusion, and my thoughts on how they may fit in a writing scheme. I also informed you of my recent adoption of an outline system, and how I am now my organized because of it. These two concepts may be simple; However they are very important when it comes to getting your point across.
Outlining
I also thought that at first glance the chapter eight reading seemed like it was pretty basic material. It went over the fundamentals of writing but added a little explanation of the widely accepted and used methods. The section that went over outlining I found to be useful because I too have recently started to use outlining to write these reading responses. It helps me hit all the points by writing down important topics as I read and then review and add information to each topic when I'm done. Then my response is written by working my way down my outline, and seems to make the assignments seem easy.
outline reply
Doing a quick page glance of the material before reading it, I thought Chapter 8 was going to be nothing but fundamentals. After reading the first few sections of Chapter 8 my prior diagnosis of the chapter was incorrect for the majority of the select reading. I agree with you on the outlining section and how useful these strategies can be. Being able to incorporate more outlines before writing a technical document will help make it more fluid for the audience to comprehend. In addition, writing outline using a presentation software such as PowerPoint can save you a lot time and visually help setup your document.
Reply Outlining
I agree with both of you with finding the outlines useful. With my collegiate career I have focused more on equations and mathematical procedures rather than writing papers. Rather than using a format of having an introduction, body, and conclusion I have become accustom to writing off an example from a lab manual and changing wording to fit my lab report. I had become out of practice of writing documents. Looking at the chapter was a refresher and allows me to have a format and an outline to use my thoughts and write them in an understanding and effective manner.
Zebulon Rouse
R3 Number Talk
I know what you're talking about with the math writing. Being in a technical field means that there are not going to be many essays or other papers. However, in my case at least, it prepares you for your future. I know the most writing I'll be doing will be short memos every blue moon, so I'll be speaking mostly in numbers. But, just because the long reports may not apply to us does not mean that the ideas will not apply. I will still have to keep in mind audience and other lessons that apply to writing that are given in this class.
Shane
Tell Them, Tell Them, Tell Them
I can understand how the idea “tell them what you will tell them, tell them, then tell them what you just told” can be a confusing concept. However, when applied to technical writing, this thought can be utilized to the author’s advantage. It basically explains the simple direction of the introduction, body, and conclusion. There should always be continuity into and out of the body of the document. In addition, it is very important to remind the audience of your intentions because it can be smothered by perplexing data and test results. I typically follow this idea when writing technical documents for course work and jobs.
Tell em again
I was always taught “tell them what you will tell them, tell them, then tell them what you just told” in various speech classes and never thought to apply it to papers. Repetition of information is always useful when getting your point across as the audience will remember it. You bring up a good point when using it in technical writing and using it to your advantage. It can particularly effective if you want to get your point across with problems that need to be fixed or results that your project can do to help the company. Overall, most of the chapter was a review with some helpful knowledge I did not know.
Jeff
Beginning Wherever
First off, I liked how you applied in your response what you just learned from reading Chapter 8 by telling me what you are going to tell me, tell me it, and then conclude what you told me. I did the same thing with my response. I found an important tip in writing the body first and the introduction last, and I applied it to my Reading Response. It helped tremendously. So, I strongly agree with the article when it says the writer should begin wherever they feel most comfortable. Also, I can relate to your previous brainstorming sessions prior to outlining. I feel when I don't outline for a big paper, or at least write my ideas down, I soon forget them and struggle to remember them or think of new ideas. I need to start outlining more to keep this ideas and put them in a sensible order.
You said that already...
I don't like the "Tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them" strategy, at least not in those words. I actually get irritated when I'm trying to soak up technical information and the same things come up over and over. As a reader, I feel like it's a waste of my time. I think it makes documents balloon up, which is not good if there is already a lot of information to convey.
The goal is to make sure the reader can clearly receive your information in the way you want them to understand it. So instead of beating readers over the head with the same stuff, I think it would be more productive to prepare them for the information, give them the information, then tell them what to do with the information.
I would change the wording to say:
"Tell them you are going to tell them and why, tell them, then tell them what to do with what you told them." So it's not as catchy, but it doesn't give you the wrong idea about just repeating yourself.
The only situation I can imagine that would be well served by literal repetition is in a spec or some other document where readers will be referring to bits and pieces of the document and not the document as a whole. But that's a limited scenario. Most reports and analyses are meant to be read as a whole and not broken up.
Again? Really?
I agree with you. It seems from reading the comments that a few people are taking the “tell them, tell them, and tell them literally.” I could be wrong but I see it as being sure you include your main points into the introduction, discuss it whatever way necessary in the main body, and be sure to relay their significance in the conclusion. I think most people get the idea of how to write the three pieces of a document, I did like your wording about how the phrase should be. It’s not nearly as catchy but it is a lot clearer.
Refresher
That is a very good point Zeb, and I am in the exact same boat that you are in. With our major we really do not write many documents that are not lab reports or just mathematical equations. The last time I really wrote something like an English paper had to be all the way back freshman year. Four years of always only writing lab reports or math equations down has really gotten me out of practice on how to write an effective document. This chapter really was a good refresher on how to use genres and outlines in different types of writings for the future.
More Writing for Students?
Hello fellow MET students Joey and Zeb. I can't remember one time that I have written a true paper that wasn't a lab report since English 106 freshman year. I am the exact same, as I forget small but important techniques to writing effective papers. I hate to say it, but maybe we should have been forced to write more types of these documents during our career here, as we will most likely need the writing practice for our future jobs. I never really liked writing, and I'm sure you guys don't prefer it either; however, maybe the College of Technology should start making this more of the cirriculum. (It's easy to say that now that I am leaving)
Outline reply
I would have to agree with everyone else. I am a flight major and there is definitely not very much work involved with having to write papers but a refresher on proper techniques of writing is good. Pretty much the only writing that would have to be done signing documents or putting a brief message into a log of some type. When it comes down to writing papers for school, freshman year would have to be the last time that I had to write a paper of any length. Even then, doing proper planning prior to writing the paper was key to get the desired results.
I enjoy how you stated that
I enjoy how you stated that this chapter at first seems to be a review of what we have been learning about writing for our entire lives, including “tell them what you will tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them”. I was also able to take way even more from this chapter that adds to these concepts in regards to technical writing. This chapter takes those basic concepts that we already know and builds upon them. I can certainly say that I will benefit from what I have learned from this chapter, and look forward to applying the new concepts in my future writings.
Thanks!
JFlitt
www.JFlitt.com
Writing the formula out of order
I like how you mentioned writing the introduction, body, and conclusion out of order. I would find this to be somewhat difficult. While I have never tried it, it seems a little odd to me. How would you conclude something you haven’t written yet? Well yes, you've probably thought about it. However, what if you write your conclusion about your thoughts of what you’re writing in your body, but then when you actually write the body it’s a little different than what you had thought it would be. Well now you have to write the conclusion over again, or modify it. This just doesn't seem too efficient or logical to me.