Lesson1: 2: reflections on our Facebook chatter

I hope you have all been following our FaceBook [FB] thread; there are some good questions worth addressing in a more formal location than FB. One of those questions revolves around concerns for getting formatting “right.” Here are some examples:

• STUDENT: I’m kinda struggling with how to email my memo. I understand that it is not a PDF memo, but I formatted my memo according to the book (which are pretty much examples of a pdf copy). Should I just copy and paste my memo in an email, and that’ll be considered the email memo?
• STUDENT: Yes I think it should be it, especially as you’re following the specifics of how the memo is in terms of layout and structure from the textbook. Someone please do correct me if I’m wrong!
• STUDENT: I’m still a bit confused. Is there a specific difference in how to set up an email memo vs. a PDF memo? I’m looking in the textbook but they don’t really specify the difference or offer an example of an email memo. But perhaps I just missed it.
• Erika Paterson Yes – there are specific differences, as you say, an email memo does not allow you to set margins. A pdf is an attachment to the email.
• What you need to do is
  • 1) determine your purpose and audience [read the indicated pages in the lesson]
  • 2. Write with a professional style [read the indicated pages in the lesson] 
  • 3 – realize there are choices to make, that YOU need to make: there is no one rule fits all for writing.

So, review the chapters that will guide you in making those choices. For example, do you want to use bullets? Yes, or no, it is up to you. You write, I guide, but until you write – I can not guide; O.K. There are no points to be lost or gained at the beginning, just exercise and developing your individual professional writing style that accommodates the situation you are writing for.

Thanks for asking – I hope everyone reads this and relaxes and WRITES; this is a learning process, not at test.

If you are a little “stuck’ in the above frame of mind (ie: looking for a single answer on ‘how to’), you have to re-think your approach to the textbook – and to the order of things in general when it comes to writing. Just as a the textbook begins with laying a foundation for understanding the principles, practices and possible strategies involved in technical writing:

• Determining your purpose
• analyzing your reader(s) needs and expectations
• strategizing the best style and format for the writing  situation

You need to follow the approaches the textbook describes and approach each writing assignment beginning with these questions:

1. What is the purpose of this particular document?
2. Who am I writing this for: consider all possible readers and what those readers need and except in this situation.

• For example, when you write a memo or mail message for your instructor (me), you should always take into consideration professional needs.
• What do you think those needs might be?

3. In context with the first two questions:

• Should I use be a formal or informal tone?
• Should I favour brevity over details?
  • hint: If you want to be brief and detailed: use bullets

There are no single, correct answers to these questions – each question requires analysis of a particular situation.

And that, my friends, is what lies at the heart of a good technical writer: the practice of analysis.

So, my mid-week advice for you all is:

• Re-read the textbook chapters; in general use the book as a source to find answers to your questions. And remember, it all begins by analyzing the writing situation: what is the purpose of the document and who is the reader.
  • TAKE ADVANTAGE of the resources and tools our online text offers: you can search through the book with ease.
• So far you are writing to your instructor and your peers.

Here are some hints for you when it comes to analyzing my reading habits:

1. Take a look at how I organize our course web pages
2. Study the way I communicate on FB
3. Study the way I communicate on my Instructors Blog
4. Make some comparisons and you will see I use different styles and tones for each different purpose.

On Face Book my tone is friendly and causal, on the Instructor’s Blog, I am more organized and to the point, but still somewhat informal and friendly, and on some of our Course web pages “I’ barely exist; some pages, like the course description page, are directed at the reader with no indication of the author.

Ask yourself, what is the difference between email communications, PDF memos, blogging and creating course content? What are the different purposes, and how are these different purposes reflected in changing writing styles and document organization and layout?

And finally, always consider workload: I teach 70 writing students in two different intensive writing courses (ENG 301 & 112) who typically produce 2 or 3 assignments a week: 70 x 3 = 210 documents a week to organize, file, read and evaluate.

I hope this is helpful for you all, enjoy.