Mastering Report Writing: Pre-Writing Strategies and Techniques

HUM 102 REPORT WRITING SKILLS Lecture 10 1

Previous Lecture Traits in technical writing Accessible Document Design Audience Recognition Accuracy 2

The Writing Process Three Stages 1. Pre-writing Planning 2. Writing Drafting 3. Post-writing Finishing 3

Stage 01: Pre-writing About Pre-writing First stage of the writing process Aimed to discover and explore our initial ideas about a subject First steps o The invention stage o Anything you do before writing your first draft o Usually begins with you thinking about your writing purpose and audience o Use prewriting techniques to generate ideas 4

Stage 01: Pre-writing Choosing a topic A broad subject area will be assigned Discover an interest within the subject area o E.g., the broad subject would be Pakistan Studies and an interest from this would be The Partition Movement. 5

Stage 01: Pre-writing Discovering an interest Sometimes, it is difficult to discover an interest. Try finishing the following sentences. o I am curious about o I am confused about o Recently, I have been thinking a lot about 6

Stage 01: Pre-writing Narrowing the interest After choosing an interest, you must narrow it to a plausible topic. Consider the following examples: o Pakistan Studies to Partition Movement o Education to Experience with Hybrid Learning 7

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques There are a variety of basic techniques. o Listing o Rapid sketches o Conversation o Doodling or sketching o Circle technique o Clustering o Freewriting o Note keeping o Brain storming o Mind mapping o Journalistic questions 8

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Listings Jot down every idea you have about your topic. Free-associate; don t hold back anything. Try to brainstorm for at least ten minutes. Write everything down. o One word, phrase, sentences, lists, etc. No thought to presentation, grammar, clarity, etc. 9

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Rapid sketches Narrow your topic o Nothing big and political happens for just one reason. o There are always things hidden beneath the surface. o The people living together could have been more united. o People in power often struggle with ego. o Absolute power corrupts absolutely. o What about religion? o Better ways to reach the same ends. 10

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Conversation Try discussing your ideas with someone else. What do you think caused the Partition? Two Nation Theory, duh! Yeah, but doesn t that seem really simplified? I mean, no movement ever I do remember learning something started for just one reason. about government control, excessive taxes, and a lot of pretty extreme Right. Thanks! I m going to the central pamphlet printing. library now. 11

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Doodling or Sketching Just scribble (write or draw) your ideas for linking some ideas together o Examples: scribbling or doodling the contribution of Jinnah, Iqbal, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, etc. 12

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Circle Techniques Look past your own perspective to a broader perspective. Start with yourself and your opinion in the center and then broaden. o Example: China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) 13

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Clustering A technique for visual learners. To view how ideas can be linked. To get started Place your general subject in a circle in the middle of a blank sheet of paper. Begin to draw other lines or circles that shoot out from the original topic. Cluster the ideas that seem to go together. Try to do this for at least ten minutes. 14

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Clustering Sir Syed Ahmad War of People of Interest Independence Suppression Causes ? Outcomes Main Events ? Negotiations Culture Enmity with British What else caused the war? Was suppression really the main issue? War

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Question your own statements and ideas Nothing big and political happens for just one reason. Why not? There are always things hidden beneath the surface. Slavery could have been abolished without war. People in power often struggle with ego. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Examples? What about religion? Better ways to reach the same ends Like what? How do you know? Says who? 16

Stage 01: Pre-writing Other major techniques Freewriting Note keeping Brain storming Mind mapping Journalistic questions 17

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Free writing Blank sheet of paper or new word document Writing for 10-15 mins Write whatever comes to your mind No worries about spelling, punctuation, or grammar Do not change, correct, or delete anything Keep writing for the entire time 18

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Free writing (An example) Allow yourself to write or type for ten minutes don t stop, don t worry about typos, and just write everything that comes to mind: The War of Independence was not just about suppression, there was social and economic factors and their were also powerful people trying to change the world and stubborn people everyone wanted to be in charge and no one wanted the responsibility for change, Two Nation Theory was catching up and people were beginning to question things. There is also the aspect of foreign relations and what other countries like what England thought of all of this . I guess that maybe I could research some of the political leaders to find out more and maybe look at what was happening in the area with economics and other social issues .I don t know what else to write now but I bet there is someone in the library who specializes in this area and I can go find the reference librarian that will lead to some new ideas and maybe find some support for my ideas 19

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Free writing (Practice) Free write for 3-5 minutes on the following topic: What is the most memorable moment you have ever had in childhood? 20

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Heuristics methods Asking yourself a fixed set of questions to generate ideas and information about any topic. (Only effective if you have your topic already.) Cubing Tagmemics Aristotle's Common Topics Dramatism Journalists Questions Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How? 21

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Cubing Cubing forces you to look at a topic from six different angles o Describing, comparing, associating, analyzing, applying, and arguing Describe it Compare or contrast it Free-associate it Analyze it Apply it Argue for or against it 22

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Tagmemics Linguistics: analyzing each unit forming a sentence In Pre-Writing, defining your topic as o a particle (a self- contained object) o a wave (how it changes over time) o a field (how it fits into the big picture) Particle (a self-contained X) War? Wave (an X that changes over time) Reason? Field (An X that is part of a larger context) Outcome? 23

Stage 01: Pre-writing Aristotle s Common Questions 1. Definition How does the dictionary define What other words mean approximately the same as_ ? ? 2. Circumstance What would it take for What would prevent to happen? from happening? 3. Relationship What causes What is the consequence of ? ? 4. Comparison What is similar to and different from?In what ways? 5. Testimony Do I know any facts or statistics about ? If so, what? 24

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Dramatism Dramatism, invented by Kenneth Burke Five dramatic elements: act (the what), agent (the who), agency (the how), purpose (the why), and scene (the where and when). These elements can be combined to inspire sub-questions. o Act o Agent o Agency o Purpose o Scene 25

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Dramatism 26

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Note keeping Keeping a journal or a notebook is an excellent way to practice your writing skills. I discover what I really think by writing it down. 27

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Note keeping How to keep a journal? o Every morning or night, for at least fifteen minutes, write in detail about what most angered, moved or amused you. o Your journal is private, so don t worry about grammar or correctness. 28

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: An example of a journal entry September 7, 2011 The day started with waking up late for the convocation; quite unlike me Finally arrived at the Convention Center in time and got to meet all class mates after a long time. It was a great feeling to receive my Medal, amidst roaring applause, in front of an audience of almost 1200 people. But I missed my parents very much . 29

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Brainstorming Good way to collect ideas Think and write down every idea that comes to mind. Don't evaluate your ideas. o Either individually or with group 30

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Brainstorming (An example) Topic: What would I do with one million dollars? Travel to Europe, Asia, S. America Pay off our house Help friends financially Go abroad for studies Share and donate to charities Buy a lot of books! 31

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Brainstorming (Practice) Take 5 minutes to brainstorm ideas about the following question: o What are some of the most memorable experiences of your life? Receiving my first ever award for securing first position in class Going to Murree with friends in school Travelling in rain with class mates on my way back from a conference Receiving my medal on convocation Losing a scholarship opportunity Losing both my parents in one year Getting a new job exactly when I needed it the most 32

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Mind Mapping If the topic is directly related to you, then go for Idea mapping or webbing. Another way to organize your ideas. Start with your topic in the center, and branch out from there with related ideas. Use words and phrases, not complete sentences. 33

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Mind Mapping Make good grades Play better in sports at school school Eventually go to college Spend more time Stop putting off assignments My future plans work family Pay attention in class better Be nicer to my little brother Do what my parents tell me-- first! 34

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Mind Mapping (Practice) Draw a map to organize your ideas about the following topic: o How to learn English? 35

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Journalistic questions Journalistic techniques refer to asking yourself six questions: 1. How? 2. What? 3. Where? 4. When? 5. Which? 6. Who? 36

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Journalistic questions (An example) What happened to the home cricket team? Where did the match take place? Who missed the final, decisive wicket? How did the crowd react? After receiving the awards for second place, how did captain respond? Who is out of shape for the match and could have been substituted? What was the weather s role in this match? What position does this give to the home cricket team? How can the losing team improve itself? What combination of fielding and bowling is seen as a good practice? 37

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Journalistic questions (Practice) You may write an incident report about an accident in the company's boiler room which must include the date, location, time, personnel involved, causes and financial loss. E.g., Imagine you have heard about a robbery. A bag of diamonds is stolen and the owner is murdered. o What journalistic questions would you ask to investigate? 38

Stage 01: Pre-writing Techniques: Journalistic questions (A robbery) At what time did the robbery take place? Where did it happen? How many robbers were there? Are there any eye witnesses? What weapons were used? What could be the reason? Are there any suspects? What were the diamonds worth? 39

Conclusions The writing process Pre-writing techniques with examples 40