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Module 04 - Planning, Writing, and Revising
Module 4
Planning, Writing, and Revising
LO 4-1 Apply processes for writing quality improvement.
LO 4-2 Manage time for writing projects.
LO 4-3 Plan writing and speaking projects for increased success.
LO 4-4 Apply strategies for revision.
LO 4-5 Support writing with grammar and spell-checkers.
LO 4-6 Apply strategies for feedback and revision with it.
LO 4-7 Apply strategies for form letter use.
LO 4-8 Apply strategies for writer’s block and procrastination solutions.
Module Overview
Many students imagine writing effective documents in one sitting, but
the reality is that a process approach involving planning, writing, and
revising is more likely to be successful. Students who routinely
confront “writer’s block” may find that breaking the overall writing
process down into manageable steps increases their performance and
satisfaction.
As PP 4-4 through PP 4-8 show, writing can involve these distinct
activities:
Planning
Gathering
Writing
Evaluating
Getting Feedback
Revising
Editing
Proofreading
Not all writers use all the steps, nor do all writers use the same order
of steps for every document they write. However, you should caution
your students to avoid editing before revising—it makes little sense to spend time correcting
grammar in document sections that might be cut or altered significantly.
Make clear distinctions among revising (accepting or rejecting words, sentences, or ideas),
editing (checking for grammar and usage), and proofreading (checking for typos and spelling
errors).
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
4-1
Module 04 - Planning, Writing, and Revising
Teaching Tip: Given all the demands on many students’ time—work, school,
family—some may resist the process approach or see it as unrealistic. However,
ask these students to reflect on how much time it took to write their last several
documents. Was it really done in “one sitting”? How successful were the
documents? What was their level of frustration versus satisfaction? Might they
already be using a form of the process approach without realizing it?
What’s in This Supplement
This supplement is organized around the major questions posed in Module 4. It covers
Part 1: Key Lecture Points, Teaching Tips, and In-Class Exercises Page 59
Part 2: Answers to Textbook Assignments Page 70
Part 3: Appendixes of Handouts/Transparency Masters Page 72
PowerPoint presentations can be found at our Web page at www.mhhe.com/bcs6e.
Questions (with answers) suitable for quizzes are in the Instructor’s Test Bank. For
student practice quizzes with answers, see our Web page.
Part 1: Key Lecture Points, Teaching Tips, and In-Class Exercises
Does it matter what process I use? LO 4-1
Using expert processes will improve your writing.
No single writing process works for all writers all of the time. But finding the process that
works for the student is an important first step in writing better documents.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
4-2
Module 04 - Planning, Writing, and Revising
As PP 4-9 and PP 4-10 suggest, expert writers
Realize that the first draft can be revised.
Write regularly.
Break big jobs into small chunks.
Have clear goals focusing on purpose and audience.
Have several different strategies to choose from.
Use rules flexibly.
Wait to edit until after the draft is complete.
In-Class Exercise: Have students spend 10-15 minutes
individually reflecting on their own writing. In particular,
ask students to consider what processes they use. Ask them
where and when they write and for how long. Are they
satisfied with this approach? What could they do to improve it?
Use PP 4-9 and PP 4-10 to let students compare some of the writing process options that
can make it harder or easier to compose a message. Use them to show students how their
manipulation of the variables can lead to smoother writing processes.
I don’t have much time. How should I use it? LO 4-2
Save two-thirds of your time for planning and revising.
Kitty and Steve recommend as a “rule of thumb” breaking the process
down into thirds.
As PP 4-11 through PP 4-13 show, spend one third analyzing the
situation and audience, gathering information, and organizing what to
say. Spend the next third actually writing. Spend the last third
evaluating the message, revising drafts, and editing and proofreading.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
4-3
Module 04 - Planning, Writing, and Revising
Teaching Tip: Have students consider other aspects of their lives where
preparation and follow-through are important. For instance, would they make a
major purchase, such as a house, without first researching where they might like
to live, what price range is comfortable for them, and how they might finance the
purchase? After the initial purchase, would they expect to also plan for such
needs as furniture, lawn care equipment, and property taxes? Draw a parallel
between such processes and the writing process, where work before and after
actually writing is critical to success.
Figure 4.1 (p. 62) shows a breakdown of how to allocate time when writing a memo.
Students can use this as a model for their own planning.
What planning should I do before I begin writing or speaking? LO 4-3
As much as you can!
The better a student is at planning for a document, the fewer drafts are
likely to be needed. Analyzing audience is discussed in detail in Module
2, and Module 8 helps students to develop reader benefits. Gathering
research is discussed in Module 22. Many students face writer’s block
even at this stage. To help them, use PP 4-14 to show students
Brainstorming
Freewriting
Clustering
Talking to Their Audiences
Storyboard
Teaching Tip: While many students will have learned these techniques in
composition courses, consider spending 15-20 minutes demonstrating each at the
board. Some students will have forgotten the specifics of invention techniques,
and others may not have learned them at all. Showing students how to use
invention techniques—spending no more than about five minutes with each
technique—can also reassure them that experienced writers actually use them.
Teaching Tip: Remind students that any time they face writer’s block, they can
return to one of the invention techniques to help them. Using invention
techniques is akin to a runner stretching before the race and stopping to stretch if
he or she gets a cramp along the way. Brainstorming, freewriting, clustering, and
talking to the audience are ways to “stretch” the brain.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
4-4
Module 04 - Planning, Writing, and Revising
What is revision? How do I do it? LO 4-4
Revision means “re-seeing” the document.
Students often confuse “revision” with “editing” and “proofreading.”
Revision means making changes that will better satisfy the writer’s
purposes and audience. Editing means making surface-level changes
that make the document grammatically correct. Proofreading means
checking to be sure the document is free from typographical errors.
Use PP 4-17 and PP4-18 to show these differences.
Students should plan on revising more than once, up to three times
when writing to a new audience or when solving a particularly difficult
problem. Therefore, it’s critical they build time into the writing process
for what may be substantial revision.
When revising, students should check for content and clarity,
organization and layout, style and tone, and flow.
In-Class Exercise: Have students spend 10-15 minutes individually reflecting on
their own writing. In particular, ask students to consider what processes they
use. Ask them where and when they write and for how long. Are they satisfied
with this approach? What could they do to improve it?
Teaching Tip: Remind students that revising may take more time than they have
taken to write documents in the past. However, many writers find it time well
spent because the documents they produce are better and more successful.
Sometimes students also believe that the more time they spend on a document,
the better it is automatically—students must remember that there is no
correlation between time and document quality. It’s how that time is spent that
affects the quality of the final product.
Can a grammar checker do my editing for me? LO 4-5
No. You have to decide whether to make each change.
Grammar checkers that come with many word processing programs
suggest possible errors but leave the final judgment up to the writer.
Therefore, students who indiscriminately use grammar checkers are
still likely to have errors in their documents (PP 4-21).
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
4-5
Module 04 - Planning, Writing, and Revising
Students should take time to learn common rules of grammar and also manually scan
documents for any errors. As Appendix 4-A shows, they should pay attention to
Sentence Structure
Subject–Verb and Noun–Pronoun Agreement
Punctuation
Word Usage
Spelling—including the spelling of names
Numbers
Editing should come after revision. There’s no point in fixing grammatical errors in
sentences that may be altered or cut.
Teaching Tip: If students have particular difficulty with grammar, have them
work with you during office hours or with your college or university writing
center starting early in the quarter or semester. Establish a routine for them so
that throughout the upcoming weeks, they can develop skills, rather than repeat
the same errors from document to document. While you should discuss grammar
issues in the classroom, students with significant problems will likely require
more individualized instruction, which can take time away from more rhetorical
issues of writing.
I spell-check. Do I still need to proofread? LO 4-5
Yes.
Proofreading is critical! Students who’ve become accustomed to using
a computer spell- checker often overlook the fact that spell-checkers
simply compare patterns of letters to determine if a word exists—
spell-checkers don’t decide whether the word is correctly used.
As PP 4-22 shows, to proofread:
Read once quickly for meaning to see
that nothing has been left out.
Read a second time slowly. When you
find an error, correct it and then reread the line for additional errors.
Read lines backwards or pages out of
order when you know the document well.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
4-6
Module 04 - Planning, Writing, and Revising
Revising after feedback LO 4-6
Feedback can provide writers with excellent information on how to
proceed with revision. But writers must first understand and agree with
it.
As PP 4-26 and PP 4-27 suggest, strategies for getting the most out of
feedback include:
When you get feedback that you understand and agree with,
make the change.
If you get feedback you don’t understand, ask for clarification.
Paraphrase.
Ask for more information.
Test your inference.
When you get feedback that you don’t agree with,
If it’s an issue of grammatical correctness, check this
book.
If it’s a matter of content, recognize that something about the draft isn’t as
good as it could be.
If the reader thinks a fact is wrong (and you know it’s right), show where the
fact came from.
If the reader suggests a change in wording you don’t like, try another option.
If the reader seems to have misunderstood or misread the text, think about
ways to make the meaning clearer.
How can I get better feedback? LO 4-6
Ask for the kind of feedback you need.
Getting better feedback can help to produce better documents. As PP
4-23 illustrates, cycling is when documents pass from person to person,
accumulating feedback at each stage. Poor feedback or inefficient
cycling can actually make writing the document more difficult. To
ensure getting good feedback, writers should be specific about what
aspects of the document they’d like comments about, as well as take the
feedback as constructive criticism.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
4-7
Module 04 - Planning, Writing, and Revising
Can I use form letters? LO 4-7
Yes. But make sure they’re good.
Fundamentally, there’s nothing wrong with form letters—except that most
are limited to very specific situations and fail in others (PP 4-25). Of more
use is boilerplate, or language that can be lifted from one document and
placed in another without change. Many contracts use boilerplate for
common legal issues and clauses because the language has been approved
by the legal department.
Care must be taken in using boilerplate. As Glenn Broadhead and Richard Freed point out
Using unrevised boilerplate can create a document with incompatible styles and
tones.
Form letters and boilerplate can encourage writers to see situations and audiences as
identical when in fact they differ.
Students should exercise good judgment when using form letters or boilerplate. Audiences
usually recognize flaws in each quickly. The time the writer initially saves in using a form
letter or boilerplate is quickly lost if another communication must be sent to correct problems
from the first.
In-Class Exercise: Have students bring in documents they believe are form
letters (e.g., credit card offers) and let them spend 10-15 minutes completing
Exercise 4.7 (p. 70). Have them identify specific language and document
features that suggest it is a form letter. How do they know? What is their
reaction? Would they purchase the product or service? Why or why not? Next,
let the students spend another 10 minutes revising these sections. Ask them to
share their revisions with the class.
How can I overcome writer’s block and procrastination? LO 4-8
Talk, participate, and practice. Reward yourself for activities that lead to writing.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
4-8
Module 04 - Planning, Writing, and Revising
Even accomplished writers get writer’s block or find themselves
procrastinating from time to time. As shown on PP 4-28, five actions
work best to overcome writer’s block:
Participate actively in the organization and the community.
Practice writing regularly and in moderation.
Learn as many strategies as you can.
Talk positively to yourself.
Talk about writing to other people.
Modifying behavior is the best way to avoid procrastination. As shown on PP 4-29, writers
should
Set a regular time to write.
Develop a ritual for writing.
Try freewriting.
Write down the thoughts and fears you have as you write.
Identify the problem that keeps you from writing.
Set modest goals and reward yourself for reaching them.
Last Word: Most large projects are simply a series of smaller and more
manageable tasks. Encourage students to think of planning, writing, and revising
in these terms. By following through, students are likely to discover the writing
process to be less daunting. Share with students Appendix 4-B, which gives a
thorough revision checklist for students to use.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
4-9
