Unit 19: Knowing Your Purpose for Writing

Introduction

Rarely does anyone write for professional reasons just for fun. There must always be a good reason for writing an email, filling out a work order, or composing a large market research report.  Knowing your reason for writing is essential to staying on track in the writing process.  Business communications has three main reasons: to inform, to persuade, and to communicate goodwill.

Whatever the purpose of your document, business writing is not intuitive.  Thus, the next four chapters will present a systematic plan for preparing business messages in the digital age: prewriting,  researching and drafting, what we’ll call the 3-Stage Writing Process. The process starts with knowing the purpose of the message, which will guide you towards writing an effective message in a document appropriate for the audience and occasion.

The Writing Process

Overview

The writing process follows a three-phase process: prewriting, researching and drafting.  The time you will spend in each phase will depend on the complexity of the problem, the purpose and the audience.  Business writing differs from other forms of writing.  Instead of long paragraphs that fully develop arguments, business writing is focused, clear and concise.  In the workplace, writing should be purposeful, economical, and reader-oriented.  Writing this way is a skill that takes time and practice to develop.  Carefully working through the Writing Process is the key to perfecting this skill.

Prewriting: Phase I of the writing process involves analyzing the audience.  Messages must provide receivers with the information they need or want to be informed or persuaded.  Anticipating audience reaction is also part of this phase: will the audience have a positive, negative, or neutral response to the message.
A writer must understand these factors and adapt the message to communicate clearly with the intended audience.

Researching: Phase II of the writing process involves researching, gathering information to inform and support your writing, and documenting your sources, all in a transparent and ethical manner.

Drafting:  Phase III of the writing process involves researching, organizing, and then drafting the message. It also includes editing, proofreading and evaluating the message to ensure the message accomplishes the goal of communication.  What information is most important to the receiver is at the heart of each part of this phase.  This phase in the writing process is critical to preparing a final document that meets audience needs.