Have you ever stopped and thought about how writers come up with the ideas that they write about? Did they see something in real life that made them write that? What strategies did they use? All of these questions can be explained in chapter seven. This chapter recognizes all the techniques that writers use when coming up with ideas. It discusses how they explore, plan and draft documents, presentations, and visuals. Figure 7.1 on page 229 shows a great example of what questions you need to ask yourself when planning a document. After you have chosen a path to take in planning, you need to then starting asking yourself certain questions. The text then refers at this time to start brainstorming and thinking about the 5 W’s (who, what, when, where, why, and how). Along with these practices, others are referenced as well. Cause and effect analysis and synectics are amongst other procedures you need to think of while planning. Synectics is bringing together diverse people and ideas. Why do projects fail? One of the biggest reasons that projects fail are because of insufficient project planning. In order not to have insufficient project planning, companies turn to different management tools. These tools are a lot more when done with team collaboration so different ideas are brought together. One of the most difficult things when planning a project is making that the project will be logical. To make sure that the project, one must think about the questions that will come with the project. There are many questions or problems that shall arise when presenting your project. The text refers to some of these problems that need to be recognized as; using data from authorities, presenting facts without drawing inferences, drawing inferences, and establishing causal relationships. When speaking to an audience, you need to establish a relationship and make sure they do not become misled. Your audience can be misled by several kinds of poorly drawn causal relationships, including a condition not being sufficient cause, variables not being correlated. Density is one thing one must learn to keep while communicating. When communicating, make sure that you never pack all of your ideas to tightly. It may have an appropriate structure and focus on one topic, but the connections may be too obscured if packed to tightly together. Use headings and subheadings to identify key sections and illustrate objects and concepts to aid understanding to avoid density.
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Last year I worked as an intern for The Arc of MN Southwest in Mankato. It is an awesome organization geared towards helping people with developmental disabilities. The most interesting feature of The Arc is what differentiates them from other non-profit organizations. They have an amazing mission to provide and teach self-advocacy for everyone and anyone who wants to be involved. It is absolutely an empowering experience. Throughout the year I worked on several projects and events for the self-advocates that would be both fun and beneficial. One of my big projects was to plan, organize, and implement a leadership conference. I had to brainstorm where it was going to be held, work out the catering details, line up keynote speakers…etc. I definitely learned about problem-solving strategies as I attempted to navigate my way through overwhelming tasks. We spent a lot of time brainstorming and planning out numerous details to help ensure a successful event. I worked with my advisor on finalizing the details and it was so rewarding to see it all come together in the end.
It is very important to be organized when writing up a document. If you don’t have any plan or ideas of what your document will be about, it will more than likely be misleading and confusing to the readers. Before I write papers I ask myself the five W's. This enables me to get an idea of where I want to go with the story and what I want it to be about. I usually gain my ideas from something that has happened in my life. This is just easier for me than to come up with something from scratch. Having a set structure for a document is also very helpful. When a writer uses headings and subheadings it makes it easier to navigate and understand the document. By using headings, the reader gets a perception in their mind of what the following passage is going to be about. This enables the reader to better understand what they are reading.
This chapter gave a lot of great ideas on preparing a document. Brainstorming is a technique that I use a lot when preparing papers or projects. I like to come up with many different ideas and then go through those ideas to figure out what I know the most about or what I have the most information on, which then makes it easier to prepare that paper or document. I really like the 5 W's + H. I think it is a great strategy and I will consider using it the next I am involved in a project or plan. It is also a good idea to have plans on preparing documents or projects. It is good to be organized and I think it saves time when things are planned out. But I also think it's important to know that if things do not go as planned, that it will be okay. There may be times when a new plan will have to be made, in place of the old one.
If you have a big project or document you need do, it's a good idea to get started as soon as possible. Procrastination can definitely hurt the quality of the document especially if there are deadlines to be met. Brainstorming and the 5Ws plus H are proven problem-solving ways to get going. I like the idea of adding diverse people and their ideas to the process. Specializing in certain areas is becoming more common in a lot of fields so involving more diverse people will add different perspectives that may otherwise have been left out.
Having a plan of what you are trying to write is a good idea but, at the same time I think it depends what you are writing about. If you are writing a story say, I think it would be a good idea not to have everything figured out. Leave your mind wonder and you never know maybe you'll come up with something. I know if time is an issue it would be a great idea to have it all worked out or at least have an idea what your trying to tell an adiance.
I had heard of the 5 Ws + H. I liked how this chapter tied into chapter 1 with the rhetorical elements. In the sidebar on page 239, it talks about if you are willing to take responsibility for something you say in private, but not publicly that can be viewed as unethical. I found that quite interesting and I had never really thought about that. I had then went trap shooting the next day and hear a bunch of people complaining that they need to have the trap shooting party more often, but no one ever does anything about it.
I thought this chapter was very interesting because it deals with ways for organization and problem solving. Me being an engineer, it is quite important to be organized in everything I do. We may not use the 5 W's plus H method, however we learn how to go about becoming a problem solver for any situation. When we write big technical reports however, this idea of organization would be a very important tool towards a quick and efficient report/presentation. Knowing how to be organized and brainstorm for a report or presentation properly is a very useful skill. Also, brainstorming with more people will also assist in creating more ideas that can be used. I think that planning is essential to the success of a group and to be organized will help someone accomplish a task more efficiently, confidently, and quickly.
Planning can make or break a project. Procastinating doesn't get things done (however i'm still guilty of it ><).
I'll have to try the 5Ws+H the next time i'm working on a document/presentation, i think it'll help me get all the necessary info across in an orderly manner.
I was up in the cities this past Friday, visiting one of my potential employers. They showed me about 6 or 7 positions that I might potentially be working in. One of the positions was a project manager. However, in this company, an entry level project manager is more like a project organizer. The undecided project manager will have to read software requirements, provide project estimations and write a lot (A LOT) of paper regarding the software. This chapter would be really helpful to me if I happen to work in a job and a position like that. A lot of brainstorming would be required. I am a guy who likes to plan way ahead of time, even if it's only in my head. The tips and techniques described in Ch. 7 are awesome, and I couldn't have read it in a better time!
Planning can make or break a project. Procastinating doesn't get things done (however i'm still guilty of it ><).
I'll have to try the 5Ws+H the next time i'm working on a document/presentation, i think it'll help me get all the necessary info across in an orderly manner.
Good chapter. I like the idea of team collaboration starting in the planning process of teh project rather than everyone starting in their own direction and then trying to synchronize. This can be hugely important to getting off on the right foot when starting a collaborative project.
As I was reading this chapter, I recognized that I use many of the strategies discussed but I was pleased to find a few hints that should help me in the future. I thought your summary was very well done and highlighted the good points that were made.
You covered the chapter well. I agree that having a plan is necessary for writing any tech. info.
Making sure that you plan ahead is essential to the success of your project. The 5 W's + H are a great way to keep focused on what needs to be accomplished.
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