Students Notes for ENG-2413 - Technical and Business Writing

(University of Sargodha)

Chapter 1:Writing for Readers

1. Academic, Public, and Work Communities
2. Analyzing Electronic Communities
3. Myths and Realities about Writing

1.Academic, Public, and Work Communities

The term community has two distinct commutative meanings: 1) Community can refer to a
usually small, social unit of any size that shares common values. The term can also refer to
the national community or international community, and 2) in biology, a community is a
group of interacting living organisms sharing a populated environment. However, Different
communities exhibit different characteristics and communication styles.

A community is not just a group of people bounded by a geographical links, such as a village,
settlement or district, but also includes those brought together by lifestyle, religion, hobby,
interest etc.A community group often pursues a common goal, concern or interest on an
entirely voluntary basis. In human communities, purpose, belief, resources, preferences,
needs, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the
identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness.

For example, the purpose of an Academic Community is to create, share and apply
knowledge. The primary activity in an academic community is learning. The hallmarks of
academic community are “intellectual inquiry, investigation, discovery, an open exchange of
ideas, and ethical behavior.” A university is an example of academic community. Being a
student of the university you are also member of an academic community. Similarly, all of
the people in a given location are an example of the public community.

People working in an organization can be called as Work Community.

2.Analyzing Electronic Communities

Since the beginning of the Internet, the concept of community has less geographical
limitation, as people can now gather virtually in an online community and share common
interests regardless of physical location. Prior to the internet, virtual communities (like social
or academic organizations) were far more limited by the constraints of available
communication and transportation technologies.

An Electronic Community, also called Virtual Community, is a social network of

individuals who interact through specific social media, potentially crossing geographical and
political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals.

Electronic communities all encourage interaction, sometimes focusing around a particular

interest or just to communicate. Some virtual communities do both. Community members are
 Students Notes for ENG-2413 - Technical and Business Writing
(University of Sargodha)

allowed to interact over a shared passion through various means: email groups, message
boards, Internet message boards,chat rooms, social networking sites, or virtual worlds. As the
traditional definition of a community is of geographically bounded entity (neighborhoods,
villages, etc.), so electronic or virtual communities are not communities under the original
definition. Some online communities are linked geographically, and are known as
community websites. However, if one considers communities to simply possess
boundaries of some sort between their members and non-members, then a electronic
community is certainly a community.

Electronic communities resemble real life communities in the sense that

they both provide support, information, friendship and acceptance
between strangers.

Electronic communities are used for a variety of social and professional groups; interactions
between community members vary from personal to purely formal. For example, an email
distribution list operates on an informational level. Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace are all
virtual communities. With these sites, one often creates a profile or account, and adds friends
or follows friends. This allows people to connect and look for support using the social
networking service as a gathering place. These websites often allow for people to keep up to
date with their friends and acquaintances’ activities without making much of an effort

Advantages of Internet Communities:

Internet communities offer the advantage of instant information exchange that is not possible
in a real-life community. This interaction allows people to engage in many activities from
their home, such as: shopping, paying bills, and searching for specific information. Users of
online communities also have access to thousands of specific discussion groups where they
can form specialized relationships and access information in such categories as: politics,
technical assistance, social activities, health (see above) and recreational pleasures.

Virtual communities provide an ideal medium for these types of relationships because
information can easily be posted and response times can be very fast. Another benefit is that
these types of communities can give users a feeling of membership and belonging. Users can
give and receive support, and it is simple and cheap to use.

Economically, electronic communities can be commercially successful, making money

through membership fees, subscriptions, usage fees, and advertising commission. Consumers
generally feel very comfortable making transactions online provided that the seller has a good
reputation throughout the community.

Virtual communities also provide the advantage of disintermediation in commercial

transactions, which eliminates vendors and connects buyers directly to suppliers.
Disintermediation eliminates pricey mark-ups and allows for a more direct line of contact
between the consumer and the manufacturer. While instant communication means fast access,
it also means that information is posted without being reviewed for correctness. It is difficult
to choose reliable sources because there is no editor who reviews each post and makes sure it
is up to a certain degree of quality. Everything comes from the writer with no filter in
between.
 Students Notes for ENG-2413 - Technical and Business Writing
(University of Sargodha)

3. Myths and Realities about Writing

Writing is often perceived as one of life's secret realms entered by only a privileged few.
Frequently we discover worthy writers who protect their interests by giving the impression
that to be a first-class writer you must analyze the mechanics of English for a good many
years and only after painstaking study will one be able to master the art. Here we will discuss
some of the Myths and Realities of Writing Well and Great Writing

Myth: Writing well is a gift.

Reality: Writing well is a learned skill.

Many people believe that great writers are born, not made – a most unfortunate
misconception. Throughout elementary, middle, and high school, students are taught to write
through a structured process. With consistent formal instruction, extensive practice, and
helpful feedback, most students can become proficient writers.

Myth: Writing well is often thought of as a single special skill.

Reality: Writing well is the cumulative outcome of mastering a large number of skills.

Good writing starts with a student having a clear idea of what they want to say and the type of
writing they need to use. Many times students are given a writing prompt from which to
begin the writing process. Are they trying to inform (expository writing), persuade
(persuasive writing), narrate (narrative writing), document research (research reports), or
report (journalistic writing)? When they write, students need to apply grammar and
vocabulary skills. They need to organize their paragraphs around a single thought, to organize
an essay around a collection of tightly organized ideas, and to structure an essay that succeeds
in purposeful communication. Successfully writing an essay demonstrates mastery of all these
skills and the ability to use them all together.

Myth: There is a single writing process that all students should follow.
Reality: Most students follow the writing process in their own unique way.

This myth might come from confusion over the teaching of the writing process.
Time4Writing teaches a writing process that consists of pre-writing, writing, revising,
proofreading, and publishing. Formally learning and using the steps is a reliable technique to
create quality writing. In reality, most students adapt these steps in a way that works best for
their individual learning style. For instance, many students find it easier to brainstorm as they
write, especially since word processors make it easy to reorganize their thoughts. Then, after
writing the first draft, they will create an outline to tighten the essay structure and start editing
and revising based on that structure.

Myth: Brilliant writing and story-telling is probably teachable.

Reality: This one is debatable. Many great writers share some common traits that come
from within and simply cannot be taught.

The most common characteristic of great writers seems to be that early on, they start to read
differently than the rest of us. It’s often been observed that the people who grow up to be
writers start studying the writing craft on their own. Not only are they voracious readers, but
they also tend to be intrigued by how authors put stories together. Do they use short or long
 Students Notes for ENG-2413 - Technical and Business Writing
(University of Sargodha)

sentences? Lots of details and modifiers or are they concise and matter-of-fact? How do they
handle point of view and what insights do they provide into characters? There is some
interesting literature on “reading like a writer.” And while these skills of analyzing an
author’s style and technique can be taught, most authors explain that they started down this
path on their own.

While your child might not become the next Shakespeare, the bottom line is that anyone can
learn to become a good writer. From their first sentences to complex essays, children can
hone their writing skills throughout the years. All it takes is a little motivation and lots of
practice.

Here are some other myths about writing Adapted fromFrank Smith (1983)

Myth: Writing is for the transmission of information.

Reality: While in the end the writing may convey information, it’s major function is to
explore ideas. The danger of the information-transmission myth is that it focuses on how texts
are presented from the point of view of the reader rather than on what the act of writing can
accomplish for the developing thought of the writer. The writer is overlooked.

Myth: Writing is for communication.

Reality:The writer is always the FIRST reader and may often be the only reader.

Myth: Writing involves transferring thoughts from the mind to paper.

Reality: Thoughts are created in the act of writing, which changes the writer and changes the
emerging text.

Myth: Writing is permanent.

Reality: Speech, once uttered, can rarely be revised; writing can be reflected upon, altered,
and even erased at will.

Myth: Writing is a linear process.

Reality: Writing can be done in several places and directions concurrently and is as easily
manipulated in space as it is in time. Texts can be constructed from writing done on separate
pieces of paper; words, sentences, paragraphs, whole sections can be shuffled into different
sequences. Writing is recursive.

Myth: Writing is speech plus spelling and punctuation.

Reality: Every kind of writing has its own conventions of form and expression quite different
from speech. Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing, indentation, word-dividing,
layout, and so forth, are necessary aspects of transcription necessary to make written
language readable for readers. For all writers, undue concern with transcription can interfere
with the exploratory aspects of writing.

Myth: You must have something to say in order to write.

Reality: We need to write in order to have anything to say! Thought comes with writing, and
writing may never come if it is postponed until we are satisfied we have something to say.
Write first, see what you had to say later.
 Students Notes for ENG-2413 - Technical and Business Writing
(University of Sargodha)

Myth: Writing should be easy.

Reality: Writing is often hard work—it requires concentration, physical effort, and a
tolerance for frustration and disappointment.

Myth: Writing should be right the first time.

Reality: Writing generally requires many drafts and revisions to get ideas into a form that
satisfies the writer. A separate editorial polishing is required to make any text appropriate for
another reader.

Myth: Writing should be unambiguous.

Reality: There is no way writing can be unambiguous. “The” meaning of a text is not
embedded in the words on the page but constructed by readers. The sense a reader constructs
depends on what the reader knows and brings to the text. There is no way for any writer to
know exactly what any reader brings to a text.

Myth: Writing can be done to order.

Reality:Writing is most often reluctant to come when it is most urgently required, yet quite
likely to begin to flow at inconvenient or impossible times.

Myth: A fixed period of “prewriting” should precede composing.

Reality: Writing involves a lifetime of preparation—of experience, reading, reflecting and
arguing. It is only from a transcription point of view that an author can say that work began
on a particular text at a particular time. In fact, writing itself can be prewriting. As we draft
one part of a text, we reflect on what we might write next or on what we have written already.

Myth: Writing is a solitary activity.

Reality: Writing often requires other people to stimulate discussion, to listen to choice
phrases, to provide feedback of various kinds.

Myth: Writing is a tidy activity.

Reality: Writing is messy; it spreads itself all over the writing surface, in many different files.

Myth: Writing should be the same for everyone.

Reality: Each of us develops an idiosyncratic set of strategies we’re comfortable with and
that work for us.