Toolkit
map: Toolkit for effective and powerful writing
Welcome to the basics for writing effectively and
powerfully. We hope you will pick up many useful tips and tools, as well as
affirm the techniques you already use in your writing. We hope in this way that
the toolkit will help you to write more effectively for your organisations, and
in your personal lives.
Our aim is to help civil society organisations build
their capacity and communication skills. We hope in some way this toolkit will
help your organisation achieve its goals for greater justice nationally,
regionally and globally.
Toolkit
map: Toolkit for effective and powerful writing
This
site offers valuable tips and tools for both inexperienced and experienced
writers. Anyone who is interested in strengthening the effectiveness and power
of their writing should find this site useful. Our focus is on writing in and
for civil society organisations so that people working for such organisations
will hopefully benefit, and their organisational work will be strengthened
through using the tools on offer.
This
site is rich in tips, tools and examples for effective writing.
Its
intention is to take you on a writing process journey from originating ideas
through writing drafts and finally to editing your document.
On
this site you will find:
§
Know why you
are writing
This part invites you to ask some
basic questions about your writing task before you start. It encourages you to
think about your reasons for writing, and what you are going to produce.
§
How to get
started
People often stare at a blank page
or screen for ages before they start writing. There can be a feeling that you
have to write it “properly” straightaway. But this is a very sterile way of
starting. This section offers tools for getting started that tap into and
unlock your creativity and powerful ideas. We look at the value of thinking,
talking and reading before writing. And at journal writing, freewriting, and
mindmaps. We offer you some thoughts and tips on writing.
§
Researching your topic
It is important to be well informed
about your topic, and to gather information for what you are doing. This
section offers you some thoughts on gathering information, using people as a
resource, using the Internet, checking facts, and acknowledgements and
copyright.
§
Your audience
The people who will read what you
have written (or listen to your presentation or speech) are probably the most
important part of your pre-writing thinking. If you do not tune into them your
message may miss its mark. We offer you some questions to think about to do
with your audience, and then an audience analysis tool to use.
§
The writing process
We often write something without
thinking about all the elements that make up the task. Being aware of the
writing process keeps you on track, and goes together with a schedule to
follow. We offer you a planning tool. In this section we also look at introductions
and conclusions.
§
Dealing with blocks
It is common to panic and feel
unable to write. There are some techniques that can help you overcome these
hurdles.
§
Writing an outline
When you have become clear about
what you want to write about, and have organised your thoughts, it is time to
write an outline.
§
Making an argument
A fair amount of our writing in
civil society organisations involves writing to change something – attitudes,
behaviour, policies or laws. Here we look at tips on making an argument to win
it.
§
Getting feedback
Getting feedback during the early
stages of the writing process is something many of us do not think of doing.
Yet it can strengthen your piece of writing so vitally. This section looks at
criterion-based feedback and reader-based feedback.
§
Editing for effectiveness
Many of us pass our work onto
someone else to edit when we feel we have finished writing it. But editing is
something a writer should do for him or herself before handing over to someone
else. This way, you have more control over your writing. This section looks at
the writer becoming an editor of his or her own work, and at simple techniques
for editing to make your work more powerful.
Before you start the actual formal
writing, it helps to think about and identify why you are writing something,
and what you are writing.
Before you start writing a draft,
think and scribble around answering these questions:
You can use the freewriting tool
included in this toolkit during your thinking time.
Answering these questions will help
you to be clearer, more confident and quicker in your writing process.
What is your objective with your
writing? What do you want to achieve? What do you hope your audience or reader
will think, feel, know or do afterwards?
We write for many reasons. It is
good to identify a main objective. Sometimes we have additional objectives. But
if you have too many, you may weaken your piece of writing by trying to achieve
too many things at once. Your audience can end up feeling overloaded and
confused if your objective is not clear, or there are too many.
Be able to let go of some secondary
objectives – you can tell yourself to hold them for another publication or
piece of writing so you can come back to them another time.
So why do people write?
People write, amongst other reasons,
to:
§
advocate
§
agitate
§
educate
§
entertain
§
evoke certain emotions
§
debate
§
inform
§
lobby
§
mobilise
§
persuade
§
plan
§
promote particular action
§
strategise
§
raise awareness
§
train
§
win an argument
What have your written in your
organisation? You can probably think of many different types of writing. They
could include:
o
applications
o
badges (See our toolkit Producing
your own media)
o
banners (See our toolkit Producing
your own media)
o
conditions of service
o
e-mail messages (See our toolkit Writings
within your organisation)
o
fax messages (See our toolkit Writings
within your organisation)
o
graffiti (See our toolkit Producing
your own media)
o
letters (See our toolkit Writings
within your organisation)
o
lists
o
memos (See our toolkit Writings
within your organisation)
o
minutes (See our toolkit Writings
within your organisation)
o
notices
o
opinion pieces
o
pamphlets (See our toolkit Producing
your own media)
o
posters (See our toolkit Producing
your own media)
o
presentations (See our toolkit Producing
your own media)
o
press statements (See our toolkit Handling
the media)
o
responses
o
stickers (See our toolkit Producing
your own media)
o
summaries
o
web site information
o
appraisals
o
arguments
o
articles
o
booklets
o
case studies
o
evaluations
o
funding proposals (See our toolkit Writing
a funding proposal)
o
newsletters (See our toolkit Producing
your own media)
o
planning documents (See our toolkits Overview
of planning, Strategic planning, Action planning, and monitoring and evaluation)
o
policy
o
reports of different kinds (See our toolkit Writings within your organisation)
o
reviews
o
speeches (See our toolkit Promoting
your organisation)
o
stories (See our toolkit Producing
your own media)
o
strategy documents
o
training materials
Your objective, what your writing is
finally produced as, and who you are writing for go hand in hand. For example,
a slogan from your policy recommendations like give us back our land! could fit on a T-shirt that members of the
community wear. But your slogan on a T-shirt cannot replace your detailed and
considered policy recommendations from indigenous people reclaiming ancestral
land. This probably needs to be produced as a policy paper or booklet aimed at
government.
Too often we sit down to write and
stare at a blank page or computer screen. Or we try to start writing a first
draft straightaway. It takes us ages because we try to make it perfect before
we have even planned it.
Starting off with some thinking
tools encourages and unlocks your creative and original ideas, helps with
planning your piece of writing.
Here are some ideas:
o
Use mindmaps. A mindmap is a thinking tool. It
helps to generate ideas, prioritise and lay the foundation for the rest of your
writing process.
It helps to focus your thoughts and
to speed up the writing process if you allocate time before you start writing
to think about it, read on your topic (if necessary, see Researching your topic in latter section of this toolkit), and talk
to other people about what you have to write. It is an important part of the
writing process because it creates fertile ground for when you come to write
your first draft. You will find ideas come faster, stronger, and with more
confidence.
A journal is a book. You could buy
one or make one by binding paper together. A good handy size is an A5 because
it is easy to carry around.
Like any other skill, the more you
write the better you get at it. A journal is a good thing to have on hand
because it gives you an on-going place to write. It does not matter what you
write about so long as you keep practising writing.
Some people like to keep their
journals private. Some people like to share some of their pieces of writing.
But the most important thing about a journal is that it is your place for reflecting.
So it is important that you use it to express yourself freely.
Journals can be:
Freewriting is a tool to use at the
beginning of your writing process, and at points where you have blocks, or need
to think out something. Freewriting is private writing. You write only for
yourself.
When you follow the freewriting
rules you use the “right side” of your brain. This is the hemisphere that is
predominantly spontaneous, that dreams, is creative, and asks the kind of
question what if…?
It can give you a sense of relief to
use a writing and thinking tool that offers space for this.
When you freewrite you throw away
the grammar book and dictionary. You concentrate on writing without boundaries.
You reap original and powerful thoughts unhindered by editing concerns because
you forge the link between thinking and writing.
Freewriting has many uses. Because
you write only for yourself, it helps you to build confidence, unlock
creativity, get rid of your internal censor and editor, capture your first
thoughts, get a flow going, and remove writing blocks. It offers your genius a
chance to visit. Surprisingly however, to use freewriting to its best effect,
you need to follow some rules!
1.
Keep your hand moving. (Don’t pause to reread
the line you have just written. That’s stalling and trying to get control of
what you’re saying.)
2.
Don’t cross out. (That is editing as you
write. Even if you write something you didn’t mean to write, leave it.)
3.
Don’t worry about spelling,
punctuation, grammar. (Don’t even care about staying within the margins and lines
on the page.)
4.
Lose control.
5.
Don’t think. Don’t get logical.
6.
Go for the jugular. (If something comes up in
your writing that is scary or naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots
of energy.)
From Natalie Goldberg’s
book Writing Down the Bones, Page 8. Published by Shambhala, 1986.
You need:
§
paper to write on and a good smooth pencil or
pen (a journal is even better to do all your freewriting and other thinking in)
§
to set yourself a topic for your freewrite
Let’s say you are a member of a
women’s co-operative and you have to write an evaluation of how it did last
year.
You could use the topic last year the women’s co-operative did well
because …. And write on that for fifteen minutes (or more).
Then you could turn the topic over
and write about last year the women’s
co-operative did poorly because …. And write on that for fifteen minutes.
By the end of this freewriting you
probably would have captured a lot of ideas and reflections that can later be
reworked into drafts and your final evaluation.
You might then talk with women at
the co-operative about some of the thoughts that came up with your freewriting.
And you could read previous years’ reports. From this time of planting idea
seeds and reaping new thoughts and ideas, you could go on to writing a first
draft.
The freewriting tool can be used in
your organisation to think through all kinds of issues. At the beginning of a
meeting you can suggest a five or ten minute freewrite to help people reflect
on an organisational problem you have to solve. Because freewriting is private
writing you would not ask people to read out what they have written. You could
ask people to share the most important thoughts that freewriting prompted for
them.
Let us say that your organisation
needs to hire a director. You want staff to think about what kind of person you
need, and what kind of skills the person should have.
Your freewriting topic for staff at
a meeting to discuss the issue could be: we
need a director who is…(write for ten minutes)
You could follow that up with our director needs to be skilled at…(write
for ten minutes)
Then, even but the most important skills are… (three minutes)
Mindmaps
Mindmaps
are an important way to get started on a writing project. When you do a
mindmap, you are promoting radiant and spontaneous thinking. Mindmaps help you
generate connections around your topic, so that your writing is fresh, and has
depth and originality.
Mindmaps
help you to prioritise, organise and structure your writing. After you have
drawn a mindmap, your draft writing should come quickly and smoothly. This is
because you can use it in a relaxed, creative and fruitful way to generate lots
of connections to your topic before attempting to write a first draft.
The
technique is very simple. Start off with putting your topic in the middle of a
bubble or egg-shape, and then work from there. Here is an example of starting
off.
And
then create as many connections as you can to the topic.
You
can use your mindmap in a work-in-progress way. If you do it on a large sheet
of paper (you can always join a few smaller bits together) then you can stick
it up on the wall of a room and keep adding ideas throughout your writing
project.
Along
with many other people, Tony and Barry Buzan have published valuable work
around mindmaps. You will find their reference in the acknowledgements and
resources part of this toolkit. They recommend that you use different colours
and draw when you create your mindmap. You can use colour as a way of distinguishing
connections, prioritising and ordering your thoughts. The visual is very
powerful.
To
find out more about mindmapping, you can go onto the Internet, and use a search
engine and your key word mindmaps to
find a vast reservoir of links to further readings.
A
mindmap is a thinking tool. It helps you to come up with wide and rich
connections to your topic. The technique is nonjudgemental, so you don’t reject
or censor ideas that come. This allows your mind to be creative and make both
obvious and powerful new and original connections to your topic, and enhances
participation and teamwork.
You
can do a mindmap on your own or in a group. Both ways are very fruitful and
help you complete your writing project more quickly. A group mindmap usually
throws up a wider range of connections to your topic.
Whichever
way you work, on your own or in a group, remember:
§
Do not judge connections that are made – the
purpose is to get all ideas down. An idea that may seem silly or not
“politically correct” at first response may have a lot of potential.
§
Be relaxed.
§
Be encouraging.
§
Prompt deeper connections by asking questions.
As
a connection to the topic in the middle of your mindmap comes up, ask questions
to both expand, radiate from, and deepen the connection. Once your mindmap is
completed you can then decide what to prioritise, what to put on hold, and what
to trash.
Use
the basic journalist questions to grow your mindmap:
§
Why?
§
What?
§
When?
§
Where?
§
Which?
§
Who?
§
How?
Other
questions extend from these, like:
§
What are the implications of this?
§
Where can I get more information?
§
What resources do I need to achieve this?
§
Who can help?
Come
up with your own questions as you go.
Your
mindmap will help you to prioritise, organise and structure your ideas and your
piece of writing.
So,
using the example on setting up a campaign on government corruption, the writer
would:
§
Decide what needs to be explored in more detail
– and maybe put our media campaign into
a new bubble and work at it in more detail. Very often, one needs to do this
for a big piece of writing, or a large project, like a media campaign,
strategic planning, or book.
§
Prioritise the ideas. Decide what is the most
important connection, and which connections, if any, could be put on hold or
trashed.
§
Start to organise ideas into a structure.
§
Write an outline, if you feel ready.
§
Write a first draft.
Think
of something that you need to work on. It could be anything from a report, an
article, or letter, to your organisational restructuring. Put your topic into a
bubble, and start making the connections. Work from your mindmap, prioritise,
organise into a structure, and write a first draft.
Think
about the different situations in your organisation where you could suggest
using mindmaps. For example:
§
when doing strategic planning
§
finding solutions to a problem
§
planning a campaign
§
writing a response to a newspaper article
§
recruitment strategy
What
else can you think of?
§
Don’t get stuck in a style – use different styles of writing for
different projects.
§
If people give you positive feedback on your
writing, and they can back up what they say with examples from your work,
believe them.
§
Invest in a touch-typing course. You can probably do two hours a day for
a month and then, with practice, you are liberated from having to think
thought-by-thought and key-by-key. You will become more productive to yourself
and your organisation.
§
Some computer programmes highlight in red and green underlining what
they consider to be your spelling and grammar errors. It can be very
distracting – making you aware of being an editor at a time when you need to be
a writer. At a time when you need to concentrate on your ideas, not on your
grammar. You can switch off that grammar and spelling whilst you are writing.
You put it on again for when you need to edit.
When
you are writing about a topic you know well you will probably be able to write
fairly quickly and easily. But whether you know your topic well or not, it is
always important to ask whether you need to do some research to strengthen the
quality of your work. Research can be quick and easy to do – and stimulating
and fun.
First,
develop a plan before you start gathering information. This makes your task
quicker and more effective. When you plan you decide what you are doing, why
you are doing it, what you need to know, how you will do it, and when you have
to do it by.
Then
you are ready to start gathering information because you have a clear plan with
deadlines to guide you. Even if you do know your subject well, it is always
good to ask yourself whether there is something you should read as part of your
writing preparation. Do you need to do some research?
There
is usually something new on most subjects – especially with the Internet.
Up-to-date information strengthens a piece of writing, offering your reader
something new, interesting and challenging to think about.
Do
your homework by reading and using other ways to deepen your understanding of
the context around your topic. First develop a broad understanding, and then
later go into depth.
Where
can you find information? Well, it depends where you live, what is available,
and what technology you have access to. Here is a list just to remind you of
the range of places and resources you can use to strengthen and enrich your
final piece of writing.
§
yourself
§
other people
§
books
§
magazines
§
newspapers
§
programmes – on radio, television
§
resource centres
§
libraries
§
videos
§
organisations
§
networks
§
the Internet
…amongst
others.
As
you do your research, make detailed, accurate notes of where you get your
information. You may find that you need to acknowledge the source of an idea or
information, by referencing it.
Depending
on your source, and what kind of publication you are writing for, this could
include needing to note:
§
author
§
title of book, article, policy, etc.
§
name of publication, e.g. book, magazine, journal
§
name of publisher
§
date of publication
§
country of publication
§
page number
§
title of a chapter in an edited book
§
web site address, and the date you visited it
Obviously
academic work has its own very formal referencing requirements. But popular
campaign pamphlets would be off-putting if they were heavily referenced. But if
you are writing a policy paper, then referencing is very important.
If
you quote someone, you should acknowledge the source of the quote.
If
you present someone else’s ideas, words, facts or opinions as if they were
yours, then you are guilty of plagiarism. It is seen as stealing. You need to
acknowledge the source. But if something is common knowledge or general
information, then it is not plagiarism. Create a piece of writing that has your
original thinking – and refer to and acknowledge when you are drawing on the
ideas of others.
When
you reference, you are acknowledging the ideas and work of others. And you are
letting the reader know where they can find out more, if they want to follow up
a reference.
If
you give inaccurate information, you will lose credibility. So, do not always
take at face value facts that people, or other sources offer. Try and find a
way of cross-checking important facts. Do this by finding another source of
information, using institutions that store statistical or other information,
newspaper libraries, and experts, amongst others. If you find different sources
give different facts, then work out a way of reflecting this.
For
example, if one source says 5 million adults in a particular country are
unemployed and another says 10 million adults are unemployed, you have a
problem. Reflect on the reliability (and motives perhaps) of your different
sources. They both can’t be right. Try and find another source of information.
You may end up having to say “there are between 5 and 10 million unemployed
adults”. Or say that, “The government says there are 5 million unemployed
adults. But the trade union movement says the figure is closer to 10 million.”
When
you use information or images directly from another source, like from a book,
it is important to see whether that book (or whatever it is) is copyrighted.
Most are. If there is a copyright, you can find out from the source who holds
the copyright, and get permission to use what it is you want to copy. If there
is no copyright, you can use it directly without having to ask. Just
acknowledge the source.
People
can be invaluable in helping to make what you write lively, interesting and
relevant. Sometimes you may not even think it necessary to talk with people
about your topic. But be creative. Listen to what others have to say on it.
Everyone has their own perspective on things.
Network
and grow your contacts. For example, you may be able to draw on people in your
community and organisation, experts in the field you are writing about. Find
people who have resources or ideas about your topic. Find people who have been
through an experience related to your topic. Talk to children and youth
affected in some way, or other people who are marginalised. There are lots of
possibilities. Have a brainstorm and think creatively about it.
§
Before you contact anybody, be clear about what you want to find out.
This should be written into a brief that includes your objective, your focus,
what you are writing, for whom you are writing, where it will be written, and
when it will be published.
§
Prepare your questions beforehand.
§
Know why you are contacting a particular person. Also, know their title,
for example chairperson of an organisation.
§
Remember whoever you talk to will have a particular perspective and
viewpoint on your topic. Depending on what you are writing about and for, you
may need to talk to people from different perspectives.
§
It is important to cross-check information, and to separate opinion from
fact. Even the same facts, like statistics, can be interpreted in different
ways, depending on what people want to do with them!
§
Ask people if they know of any other contacts for your topic, and about
other resources, like people, books, journals, articles, non-governmental – and
other institutions or organisations, resource centres, web sites – and any
source for more information. Be like a detective!
§
Take detailed and accurate notes when people offer you information. This
can help when you are introducing yourself to a new contact. And it is a vital
way of building up your information on your topic. So, for example, keep accurate
notes about who said what on your topic.
§
If you want to quote a person in an interview for a story, then tell the
person that is what you want to do. This means you have to take accurate notes
of exactly what the person said, and use his or her exact words in quotes, or
summarise accurately what they said in paraphrasing.
The
Internet is an electronic source of information and communication, and a very
exciting tool for us to use. It works using a computer with a modem and a
telephone line to link to the Internet. You can communicate with people via
electronic mail (e-mail) and you can use the World Wide Web to connect to Web
sites. A Web site address starts with www which comes from the full name World
Wide Web. So, for example, Civicus’ Web site address is www.civicus.org
You
can access a phenomenal variety, quantity and quality of information through
the Internet. You can find out more about organisations, institutions,
companies, and government departments that have put up Web sites on the
Internet. There are search engines on the Internet you can use to find sources
of information on your topic. The search engine Google is highly recommended
because it works extremely well. When you use a search engine, try to narrow
down what you ask it to look for. For example, if you want to write a speech
about child abuse in schools in a particular country, then use key words to
narrow down the search. If you were just to put in the words child abuse you would have literally
thousands of sources to choose from.
Key words could be “child abuse” “schools” or “Australia.”
Along
with all its value however, has come the danger of being overwhelmed by the
volume of options and information you can pursue on the Internet. You can end
up spending many more hours than you need to surf the Internet.
§
Go on a short course to help you to understand the Internet world, and
how to navigate it.
§
Remember you can use the Internet at any time of day or night.
§
If money is a constraint for your organisation, try to use the Internet
during low rate telecommunication time.
§
Be aware that in as much as there are excellent Web sites, there are
also ones that are of a poor quality.
§
Be clear about what you are looking for – define it.
§
Be disciplined in keeping to your objective – it can even help to give
yourself a set time for your Internet work.
§
Don’t get drowned in all the information – keep to your focus and search
for what will help you achieve your objective.
§
Make an accurate note of which Web sites you use so that you can
acknowledge them if you quote directly from them. It also makes it easier to
find them again when you need to.
§
Add sites that are very useful to you to your “favourites” file, so that
you can easily get back to them another time.
A
mistake many of us make is to write without analysing who we are writing for.
It is almost as if we write in a one-sided way. Writing is two-sided, the
writer and the reader, or readers.
You
usually have different readers – audiences – for different pieces of writing. A
letter, for example, could be for one reader. A pamphlet mobilising masses of
people around anti-war or anti-globalisation protests, on the other hand, would
have a vast range of readers. There would be great diversity within the
audience. It is important to unpack this diversity so you write effectively and
reach your objective in your writing.
Knowing
whom you are going to write for is vitally important. It helps you to decide:
§
what to keep in
§
what to leave out
§
what style to write in
§
what language to write in
§
what tone to write in
§
what form to produce your writing in
Think
of your community. Jot down a list of what different members of your community
have in common and what makes them different.
This
helps you to tune into the idea of pitching your writing to reach your
objective. If, for example, you are writing a pamphlet that has as its
objective to raise awareness around rape you may need to write differently for
teenagers and older people. You may also need to write differently for girls
and boys, women and men.
Diversity
could include:
§
age
§
class
§
disability
§
gender
§
race
§
ethnicity
§
education
§
attitudes
§
beliefs and values
§
culture
§
traditions
§
language
§
power of different kinds
§
ideology
§
faith
§
where people live
§
knowledge about your subject
Here
are some basic steps leading up to using an audience analysis tool.
Make
a list of which categories of people, including individuals, are part of your
audience.
For
example, you could be writing a pamphlet to mobilise a poor community around
boycotting a local shop that adds far too much of a mark-up onto its items.
Your audience list might include:
§
members of the community
§
shop owners
§
shoppers
§
leadership – religious, schools, organisations, local government
§
youth
Ask
yourself which of all the categories and individuals you are mainly writing
for. You need to be firm when you do this. From the boycott example above, you
might decide that shoppers are your main (your primary) audience for this
pamphlet.
Then
you can decide who your secondary audience is, and who your tertiary (third
most important) audience is.
Once
you have chosen your primary audience, it is useful to look at it again. In the
example we are using, who are the
shoppers? Is it mainly women, for example? Keep asking questions about your
primary audience until you feel you have created a picture of them in your
mind, including questions around diversity. Then do this for your secondary and
tertiary audience. All of this lays the basis for Step Four.
Next
is an audience analysis matrix for you to fill in about your audience. It helps
you to think through your audience very carefully. You put yourself in your
audience’s shoes, and understand them better. The better you understand your
audience, the more effective your piece of writing. Remember to keep your
objective in mind all the way along.
We
have drawn this matrix very small. We suggest you make yourself a copy of it on
a large piece of paper and work through it when you do yours for your piece of
writing.
|
Audience |
What
does my audience know about my topic? What
do they not know? |
What do I know about my topic that they do not know? What
research do I need to do, if any? |
What
are my audience’s attitudes, values and beliefs about my topic |
What
does my audience expect and need from my piece of writing? |
|
Primary |
|
|
|
|
|
Secondary |
|
|
|
|
|
Tertiary |
|
|
|
|
This audience analysis matrix is
adapted from Louise Dunlap’s work, in turn from Linda Flower’s “Problem-Solving
Strategies for Writing”
The local Catholic priest
has asked me to come and talk to the parents of his congregation about HIV/AIDS
one evening. The church is in one of the poorer sections of Umlazi,
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The example addresses this request.
Audience
|
Audience
knowledge level
What
do they know about my topic? What
do they not know? |
Your
knowledge level
What do I know that they don’t? What research do I need to do? |
Audience’s attitudes, values, beliefs around my topic? |
My audience’s needs and expectations What are they going to
expect from me? |
Primary
Parents Working
class Poor black
people KwaZulu-Natal |
They know § They have been to a funeral
of someone who they suspect died of HIV/AIDS, and that many young people are
very sick and dying. § Of children who could
well be orphaned soon. § They know it’s spreading
fast, and mainly through sex. § Have some myths. § That the president
caused some controversy with his views on the link between HIV/AIDS. They don’t know § Or understand what the
substance of the controversy was about. § About antiviral drugs.
Some may have heard of AZT. § About government AIDS
policy. § Where to go for help. |
I know §How HIV spreads,
statistics, prevention. §About latest research on
HIV/AIDS, e.g. pregnancy, breastfeeding, etc. §Know about anti
retroviral drugs. §About debates around
government policy. §Am familiar with
education campaigns. §The NGO and government
HIV/AIDS support organisations. Need to research: § More information about
my audience and their needs. § HIV prevalence in this
area & how it is being taken up. § What support facilities
there are for people in Umlazi, specifically around home-based care and AIDS
orphans. § Experiences from other
countries around HIV/AIDS orphans. |
§ People die from AIDS. § Catholic church does not
condone condom use. § Although married,
fidelity may not be the norm. § Patriarchal attitudes
and behaviour from men. § Some denial, especially
from men. § Some may be disgusted at
people who are HIV+, and want them isolated. § May want to blame a
particular grouping for the disease. § Some in audience who are
HIV+ may fear disclosing their status. |
§ Want to know about
latest statistics, medicines and possibility of cure. § HIV and pregnancy, birth
and breastfeeding. § How to prevent
transmission. § How to best protect and
educate their children. § What can rape survivors
do? § How to plan for HIV AIDS
orphans. § What the future holds. |
Secondary
Teachers
in the congregation The
priest |
They know §A lot about what
teenagers are thinking about HIV/AIDS. §Students who are HIV+. §About HIV/AIDS for
curriculum. They don’t know § Much about the
controversy, government policy or support organisations. |
§
As above. Need to research: §
What’s in school curricula. §
Student’s attitudes towards HIV/AIDS are. §
Find out more about outcomes based education in schools. |
§ Believe children engaged
in sexual activity should protect themselves. § Important to integrate
HIV/AIDS education in curriculum. § Concern about their
students and their families. § Believe everything
possible should be done to develop drugs and a vaccine. |
§ Want advice on the best
teaching methods around HIV/AIDS. § How to handle HIV
positive students – counselling skills, etc. § Information about legislation,
and government policy. § Ideas on HIV/AIDS
awareness activities. |
Tertiary
Health workers, e.g. nurses |
They know § Medical details and
protocol around nursing HIV+ people and people with AIDS. § How serious the disease
is. § They might not know
latest studies, policy debates, etc. |
As above. Need to research § Home-based care and its
implications. § Successful behaviour
change campaigns in other countries, e.g. Uganda |
§ Believe we must do what
we can to prevent its spread. § Need to promote
home-based care & peer counselling. |
§May want to offer own
inputs from their experiences. §May want to find out how
effective HIV/AIDS campaigns have been. §What lessons can we
learn from other countries? |
By
the time you have thought about and analysed your audience, you should feel a
lot more certain about what to include in your writing. You should also be
clear about the kind of language, style and tone to use. Your writing will be
more effective.
The
kind of language, writing style, and tone you use when you write will be guided
by your objective, your audience, what you are writing, and where your piece of
writing will go.
You
would adopt a different style, for example in a:
§
memo
§
progress report
§
mass media news story
§
opinion piece
§
poem
§
song
§
pamphlet
But
you do not have to stick to traditional ways of writing, so long as your style
is appropriate and will help you to achieve your objective.
One
of the best ways to reflect on different writing styles is to specifically
gather and read different kinds of writings and the range of styles that people
have chosen to write in. Reflect on what you think works well and what doesn’t.
Being
sensitive to your audience is of vital importance. There is no point in writing
in an abstract, academic way for a popular readership. You will bore, and
probably even alienate them.
As
you begin to write, and then again when you edit your work, remind yourself of
your audience and your objective. Make sure that your language, writing style
and tone suit your audience. You can do this by testing it out first.
“By
language we mean the words and
sentences you use in your material, e.g. uncomplicated sentences, familiar
words or unfamiliar words which are explained, etc. We would include jargon
here.
By
style we mean your approach, e.g. the
use of humour, being conversational, using stories, examples, etc.
By
tone we mean how your material
‘sounds’ to the reader, e.g. is it too simplistic? or patronising? talking
comrade to comrade? etc.”
Adapted from Barbara Hutton’s “A manual for writers of learning
materials.”
Two
writers may write about the same event in completely different styles. One
might describe poverty using lots of statistics and government and economists’
comments. Another may describe poverty by writing about a day in the life of a
very poor family.
Your job as a writer is to keep your reader
interested. Think about what style will do this, whilst at the same time
meeting your objective.
Just because you are writing a report, it does not
mean that you have to use a dusty, formal style that prompts more yawning than
interest. You can write a report in a modern, engaging style, using interesting
examples, quotes, and illustrations.
Very often the most powerful and effective
development writers are those that write in a simple, evocative way, using
stories about people and their lives to make their point. They do not tell
their readers what to think. They do not state the obvious. They leave it up to
the reader to draw their own conclusions. This reflects a respect for the
reader.
The writing process
To
reap the benefit of your creativity and help you plan, we offer this method of
a writing process.
Remember
from the writing process that you should write your final introduction and conclusion near the end of your writing
process. This is because your piece of writing may take a new shape and
orientation, as your ideas change and grow. Of course you would have written an
introduction along the way. But revisit it at the end.
Check
the rough introduction you wrote earlier. Your piece of writing may have changed
in some way so your introduction no longer mirrors what your reader can expect
to find. For most organisational writing, introductions should:
§
be short and to the point
§
tell the reader what to expect in the piece of
writing
§
stimulate and interest the reader to read further
§
use a technique, like a question, quote, statistic, anecdote or story to
attract the reader. A human interest angle always works well.
Many
of us were trained at school to use a conclusion to repeat what we have said in
the piece of writing. Sometimes this works. But sometimes it is boring for the
reader. Feel free to use your concluding section, amongst others, to:
§
challenge
§
look at the way forward
§
make recommendations
A
schedule helps you to keep disciplined as a writer.
You
can aim for short-term goals in the bigger drive to complete your writing
project.
We
suggest you use a backward planning technique.
It
works like this:
1.
Establish the distribution date for your writing
project. That is, the day on which it goes out to the reader or readers.
3.
Here is a very simple example where you start working out from your
distribution date how much time you need for each aspect of the writing
process:
Many
people complain about having times when they feel blocked and could not write.
This has probably happened to you too. Sometimes you may not be in the mood for
writing but you have a deadline to meet. Other times you may be frustrated and
that blocks you. Blocks can also be caused when you do not feel clear enough
about what you are writing. Here are some ideas for dealing with them:
§
“Blocked writers suffer from too many ideas more
often than from too few.” (from Peter
Elbow, “Writing with Power”)
§
Writing in a language that is not your mother tongue can cause
frustration. Try to work out a way whereby in the thinking-writing part of the
process you can use languages interchangeably.
§
Your work environment can work against you if it
is highly disruptive. It is hard (if not impossible) to get your concentration
and flow going if you allow yourself to be interrupted. Block off time to
concentrate on particular writing work, you may be able to shift the culture of
your organisation towards allowing people to work in a more productive
environment.
§
Plan your work.
§
Ask someone who works in a similar field if you can meet to discuss your
writing task. You could even have a wild draft to show her or him. Talking
helps to crack a block, as new thoughts surface.
§
Don’t wallow in self-pity: know you have the job to do, set aside the
time, and discipline yourself to begin. Set targets, for example by 10h30 I
will have covered X aspect of the paper/report/article/minutes I am writing.
When I have finished I am allowed a treat of some kind!
You
could think of an outline being like a map of how you organise and structure
your piece of writing.
We
do not advise you to start your writing process with trying to write an
outline. You can only really do this if you know from the outset exactly what
is going into your piece of writing, which is unusual.
Freewriting,
mindmaps and talking, are the best way to start. These thinking tools help you
to get far with your thinking and warm you up before you write your first
draft.
An
outline is like a skeleton for your final piece. It could include ideas for:
§
your topic sentence (or some other way) to indicate what your main
message, point, argument, or idea is
§
your introduction, which will include the topic sentence
§
relevant sub-headings organised in a logical order
§
main points and information (under each sub-heading) needed in each
paragraph to back up your main argument
§
conclusion
A
topic sentence is the sentence that expresses the main idea or message that you
are promoting. That main idea or message is the topic. The sentence is what you phrase it in. Hence topic sentence.
Your
introduction should contain a topic sentence. In this case you could regard it
as an opening topic sentence. Each paragraph should also have a topic sentence.
Topic
sentences:
§
help guide your reader logically through your
piece of writing
§
help your reader understand clearly what you are
saying
§
help the busy reader who needs to skim read. Which is why it usually
works best if your topic sentences are at the beginnings of paragraphs.
Much
of the work we do in civil society organisations involves making an argument.
We want to convince people of the importance of our struggles for justice and
development. These could be from the right to piped water in a village to the
right to protest the ill effects of globalisation at an international rally. We
write because we want something to change for the better.
But
the people we want to convince do not necessarily agree with us. They often
have different values, beliefs, attitudes, perspectives and established
opinions. How can you get them to see things from your side?
If
you use the following strategies you will not win people willingly onto your
side:
§
Hit them over the head with your argument.
§
Make people feel they are wrong and you are right.
§
Make them feel guilty, defensive, or anxious.
These
reader-orientated strategies can help you to shift people’s opinion in favour
of your argument:
§
Respect the other person’s point of view so you
do not set each other up as the opposition.
§
Put yourself in their shoes and try to see
things through their eyes. This will help you to understand them.
§
Consider the attitudes and perspectives your
reader already holds.
§
Listen to their side of the argument and their
point of view. Show that you can appreciate their perceptions and feelings.
Then offer your perspective.
§
Offer correct factual information.
§
Do an audience analysis to help you work out how
to do all the above.
§
Be honest.
We
have to try and distance ourselves from our piece of writing when we ask for
feedback. This is because we are asking people what our writing made them think
and feel. We do not want them to say “it is nice” or something vague and plain
like that. It does not help us to strengthen our writing. It does not help us
to know whether the writing has achieved its objective.
Feedback
helps us re-think and strengthen our piece of writing. This is why it is best
to ask for feedback when you have written an early draft. If you ask for
feedback when you consider your piece of writing complete, it can set you back
time-wise, especially if you are on a deadline. The purpose of feedback is to
use it to revise what you have written.
Writing
teacher, Peter Elbow has done a great deal of work around asking
for and understanding for feedback. If you want to go more into depth around
this side of the writing process, try to read his book we refer to in the
resources section of this toolkit. We
have used his work in this section on feedback.
It
is useful to ask a range of people for feedback. But you will know what you are
after, so you will know what works best for any particular piece of writing.
You can ask:
§
colleagues
§
members of your organisation
§
members of your audience, especially the primary audience
§
experts on your topic
§
friends, comrades
When
you have an early draft that is ready for feedback, you can ask for the
feedback in two main ways. The one has to do more with whether the writing met
certain criteria. The other has more to do with what your piece of writing made
the reader feel. Peter Elbow calls the first kind of feedback
criterion-based feedback and the second reader-based feedback.
We
offer you some questions that you can think of using for both kinds of
feedback. You will think of your own as you develop a feedback tool further.
Here
are some questions you could ask to get feedback. But do remember to think of
your own requirements when you devise your own guide and add your own
questions:
When
you read my piece of writing (call it by its name, for example, pamphlet) were
there:
1.
Any parts that you had to re-read? If yes,
please identify them for me and tell me why you had to re-read them.
2.
Any parts that you did not understand easily?
3.
Any places that didn’t seem to flow logically?
If yes, please identify them for me.
4.
Any words that needed to be explained more? If
yes, please underline them for me.
5.
Did you pick up any mistakes in my content? If
yes, please show me where.
6.
Is my writing concrete? Are there any parts that
seem too abstract? If yes, please show me where.
7.
Is the language, style and tone appropriate for
my primary audience?
8.
Have I given enough examples to illustrate my
points? If no, where do you think I need more? Please show me.
9.
Are my sentences generally too long or just
right? If they are too long please show me where.
10.
Did my piece of writing keep you interested? If
there are parts where your interest faded, please show me where.
11.
My objective is to……………. (say what your
objective is). Do you think this piece of writing has achieved it?
If you are making an argument in your piece of
writing, you could also ask:
§
Is it clear what I am arguing for? If yes, what
do you think it is? Please tell me.
§
Have I backed up my different argument points
enough? If you think not, please tell me where I need more back up.
§
Do you feel convinced by my argument? If not,
what more do you need to be convinced?
“Reader-based
feedback gives you the main thing you need to improve your writing: the
experience of what it felt like for readers as they were reading your words. In
the long run you get more out of taking a ride inside your reader’s skin than
you get from a precise diagnosis of the strengths and weaknesses of your
writing.” – Peter Elbow, Writing with
Power
Here
are some questions to ask to get useful reader-based feedback. The question
about the reader’s suggestions for your piece must come at the end as it helps
deal with any defensiveness you may feel as the writer.
Feedback
is vital to strengthening your piece of writing. Take a deep breath and ask for
it! But people need guidance in the kind of feedback you want. It is your job
to guide them. The criterion-based and reader-based feedback methods should
help you. Good luck!
A
time comes when your draft is ready to be edited. Most of us get ready to hand
it over to someone else to check and edit. Do you? Yes? Yet with a few
techniques in hand you can edit your own work and strengthen it enormously
before handing it over. This gives you more control over your writing, and more
satisfaction.
It
is a matter of changing hats. Take off your writer’s hat. Put on your editor’s
hat. There is a global move towards writing in a simple (but not simplistic)
way. Simple is very powerful. The tips we offer you for when you do a final
check and edit are in this new tradition.
Here are some tips to use
when you edit to make your writing effective and powerful.
§
Use everyday language so you reach more people.
Read your piece of writing and highlight words not all your readers may
understand. Find everyday words to replace academic words.
For
example, instead of in relation to
write about.
The
election observers were worried in
relation to cheating.
The
election observers were worried about
cheating.
§
Jargonistic, academic, abstract language and styles can push your reader
away. We can even be guilty of making our readers feel inadequate, stupid.
§
If your reader needs to know particular jargon then explain it using
clear, everyday words and examples.
Jargon could include words and
phrases like mass-based umbrella body, mass democratic movement, globalisation, and means of production. These are abstract words and can turn a reader
off. What image, for example, might a reader get in his or her mind when he or
she reads “mass-based umbrella body”? Most people need jargon explained. Put
yourself in your reader’s shoes. Use
examples to help people understand.
§
Use short, uncomplicated sentences. One sentence
for one idea.
§
Try not to mix up your tenses in a sentence
because it can be confusing to the reader.
§
Try to use the first (I, we, us) and second
person (you) but not the third person (one).
For example, not “One can get frustrated if…”
Rather, “You can get frustrated if…”
§
Positive, not negative sentences.
For example, the negative
is: The committee cannot discipline a
member unless it has given him or her a chance to be represented.
The positive is: The committee can discipline a member after
it has given him or her a chance to be represented.
§
Try to have one topic in each paragraph.
For
example: The
decision to form a gender committee was taken by the shopstewards. (passive)
Shopstewards decided to form a gender committee. (active)
§
Avoid sexist and offensive language.
For example: chairman --- chairperson
manning the
jumble sale stand – running the jumble sale stand
Instead of “he is lame as a duck” – “he
has a walking disability”
§
Avoid foreign words and phrases. For example, vis-à-vis – about/to do with
§
Avoid over-used expressions.
For example: the bottom line is…
At this conjuncture…
A stitch in time saves nine…
§
Avoid old-fashioned words.
For example do you know his whereabouts? Rather do you know where he is?
§
Cut overlapping words.
For example: I’ve told you time and time again.
Rather: I’ve told you repeatedly.
§
Use single verbs, instead of several words
For example: take into consideration – consider
Make a decision - decide
§
Use single adverbs, not longer phrases
For example: in close proximity – near
§
Use simple connecting words
For example: nevertheless – but
provided that – if
on the grounds that – because
§
Design and layout. Some guidelines:
o
Use a friendly typeface (serif for main text, e.g. Times New Roman; sans serif for headings, e.g.
Arial). The serif typeface has little feet on the bottom of the letters and
this helps the eye to travel from letter to letter, word to word.
o
Avoid THE USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS EXCEPT FOR PROPER NOUNS. Capital
letters are harder to read and “shout”.
o
Use italics as little as possible,
it is harder to read.
o
Use underlining as little as possible because it can dazzle
o
Use bold as little as
possible because it is also rather dazzling
o
Keep the size of the lettering comfortable to read.
o
Use lots of headings and subheadings.
o
Use uncomplicated numbering.
o
Allow for uncluttered space, have wide margins, let the text breathe.
o
Use boxes to highlight something.
o
Use photos, graphics, cartoons.
§
Write the name of an organisation out in full
the first time you use it, and the acronym after. For example, International
Monetary Fund (IMF).
Okay,
so you have the most fantastic piece of writing, well-edited and ready to roll.
But have you done a final check that there are no mistakes. Have you proofread?
Even
the most wonderful piece of writing loses value if it has mistakes. People do notice.
It
is best to get someone else to proofread your piece of writing. The objective
eye will pick up small mistakes that you as the writer will miss because you
are so immersed in your piece of writing.
§
Do the proofreading right at the end – after all changes have been made.
§
If you are publishing it, proofread after the design and layout person
has made final amendments. Mistakes, both narrative and design, can slip in,
and you need to detect them.
§
Proofread the text, headings, subheadings and captions separately, so
you do a good job when you focus on them.
§
Make a check-list of the different parts of the piece that need
proofreading, and work through them systematically.
§
Never take anything for granted. Mistakes have a habit of sneaking in,
and in the most mysterious ways!
§
Read the piece aloud. You will be amazed how you pick up mistakes.
§
Use a ruler to read each word and line at a time, otherwise you may be
tempted to skim the writing. If you skim, you will let mistakes through.
§
Be relaxed and wide awake when you proofread.
§
Do not make any content changes. That is not your job – although of
course you can make suggestions to the writer if you want to.
In writing this toolkit we made use of these valuable
resources, and recommend them to you.
A manual
for writers of learning materials written by Barbara Hutton.
Published by Buchu Books
Accidental
Genius – revolutionize your thinking through private writing
written by Mark Levy. Published by Berret Koehler (2000)
Basic
Journalism written by Gwen Ansell. Published by M&G Books
(2002), Johannesburg. www.mg.co.za
How to use
plain language written by Derek Fine. Published by the Institute of
Criminology, University of Cape Town
Problem-Solving
Strategies for Writing written by Linda Flower.
Published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers (1993)
Powerful
Writing Toolkit written by Louise Dunlap, a writer and writing
teacher in the US. Contact changewrite@earthlink.net
The
Artist’s Way – a course in discovering and recovering your creative self
written by Julia Cameron. Published by Pan Books (1995)
The
Mindmap Book written by Tony and Barry Buzan. Published by BBC
Worldwide Limited (2000)
The New
Word Power – the South African Handbook of Grammar, Style and Usage
written by David Adey, Margaret Orr and Derek Swemmer. Published by AD Donker
Publishers (Pty) Ltd.
Think
Write – a writing skills course for students, teachers and business people written
by Vic Rodseth, Liz Johanson and Wendy Rodseth. Published by Hodder &
Stoughton (1992)
Wild Mind
– Living the Writer’s Life written by Natalie Goldberg.
Published by Bantam Books (1990)
Writing
with Power written by Peter Elbow. Published by Oxford
University Press (1981)
Writing
Without Teachers written by Peter Elbow. Published
by Oxford University Press (1973)
Writing
Down the Bones – freeing the writer within written
by Natalie Goldberg. Published by Shambhala (1986)
Writing
effectively, a writing workshop written by Karen Hurt. Published
by Ditsela (2001)
Writing
with Power – techniques for mastering the writing process
written by Peter Elbow. Published by Oxford University Press (1981)
Thank you to Louise Dunlap for inspiration from her toolkit.