#27349
Seeing the structure of a story is easier if you can identify the main parts.
Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
#27347
Take advantage of narrative opportunities.
Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
#30596
The Nature of the Narrator in Technical Writing 
Writers of technical information need to be aware of their rhetorical stance and think of themselves as narrators, as people telling other people about something or how to do something or what they propose to do. Too often writers of technical information write in passive voice and third-person narrative perspective, disguising or blurring their involvement in the activities they describe and often blurring and dulling the information as well. Writing in active voice and, when appropriate, the first person, enlivens information, removing it from the realm of the stuffy and stale.
Deming, Lynn H. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Rhetoric
#14053
Nuclear Information: One Rhetorical Moment in the Construction of the Information Age 
Since the late 1970's we have been said to be living in the information age, and that name has stuck, with the phrase increasingly appearing throughout the closing decades of the millennium. The slogan, like all slogans, attempts to assert unity in the face of complexity; nonetheless, it captures, better than most such slogans, a dominant theme of almost all aspects of our everyday life. The slogan has its visual icons in advertising and journalism: binary bits flashing down wires and across the sky, tied to no location and independent of the humans who may need or use that information. Information has become an abstract universal, like atoms and electrons, to create or serve any entity, in no particular configuration, serving no particular purpose, gathered and used by no particular people (but of course provided or facilitated by specific companies who make this information their business). Information, however, is a human creation for human purposes, even if our devices now produce terrabytes of signals that travel only to other devices, never to be seen or touched by humans. This essay recovers a small piece of the history by which we constructed our understandings and uses of information, so that information has become pervasive in everyday life, needs, and action. It considers how information came to have major governmental and military meanings to the U.S. public during World War Two and after, and how an anti-nuclear test activist group asserted an alternative understanding of information to foster public opposition to government policy. This rhetorical reconstruction of information advanced a culture of citizen information, validated by citizen scientists to serve the needs and concerns of citizens, which pervaded the anti-war, environmental, and consumer movements that became our everyday reality in the second half of the century. Such citizen information embodies multiple assumptions about threats to everyday life, the necessity of reliable and up-to-date information for action to oppose the threats, large institutions whose interests are served by the threatening situation and which limit access to relevant information, science as an independent and objective source of information, and the responsibilities of a citizen to be informed.
Bazerman, Charles. UCSB. Articles>Scientific Communication>Technical Writing>Rhetoric
#27332
Observe 'word territory.' Give key words their space. Do not repeat a distinctive word unless you intend a specific effect.
Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
#27343
Put odd and interesting things next to each other.
Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
#18865
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant
Whether you have an assigned subject or choose your own, you need to get focused and engaged with the project. Assigned subjects may look limiting at first, but they offer plenty of room for individual expression. Open subjects, while promising great freedom, can be daunting because they don't provide direction. They leave it all up to you. Yet these two situations, different as they appear, present similar challenges.
#27369
Writers shape up their writing by paying attention to parallel structures in their words, phrases, and sentences.
Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
#27331
Place strong words at the beginning of sentences and paragraphs, and at the end. The period acts as a stop sign. Any word next to the period says, 'Look at me.'
Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Grammar>Rhetoric
#19640
Piecing Together Your Audience
Technical writers live by the commandment 'Know thy audience.' While the best approaches to fulfilling this commandment include conducting site visits and user surveys, we must often turn to other sources for information when deadlines loom or budgets are slashed. Individually, these resources provide anecdotal snapshots of users, but taken together they offer an understanding of our audience necessary for quality documentation.
Hower, Sean. Intercom (2003). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
#27348
Place Gold Coins Along the Path
Learn how to keep your readers interested by placing gold coins throughout your story.
Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
#23916
When you reach out to your readers, you show that you have considered who they are and what they need to know. Communicate a concern for your readers' needs so they will be receptive to your message.
U.S. Small Business Administration. Articles>Writing>Rhetoric>Minimalism
#27333
Play with words, even in serious stories. Choose words the average writer avoids but the average reader understands.
Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Diction>Rhetoric
#25998
Churchill wasn't scared of repetition, but many people are. Even the best writers and editors play the synonym game.
Bresler, Ken. Clear Writing Services (2001). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
#31610
Politics and the English Language
If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought. A bad usage can spread by tradition and imitation, even among people who should and do know better.
Orwell, George. Impact Information (1946). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric>Minimalism
#22053
If there’s a single step in writing that makes the process easier, it’s right here. Ask yourself this question: Why does a writing task -- whether a memorandum or document -- seem to come together easily for one writer and not for another? Well, one answer is the successful writer spends more time planning than writing. I call this my pre-writing time, or phase, and for me the planning phase is actually pre-writing.
#27336
Prefer the simple to the technical: shorter words and paragraphs at the points of greatest complexity.
Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Diction>Rhetoric
#20804
Prepare Web Content and Organization For Your Audience
Communicators must know whether the audience consists of viewers, users or readers before selecting, writing and organizing content.
Writing that Works (2003). Articles>Web Design>Rhetoric>Writing
#20542
"Prescriptive" Audience Analysis: Moving Beyond the Purely Descriptive
Editing and writing both require an understanding of our audience, because without that knowledge, we can't shape our words to help them easily grasp difficult concepts. To understand our audience, we do what all writers and editors do, whether consciously or unconsciously: We create an image of our audience that guides our choice of words, images, and metaphors. This image is variously known as a 'stereotype' or a 'persona'. Keeping that image in mind as we work helps us satisfy the reader's needs, but if we're not careful, it can also cause us to waste valuable time collecting information that doesn't really help us communicate.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. TECHWR-L (2003). Articles>Writing>Editing>Rhetoric
#15071
Purpose and Composition Theory: Issues in the Research
Unlike audience and context, rhetorical purpose has not been the subject of concentrated, comprehensive research. For example, we do not have a bibliographic overview of purpose as we do for audience (Coney; Ede, “Audience”), and we have not explored the meaning of purpose as we have audience (Park; Kroll; Ede and Lunsford) and context (Brandt; Piazza). However, we need answers to a number of questions concerning purpose. How is it defined? Is it a synonym for goal, intention, end, or aim, as certain research seems to suggest? If so, do these terms differ at all; and if not, what does purpose mean and how does it figure in our theory and pedagogy? Answering questions such as these would assist all composition specialists by encouraging more informed research and teaching about the rhetoric of purpose. In the following article, I begin the task of surveying research on purpose. Although not an exhaustive bibliographic survey, this article can serve as an introduction to the subject.
Blyler, Nancy. JAC (1989). Articles>Rhetoric>Writing
#18928
Before you write one word, you need to know what you want your writing to accomplish. Are you conveying information to the general public? Reporting on a recent project? Do you want your readers to do something when they finish reading? If you aren't sure what your purpose in writing is, your writing will not be clear.
#23157
For all writers the most important people are their readers. If you keep your readers in mind when you write, it will help you use the right tone, appropriate language and include the right amount of detail.
Business Letter Writing. Articles>Writing>Business Communication>Rhetoric
#20793
Quotations Give You Wisdom of the Ages
Quotations allow you to tap a wealth of wisdom and ideas that have survived the test of time, or caught your attention amid information overload. They also give credibility to the speaker's points. But you must take care in choosing and using others' words.
Writing that Works (2003). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
#14908
Reconsidering the Role of Plain Style in Technical Writing
According to the technical writing textbook used in the Introductory to Technical Writing class I teach, there are two purposes and at least five audiences of technical documents. Yet students are taught only one style of writing to satisfy all writing situations: the plain style. This essay examines the history and current state of plain style's role in technical writing. It further discusses plain style's relation to rhetorical and instrumental approaches to technical communication, and finally offers writing teachers a new approach to plain style and instrumental language in technical writing.
Campbell, Jill. Orange Journal, The (2002). Articles>Rhetoric>Writing
#27371
Procrastination can be productive.
Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
