Writing Map

Common Goals

OBSERVE Focus or Perspective

  1. Single focus, your own or another’s, but not both (“I did…” or “She did…”)

  2. Dual, your own and another’s as in correspondence. (Dialog or “We did…”)

  3. Organization (“The company did…”).

  4. Universal (“People always…”).

THINK Memory & problem-solving

  1. Unconnected, here and now (stream of consciousness).

  2. Topic-driven with digress and return (instructions).

  3. Time sequence (narratives).

  4. Logical inductive or deductive (essays).

INTERACT Audience

  1. Self (notes)

  2. Known individuals (correspondence)

  3. Known groups (reports)

  4. Community or specialized (news, science)

SERVE Purpose

  1. Remember

  2. Inform or entertain

  3. Persuade

  4. Coordinate

COMPLY Ethics, standards, genres

  1. Haphazard

  2. Have an identifiable genre

  3. Use genre conventions reliably

  4. Adapt conventions to content

Writing Specific Goals

SOURCES Interviews, websites, books

  1. Single source

  2. Choose multiple sources

  3. Categorize sources

  4. Prioritize sources

SYNTHESIZE ideas or elements of stories

  1. Fragments or imitative

  2. Compare ideas

  3. Integrate relevant analysis & synthesis

  4. Introduce ideas from new fields

REVISE Rewrite multiple drafts

  1. Seek help

  2. Reread to find errors

  3. Rewrite to improve understanding

  4. Rewrite to create more impact on readers

DIGITAL TOOLS Use computer apps

  1. Type a few words

  2. Format, print text with spell and grammar check. Edit with others.

  3. Use online collaboration tools, like wikis.

  4. Use apps for data analysis, AI, and graphic processing