Technical Blog

The reading chapters assigned did a good job of introducing the course to me. The text itself was easy to follow and the sample tutorials are extremely helpful especially when I was writing the lack of ideas memo.

Chapter one was straightforward, it talks about the different types of writing. There's the one you write class for "educational" purposes. To demonstrate you knowledge on the subject matter. In the workplace, writing is done for "practice" purposes. Your writing's objective is to communicate a point thoroughly and clearly to fellow workers to increase efficiency. Writing in the business sense does not require you to write about everything you know about the subject at hand, it's all about giving enough information to the reader so that everybody is on the same page. This form of writing acts as a substitute to a face to face conversation where relevant information are exchanged but minus the actual words spoken. In order to write efficiently, the text suggests to use active voice in business writing as oppose to passive voice. Passive voice is not memorable and the reader will soon forget the message.

Chapter twenty focuses on three specific types of writing correspondence commonly used in the workplace. From formal letters, to interoffice memorandums and e-mail messages, they all serve one purpose, to communicate with others. The number one caution the text suggests for all three types of correspondence is always double check your content especially in a memo or e-mail. Keep the message professional and don't include anything that could stir up an altercation within the company. Assume that all memo or e-mail sent out by you will be read by everybody within the organization, don't include any details that might be detrimental to you and don't write anything about another colleague that you wouldn't say to them in person. These types of messages should short and clear, your main point is stated at the beginning of the message and stays neutral within the message. You don't want to incite the reader's rage as they will just disregard your message and thus productivity decreases.

Chapter twenty two covered the topic of writing reader-centered proposals. In a sense, it's similar to a persuasive paper written in school. The goal is to convince your reader too see your point of view and accept your recommendation. Unlike a school paper, not all details should be included. For instance, convincing someone to recycle will help drive their overall garbage disposal fees down is more realistic as oppose to promising them a better, greener tomorrow etc... Avoid writing anything that will come off as far fetched and offer a false sense of security. As with all of technical writing, keep it clear, concise, and straight to the point. The main points in a persuasive paper are to introduce the topic of discussion, state its problem, and offer your solution and its incentives.