As I read this selection, I couldn't help but think about how some students associate intelligence and "good" writing with the use of long, convoluted words to make "deep" (ambiguous) points or compositions. However, technical writing is not about showcasing the writer's talent, brain capacity, or prowess using a thesaurus, but enabling the audience to accomplish a goal or simply react in some way. The more I read into the text, I even began to question my own work. How effective was my thesis proposal? If someone had to replicate my study, could he or she? Is the message of my document clear and significant?
I also realized that coming into the MAPC program, I was one of those people with "flowery" writing. Another name for this style is writer-based prose. I believe that I wrote this way as opposed to concentrating on the audience for two reasons: habit and too much worrying and not enough planning and revising. I also was never one to simply "put words on paper" because I'd always assumed that I would remember all my thoughts and would have to go back and erase all the bad ones.
On another note, I fully intend to utilize the PAFEO steps and the project worksheet in many of the projects I assume. I also noticed how effective headings and document format are in aiding clarity. Although these suggestions seem very obvious, these are the very mistakes that many people, including myself, carelessly make.
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