225 ADV 1/11/11 Quick Review of 4th Grade Noun: person, place, or thing Verb: describes what nouns are doing Adjective: describes a noun Adverb: describes a verb Pronoun: replaces a proper noun Conjunction: words the connect other words Preposition Quick Intro to AP Style What is AP Style? Why is it important? AP Style takes precedence: Does not always agree with standard English It's technical, detailed and picky Read the Stylebook! Strategic Writing Career writing Creative but goal-oriented Brief, concise, clear: Shorter is always better Minimize not maximize Begin with the end in mind Shorter is always better Premium on crystal-clear expression not filling up pages "I didn't have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long on instead." Mark Twain Various Forms Letters Memoranda News releases, media advisories and fact sheets Newsletter copy Brochure copy Web copy **for 225 Business Letters All carefully crafted to resonate with an identified audience or audiences Seeks to compel some kind of action Give something Sign something Buy something Go somewhere Call someone or visit a Web site
Vote Raise awareness/invite a relationships It's NOT about what YOU have to say It's about you applying your skills to help someone else say what they need to say Check your ego at the door! The Writing Process Research Brainstorm Organize Write Revise Edit Submit for Approval Distribute Evaluate Writing Process: Research Gather your information Understand what you are writing about WHO are you writing for? Whose name does the piece go out under? Who is suppose to receive it WHAT... Is the document's goal? Is the key message? Brainstorm Organize Put your messages, ideas and data in a logical order Build a MAP to get from start to finish Can be a formal outline or just some notes Begin with the end in mind Know your destination before you start writing Write Put it all down on paper Don't worry about construction, passive/active, big words or small words just commit it to paper based on your organization Revise The most important step! Hack and chop Change words Get ride of passive sentences, long sentences It may take 3-5 revisions or more- to get where you need to be Editing
Once you've done your best work, let someone else look at you piece Microediting Macroediting Check your ego. Writing is a group process Double-check facts, names, numbers, etc. for accuracy Submit for approval In the workplace, it will be a boss, client, or series of bosses and clients 1/18/2011 Quick Review of 4th Grade Sentence structure Subject + verb Subject Noun phrase Noun or pronoun Group words of headed by a noun Verb Action word describes what the subject is doing or feeling Inanimate subjects do not have feelings and cannot take action Clauses Group of words containing a subject and a predicate Quick Intro to AP Style Over vs. more than "Over" generally refers to spatial relationships My company earned over five thousand dollars. (wrong) It should be more than Pg. 300: Web site should actually be spelled as website. W is only capital if it at the beginning of the sentence. Last name only after first reference in general, use only last names on second reference "Names," page 186 use full name when you first talk about someone, then use only last name after that Numbers spell out numbers if they start a sentence. (Exception: calendar year) Always spell out whole numbers below 10 (one through nine) Use figures for 10 and above Number exceptions (always use numerals) age money time of day
temperature percentage calendar year Money Dollar sign followed by numeral $1 million or above Percentage use a numeral spell out the word "percent" - do not use % Time on the hour: just the hour (no :00) a.m., p.m. Noon, midnight 10 Tips for Strategic Writing Page 3-5 in textbook Challenge to be verbs Am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been and every other form of to be. Use active voice active subject: the subject does the action described by the verb Challenge modifiers adjectives and adverbs Very is the worst one There is a place for them, but often they are trying to make a bad word better Find a stronger way to write it Challenge long words things that work in a term paper work against you in strategic writing avoid big words capability of audience sometimes they make sense but rarely challenge prepositional phrases challenge long sentences avoid cliches and overused expressions avoid putting important words or phrases in the middle of a sentence focus on the reader WIIFM What's in it for me? read sentences aloud ADV 225 The Scenario Preface: The Internet age Most facts fictional some real
produced for instructional purposes material produced in ADV 225 should not be represented as fact, published or uploaded to Internet without disclaimer Bedrock, Utah Fictional City Population: 120,000 Bedrock Highlights Central Utah University Bedrock Business Communication formats face to face telephone/voice mail E-mail Business Letters usually a one-page document that delivers a strategic message to a targeted individual usually a single receiver can be one-to-many formal method of communication check for extra credit medical ad Dr. blah, PH