Training Authors of Informative Documents

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the methods of training authors of informative documents who write material of practical value to the real world; the authors considered in the chapter are white-collar authors. Any sensible discussion about training authors requires first that one establishes who the authors to be trained are. The white-collar writers are well educated. They hold jobs that require college degrees, and many hold advanced or professional degrees. Most write a lot in their jobs, far more than they ever imagined that they would. Almost all are articulate speakers of English. Most are not trained as writers and they do not primarily identify themselves as writers. Working writers do different kinds of writing. Some compose original writing. Others revise existing written text. Still others edit. Many do all three. Whatever they write, and wherever they work, the written products they finally generate have practical uses. Whether one calls these written products informative documents, functional text, public documents, or some other name, they are written to inform a particular audience about something and to help the reader decide whether and how to act.