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USFKPROJECT PLANNING: ANALYZING YOUR WRITING SITUATION
Analyzing your writing situation before you begin working on a document will help you work more efficiently and
more effectively. Writers in professional and technical settings need to take a number of factors into
consideration when planning a new project or document: the occasion, intended audience(s), constraints on the
work, purpose(s) of the document, their role as the writer, and the content, design, and production methods for
the document. Before you begin work on your next project, use the following worksheet to help you brainstorm
for and plan your project. As you become more familiar with the worksheet, it will take less time and energy to
complete
PROJECT IDENTIFICATION
Writer’s name(s), title
Record your answers inside these boxes
Project name
OCCASION
1.
What is the occasion for this communication?
Be specific. What issue problem or need compels you to write or act at this particular time and place? Why is
this issue important right now? What is at stake – and for whom?
AUDIENCE
Answer the questions below for your primary audience(s) and for your secondary audiences.
1.
Who is the audience?
Be specific. Are you writing to an individual or a group? Do you know your audience personally? What is your
organizational relationship to her/him/them? What assumptions can you make about this audience?
Primary:
Secondary:
2.
What type of audience is this and what are they looking for in the document?
Project Planning
Analyzing the Writing Situation
USF/Fall 2014
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Be specific. Are you writing to experts looking to enhance their own knowledge or evaluate the validity of a
project or proposal? Managers trying to make a decision or get up to speed? Technicians looking for technical
detail and specifics? Lay people with limited expertise on the subject?
Primary:
Secondary:
3.
How much knowledge or technical expertise does the audience have on this subject?
Be specific and consider how readers’ levels of expertise will influence your decisions about what language to
use, how much detail to include, and how much explanation of concepts/terms will be necessary.
Primary:
Secondary:
4.
What biases or preconceptions will your audience bring to the document?
Be specific. Is the audience enthusiastic, receptive, neutral, hostile? How will their biases/preconceptions
influence readers’ reception of the document. Are they likely to be resistant to the situation in which the
message is delivered or to the content of the message itself? Are they more likely to agree, disagree or be
indifferent to the information in the document?
Primary:
Secondary:
5.
What cultural considerations do you need to address for this audience?
Be specific. Will you have international readers? Readers for whom English is not a first language? Do you
need to adjust the content to accommodate these readers? Language? Rhetorical strategies? Are there strong
local customs or traditions that you must respect?
Primary:
Secondary:
Answer the questions below for your hidden audiences.
6.
Who are the hidden audiences for this document?
Be specific. Who else might read this document and why? What is their level of knowledge and expertise?
What assumptions and preconceptions might they have?
Primary:
Secondary:
Project Planning
Analyzing the Writing Situation
USF/Fall 2014
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CONSTRAINTS
1.
What practical or physical circumstances will affect the writing, design or distribution of this document?
Be specific. What environment are you writing in? What tools/technologies do you have available? How much
time to do you have? What deadlines are important? What is your budget?
2.
What constraints or limitations do you bring to the project? Be specific. How will your own beliefs, attitudes,
prejudices or habits affect writing or design?
3.
What constraints will the audience face when they interact with the document? Be specific. How will
readers’ attitudes, traditions, or circumstances influence their perception of the document? Where, how and
in what circumstance will they interact with the document? What environment will they be in? Will they need
specific technologies to receive the document? Will they be focused on the document or distracted? Limited
by lack of time, space, or resources?
4.
What company policies, laws, or ethical considerations affect the writing, design, or distribution of the text?
5.
What relationships between individuals or groups might affect the writing, design, or distribution of the
document? Does the organization’s structural hierarchy matter? How so? Are you in danger of stepping on
anyone’s toes? Is there a chance that the communication might be intercepted by an unintended audience?
6.
What cultural, political or other factors place constraints on this project?
PURPOSE
1.
From the perspective of the organization, what are the purposes of this document?
What is the main purpose? Secondary purpose? Other purposes?
Project Planning
Analyzing the Writing Situation
USF/Fall 2014
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2.
From your perspective as the author, what are the purposes of this document?
What is the main purpose? Secondary purpose? Other purposes?
3.
From the perspective of the audience, what are the purposes of this document?
What is the reader’s goal in reading/using this document? What kind of information or content does the
reader expect to find in this document? How will the reader use or interact with the document?
THE WRITER
1.
What is your relationship to the primary audience?
2.
How do you want to be perceived by the audience?
3.
What languages choices are most appropriate for this audience?
Tone? Level of formality? Use of jargon? Passive vs. active voice? First vs. third person?
4.
Do you need to adjust the message because of political or ethical factors?
THE TEXT
1.
What genre is most appropriate?
What genre does the audience expect? For this genre, do you need to include or exclude specific types of
information? Organize contents in particular ways? Incorporate specific design features?
Project Planning
Analyzing the Writing Situation
USF/Fall 2014
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2.
What medium is most appropriate for this communication, and does this medium affect writing, design or
distribution of the document?
3.
Given the complete writing situation what overall look is desired or most appropriate for this document?
4.
How will this document be delivered to the audience?
Project Planning
Analyzing the Writing Situation
USF/Fall 2014