{"id":385,"date":"2016-09-15T22:30:29","date_gmt":"2016-09-16T02:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techrhet.com\/3213\/?page_id=385"},"modified":"2016-11-13T13:38:28","modified_gmt":"2016-11-13T18:38:28","slug":"reader-centered-writing-1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/techrhet.com\/3213\/reader-centered-writing-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Reader-Centered Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"
you-attitude<\/a> | positive emphasis<\/a> | reader-benefits<\/a><\/div>\n
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Analyzing Audience<\/h6>\n

Not everything you’ll read in the links below will apply to every writing situation (perhaps not even the writing you’ll do for this class or the writing you’ll do as a professional), but all of it is information worth considering<\/em> in every situation. Part of your work as a professional communicator is to make conscious decisions about what’s more or less important in any particular situation. To make those decisions, you need to know all the potential options and elements to consider.<\/p>\n

Primary, Secondary, and Hidden Audiences<\/a><\/div>\n
from Writing Commons<\/em> (a collaborative open text from the University of South Florida)<\/div>\n
Audience Analysis: Just Who Are These Guys?<\/a><\/div>\n
from Online Technical Writing<\/em>, by David McMurrey, Ph.D.<\/a>, Department Chair & Coordinator of the Business & Technical Communication Program at Austin Community College.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A Reader-Centered Approach to Writing<\/h3>\n

Perhaps the biggest variable, and the most important element, in your PAGOS plan is Audience. Ultimately, the audience has the power to help you accomplish your purpose, and the power to keep you from reaching your goal. For that reason, professional writers must adapt their messages to their audiences.<\/p>\n

To adapt messages to audiences, professional writers use a reader-centered approach\u2014it’s a major component of an overall rhetorical approach to writing\u2014writing that gets things done. It accomplishes its purpose (or, it gets something done) by meeting the demands of the rhetorical situation, by appealing to its audience, and by working within its context.<\/p>\n

For further explanations, please see “Rhetorical Awareness and User-Centered Design”<\/a> from the Purdue OWL and \u201cYou-Centered Business Style\u201d<\/a> at Writing Commons<\/em>.\u00a0For an excellent professional example of reader-centered writing in action, check out this document, Using a Reader-Centered Approach<\/a>, part two of the “Toolkit for Making Written Material Clear and Effective, from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at CMS.gov.<\/p>\n

What follows are explanations and examples of three components that make up a reader-centered approach to writing\u2014employing you-attitude (or you-view)<\/strong>, increasing positive emphasis<\/strong>, and developing reader benefits<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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You-Attitude or You-View<\/h3>\n

Employing ‘you-attitude’ or the ‘you-view’ means approaching things from the reader’s point of view. In general, it<\/p>\n