·What do they already know about the topic? What do they need to know? Are they interested? Are they skeptical? What expectations do they have in reading your writing?
Things to consider about your purpose:
· Why is it that I am writing? To teach? To persuade? To convey
information? To summarize?
Q: What do you mean by audience?
I'm writing for my professor, right?
A: Yes, you are writing for your professor, so you will need to read the
assignment carefully for clues about their expectations. But there is
generally a specific group identified, aside from the professor, to whom
you are writing. You should be able to derive this from the assignment.
If not, this is a question you should raise. Are you writing for patients?
Are you addressing other nurses? Are you writing to everybody who lives
in your town? Depending on which audience you are communicating with,
your writing will look quite different.
Q: Why? If I'm talking about the same subject, what
difference would audience make?
A: You already know this. Think about how you would write describing the
action of a calcium channel blocker for a group of patients; then think
about you would write about the same subject for a group of nurses with
whom you work. Same subject, much different writing!
Q: OK. But what's the difference between those purposes?
How do I know what my purpose should be?
A: You're right to wonder. Sometimes the purposes overlap. If you write
a paragraph about a calcium channel blocker for a patient, you are informing
the patient, but you are also persuading because you want the patient
to understand how important it is to take the medication according to
directions. You should be able to glean the primary purpose from the assignment
and/or the rhetorical problem you have to solve. See the glossary of terms
for clues you may find in the assignment.
Q: OK, how do I start?
A: Have a conversation with yourself - literally. It doesn't have to be
out loud, but why not? Like -
· So, who is the audience for this paper? The paper calls for scholarly
writing about a nursing concept. Ok, that means I'm writing for other
nurses and if it's scholarly, it should be like an article in one of the
peer-reviewed Nursing journals.
· So that means my readers already have expectations about what
they'll find. If my writing doesn't fit the conventions, they'll be less
likely to take what I say seriously, or maybe not even read it.
· So, APA style. When in Japan, speak Japanese; when in Nursing,
speak APA. OK, I can do that.
· What else? I'll need to define my terms and convince my readers
that my subject is important for nurses to think about.
· The only evidence my readers will accept is results of nursing
and related scholarly research, so I'll have to stick with that. I know
I'm right about this, but I'd better do some reading to get some evidence
from the primary sources.
Q: What if it's not a scholarly nursing paper?
A: You can tackle all assignments with a similar approach. Each writing task calls for solving a problem.
What do you know about the person(s) to whom you are writing that can help you shape your message to achieve whatever it is you want to do? Some of the considerations might be -
· What are my reader's interests? How can I write so they are most likely to be interested in what I have to say?
· What are my reader's expectations? In what context will they find this piece of writing? A peer-reviewed journal? A newspaper? A memo?
· What do my readers know about this subject? Do I have to fill in some background so they will understand what I'm trying to say?
· How well do my readers read, or understand the language? Should I use some kind of visual elements (drawings, pictures or some kind of graphic element) to help get my point across, or make it more appealing? Will they understand any specialized language I may want to use?
· What do I want the reader to think when they are done reading my piece? 'Ah, now I understand!' or 'Yes, I agree. Something should be done, and I'll do something about it.' or 'Wow. I never thought of doing that with my patients - I bet it would work."
Q: Do I really have to learn the APA format?
A: Yes. For the purposes of school and for particular types of writing,
APA is the language of Nursing. In the same way that certain types of
writing, like an H&P, adhere to certain conventions about format,
order, abbreviations and content, scholarly writing in Nursing adheres
to the conventions of the American Psychological Association Publication
Manual, 5th edition.
Q: How about the APA format software you can buy
and download? Should I get that?
A: You may, of course, and it may save you some time, but it really is
only helpful to those who are familiar with APA format already. The software
is not mistake-free. Without the ability to recognize the errors as they
occur, your sense of confidence may be false. Also, the APA guidelines
cover far more than the formats for citations and references that the
software offers.
Q: The APA manual is ridiculously hard to use, though
- especially if you're not sure what you're looking for. Is there some
other way to learn?
A: Agreed. The manual is very difficult to use, even for those who are
familiar with the material. The book entitled Mastering APA Style:
Student's Workbook and Training Guide, Fifth Edition by Harold Gelfand,
Charles J. Walker and the American Psychological Association is a great
resource, and is available through various online sources, as well as
the UMD bookstore. This workbook gives structure to the material in the
manual, and is a great help.
A: No, you don't have to learn it all at once. That would be impossible. But your faculty have rough guidelines for what they would like to see you master in each of your four years in college. They expect you will understand:
· Freshman/sophomore year
- the difference between primary and secondary resources
- how to effectively use the Internet for research
- what plagiarism is and how to avoid it
- the difference between clinical and reflective logs
- how to effectively paraphrase
- how to effectively summarize
- the principles of good paragraph construction
- the basics of APA style and format
- the process nature of writing
- the value of seeking and implementing peer feedback
- the necessity of careful proofreading and editing
· Junior year
- how to use tools of logic effectively
- how to employ comparison and contrast effectively
- how to conduct critical analysis of research sources
- how to begin drawing conclusions from data and from the research in the literature
- the specialized vocabulary of the discipline of Nursing
- how to argue a position effectively and defend it
- the more advanced concepts of the APA style and format
- how to begin linking reading and writing to the practice of Nursing
· Senior year (as reflected in the capstone)
- how to employ clear, logical analysis
- how to work with research materials and analysis to produce a synthesis
- how to move from summary to critique of research materials
- the application of research, reading and writing to clinical practice
- how to use APA style and format consistently
- how to use language as an effective communication tool
- how to present oneself professionally
· Graduate level
- the value of increased use of peer review
- how to use language both concisely and precisely
- how to discuss abstractions comfortably
- fine tuned synthesis
- application of research to specialized clinical practice
Q: What kinds of writing will my nursing professors
be asking me to do?
A: Many different kinds. Among them will be clinical writing assignments,
such as nursing documentation, clinical notes/journals, care plans and
interviews. There will be a great deal of informal work, including reflective
writing in journals, writing from experience and in-class writing
as well as the more formal scholarly/term papers, issue/position papers,
proposals, exams, synthesis papers and annotated bibliographies.
Q: How will I have the time to do all this writing
when there's a huge amount of material to learn as well?
A: Writing is one of the best ways to learn the material. Use the material
in writing, and you will find it 'sticks' very well. This is one of the
principles underlying the numerous in class writings you will be doing.
The other principle is that any kind of writing will enhance your ability
to do other types of writing.
Q: How will my professors be evaluating my writing?
Will I get graded on everything?
A: First, not all of your writing will be graded. Each piece will be read
and responded to, however. Many will be read by your professor, but many
will be read in small peer groups or pairings. The questions and comments
of your peers can be very valuable in pointing out why certain ways of
expressing your thoughts work or don't work for an audience. Your writing
will improve just from the continued efforts you make to effectively express
your thoughts. The comments will often be positive, rather than critical:
'Here's what worked in this piece of writing. Do more like this!'. Sometimes,
the comments will be in the form of questions, and will be a signal that
you need to clarify your point, or expand on it a bit.
Q: What about the formal papers? Will those be graded?
A: Yes. Most likely, the more formal papers will be graded. Your professor
will be using a scholarly writing evaluation
tool. Because all your professors will be using the same tool in evaluating
your work, you should be able to see where you need to concentrate, and
will see your progress over time. Most professors will ask for a draft
of the paper first, and may give you an idea of what areas need further
work. Even when the professor does not ask for a draft, you should write
one and seek feedback from someone, perhaps a classmate. Writing a draft
and giving yourself time to read it and mull it over will lead to your
own ideas of how to improve it in any case.
