Technical Writing - Emergency Management Institute

UNIT 4: THE TECHNICAL WRITING PROCESS
Finalizing the Outline
After drafting the initial outline continue to review and refine. To assist with finalization
of the outline consider the following elements:
Subordination Items found under a subject head within the outline framework.
Each subordinate item must directly relate to the main subject of
the section.
Division Each heading must have a minimum of two subordinate
supporting sections.
Parallelism Each heading must have matching grammatical structure
throughout the outline.
Drafting Stage of Technical Writing
Now that you have your outline developed the process of adding content should go
smoothly. Work on single sections at a time. Feel free to skip around to sections and
prioritize those that are easier from those that will require more thought. In the drafting
phase it is always important to continue to produce and move forward. Write and write
some more. You’ll be tempted to want to review what has been written so far and to
check grammar and spelling. Worry about that when you get to the revising and editing
phases. Now is the time to be prolific.
While in the drafting phase begin to consider what images may support your writing and
how you may integrate them down the line. Make notes in your draft describing your
ideas for a graph or picture to identify later. Don’t get distracted with finding these
resources now, but if an idea appears jot it down as a placeholder to return to later.
IS-613 Technical Writing Page 4.10