Team Writing Processes

• the degree to which goals are clearly articulated and shared
• the degree of openness and mutual respect among group members
• the degree of control writers have over the text
• the degree to which writers can respond to others who may modify the text
• the way credit (directly or indirectly) is given
• an agreed-upon procedure for responding to work in process and for revising/editing

INVENTION:
All of the information on "Generating and Organizing Ideas," "Brainstorming," "Brainwriting," "Affinity Diagrams," and "Multivoting" fall under the rhetorical category of "invention"--the discovery of ideas or arguments. In other words, invention means taking an inventory of what the group knows and what the group needs to find out. Make sure that at least one member of the group is taking notes on during invention exercises. And assign someone to write up those notes for the group, which then become the beginning of a draft.

DRAFTING:
Some writing teams use a "lead author," who drafts the entire document from notes and input from each team member. But most writing teams require that different people write different sections. This option is most appropriate if you want to spread the responsibility, if the writers' styles are similar, or if people want to write the section in the area of their expertise. If you use multiple draft writers, be sure to (1) agree about level of formality, format, and other style issues in advance, and (2) allow enough time to revise and edit for consistency after all the drafts are complete. Set early deadlines for initial drafts of each section.

REVISING:
Be sure to allow enough time to read several drafts of the document. Read for consistency of style, organization, and thoroughness. Bring annotated drafts with your comments to group meetings and discuss changes each reader believes are necessary. If you have these discussions at the drafting stage, you will have less trouble editing to achieve a coherent voice in the final document. Once each member has read all drafts, set aside one whole meeting for a discussion of revision. Once drafts are revised (this may take several drafts), and you have agreed as a group that the document is in the shape you want it, you will want to read the document again and edit.

EDITING:
When you edit a document you are reading for stylistic effectiveness, such as word choice, smooth sentence structure, consistency of voice and tone. There are several different options to choose when editing in groups. (1) One choice is to use one editor. If you do so, schedule enough time for him or her to edit. (2) A second choice is to edit as a group. Circulate a hard or electronic copy for each group member to read and annotate. Then, (1) the group can meet face-to-face or electronically to discuss all editing issues, (2) one person can read all the comments and decide what to incorporate.

PROOFREADING:
Proofreading means making sure that your document is free of errors in spelling, punctuation, and typographical mistakes. Ideally, each member of the team should proofread the entire document, since the team's credibility depends on a professionally-prepared text. At least make sure that team members proofread sections that they have not drafted.

RESPONDING TO TEAM MEMBERS
Planning and completing your project depends on dialogue among team members, both in joint meetings and in one-on-one discussions. One way to transform individual contributions into a cohesive team effort is to ask a series of questions about the assignment, the research, and the writing of the document. Questions like these--used at every stage of writing the document-- can help determine crucial issues regarding content, purpose, audience, organization, design, and coherence.

WRITING CHECKLIST
Content:
What additional information might we include? Don't you think we should include/exclude _________?

Purpose/Key Point:
What do you see as our main point (purpose)? What did you mean by _____? Could you clarify the point about _______? I can't quite see why you've decided to ______. Could you explain why? I see a conflict between _____ and ______. How will we deal with it?

Audience:
Who is our intended audience? What is this the appropriate audience? What does the reader expect to read, learn, or do? How will our reader react to ______? Connect _____ to ______? What problems, conflicts, inconsistencies, or gaps might our reader see?

Synthesis/Coherence:
How does ________ relate to, develop, or clarify _______? Is there a conflict between using _______ and ________? Does our evidence add up to a clear argument? Have we used evidence from a variety of sources? Do they conflict or complement one another?

Conventions of Organization and Design:
What format best conveys our point for this audience? In what order should we present this information? What subheadings should we use? What models might we consult?

Conventions of Style: What key words and concepts connect each part to the others? Do we have different "voices" speaking here?

GUIDELINES FOR RESPONDING TO OTHER WRITERS:

• Set deadlines for drafts; devote one whole team meeting to responses/revision of drafts.
• Develop, as a team, a series of questions for each reader to ask about other writers' drafts; decide, as a team, what you want to look for in each writer's draft
• Before distributing drafts to the team, each writer should provide a cover letter with the draft, explaining what she/he tried to accomplish, pointing out strengths/weaknesses, and asking readers specific questions about problem areas.
• Write back to each writer and be prepared to discuss your responses. Provide both positive and negative feedback to writers. Be descriptive, pointing to particular sections or sentences, providing suggestions for revision and explanations of those changes.

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