UNDERSTANDING COMPOSITION PROCESS

      
    The composition process (composition process) the preparation of business principles can be analogous to the process of creating songs as is done by a composer. He must plan what song will be made, determine the form of arrangements and personal groups that accompany the song. Then they have to do the rehearsals and tests or revisions as needed, so that the songs created have good quality, are pleasant to hear, and are easily digested by their fans. Such is the case with the composition process for business messages. The preparation of business messages includes 3 stages, namely:

1. Planning

The list of planning phases (planning phase) is thought about fairly basic things, such as the intent / purpose of communication, the audience who will receive the message, the main idea (main idea) of the messages to be conveyed and all or the media that will be used to convey the message. In addition, intonation also needs to be set, whether weakening, leveling up, or rising. The most important thing is to get around the situation, so that the desired goal can be achieved.

2. Organization and composition

After the planning stage, the next stage is how to organize ideas and then put in the form of drafts relating to your thought commitments that begin by arranging words, sentences, paragraphs and have the illustrations needed to support the main ideas of the topic.

            Organization and composition are closely related to the arrangement or arrangement of words, sentences and paragraphs. It is therefore necessary to pay attention to how to use simple words, sentences and paragraphs.

3. Revisions

The whole purpose and content of the message must be reviewed both in terms of the substitution of the message to be interpreted, but also how the writing style, sentence structure used and how the level of understanding.

If it is not appropriate, it is necessary to check and revise / repair as necessary.

Because the development of the business world today is so fast, the delivery of business messages needs to keep paying attention to how to plan, organize and compose, and revise business messages as clearly and effectively as possible.

While this whole module is about writing, most of the thinking about what you are going to write happens before you compose a single sentence. Planning and outlining is where your analysis and organization get done, so that when you’re ready to write, all you have to worry about is sentence structure, word choice, and tone—which is more than enough!

Remember those school days when teachers required outlines before you could start writing your paper? They may have referred to it as part of a “pre-writing” phase. It turns out those outlines are life skills, not just busy work. As adult business communicators, you should still commit to outlining. An outline serves as a road map for what you’re going to write, and it aids in breaking weak writing habits. Outlines set a writer up for success. Unlike in school, they do not need to be formally typed and numbered; they can exist on a notepad or scrap to the side of the keyboard. That said, using your word processor’s outlining function is a great way to keep your outline tidy, and cutting and pasting makes it easy to rearrange your order.

First, determine how the receiver of this communication likely feels about the communication: positive, neutral or negative. Focus on what the receiver feels based on the receiver’s situation. Do not factor in “How I’d like to hear this news.” The receiver has not researched this message, might not have heard parts of the topic before, or has the background you have. The receiver may have a different work responsibility and may need background to fully appreciate the communication. Factor all of that into the audience analysis. This is you-view planning.

Planning is the key first step in the writing process because it enables the writer to begin thinking about how the final product will be created and evaluated. It is the first step in establishing your accountability and reliability as a writer. Remember that when you are writing for a corporation or organization, your writing lives on as legal documentation and reference. Writers are no less responsible for accountability for their work than are lawyers and medical personnel. Solid planning leads to reliable final documents.

Skipping the pre-writing stage is like taking a vacation without first choosing a destination: If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you get there? Fortunately, pre-writing can take many forms, and there are strategies that suit every type of writer.

The strategies and processes used in the pre-writing stage not only help the writer formulate a topic and solidify ideas, they also serve as a kind of rehearsal for the rest of the writing process. As the writer uses the vocabulary associated with a particular topic, he or she becomes well-versed in the subject and is able to express ideas with more confidence, organization, and clarity. All of this brings to mind the old joke, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The answer, of course: “Practice. Practice. Practice.”

Just as a musician must practice their instrument in order to achieve their goal, the practice undertaken during the pre-writing stage guides the writer toward a specific goal. That goal is to develop a well-defined topic that will eventually be couched in the language of a succinct thesis or hypothesis.

Planning starts with audience reaction, which maps to an organizational structure for the document.

Earlier in this module, three audience types were introduced: positive, neutral, and negative. These audiences may receive positive, negative, or persuasive messages:

• Positive messages are routine or good news. The receiver is likely to react positively or neutrally.
• Negative messages are bad news. The receiver is likely to react negatively.
• The overlapping category is persuasive messages. The audience is expected to need encouragement to act as the sender desires. In some cases, the receiver is more like a positive audience. In other cases, the receiver is more like a negative audience.

All messages contain three or four blocks:

1. News: Whether good news or bad news, the message states its point clearly. There receiver should clearly understand the news unambiguously.
2. Reasons: The reasons section supports or explains the news. This is the needed detail to aid the receiver’s understanding or action.
3. Goodwill and Action: This is the closing paragraph where the sender provides a brief, sincere remark designed to continue the working relationship. The closing paragraph is not finished without some detail or reminder related to the purpose of the communication, or call to action.
4. Buffer. This is usually only found in negative and some persuasive messages. A buffer starts a message where the reader is likely be to the negative side of the continuum by warming the reader to the topic, but not laying out the entire outcome of the message.

Depending on your audience reaction, you will place these blocks in a different order:

This is a video about planning business messages: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-L6n7bjo0Y