Digital Economy, Fall 2001: Advice for Article Drafts

Advice for Article Drafts

The first drafts of your scan360 articles are due in two weeks (November 15). Here's some advice about the assignment.

Look at the work in last year's scan360.

But don't imitate too closely. Your assignment calls for individual pieces of 2000-3000 words. Most of the work presently on the site consists of group projects whose overall size is a bit larger than that and whose components may be a bit smaller. Concentrate on saying what you need to say in the word length allotted.

You may take some guidance from the tone and approach to audience adopted by last year's writers. I asked them to write for an audience of peers: educated professionals interested in information technologies, but not advanced specialists.

You don't need to worry about Web design. If time and budget allow, someone will produce your content for the site next semester.

Develop a perspective or point of view.

This article is not meant to be simply a brain dump or a summary of previous reading. You have to reflect, synthesize, and explain what you've learned in relationship to some interesting proposition.

Here last year's work may not be your best guide. Since most of the articles combined the work of many hands, they didn't develop much particular focus. That was okay for last year's context (and is acceptable for those of you who are working in a group this year), but please try to set a more particular agenda in your individual articles.

A useful draft is a finished draft.

You won't be graded on your draft, but you should turn in a complete piece of writing. I may very well pull that writing completely to pieces, but you'll benefit much more strongly if I have the whole picture to work with.

Prepare to rewrite

Be rewrite I do not mean correcting grammar and spelling; I mean rethinking approach, adding new material, cutting out bits that seem extraneous, and perhaps even doing more research. Good revision is an extensive process.