About Jack Selzer's Professional Writer Observation

Although little research has been conducted on technical writing teaching practices, Jack Selzer provides a beneficial case study on an engineer. Kenneth Nelson spends a lot of time on the job writing proposals and other documents. Selzer analyzed every aspect of Nelson's writing process, including invention and revision, and provided a detailed analysis of his observations. The most interesting aspect of Selzer's article is the invention and drafting process.

Selzer found that Nelson spent 80% of his time inventing. To better understand Nelson's invention process, Selzer carefully read notes and any other preliminary writing that shaped the purpose and anticipated audience needs of the document. Nelson carefully plans his writing. When necessary, he researches existing formats of the company for which he is writing. For example, for an airport-development project, he read the company's Request for Qualifications report to discover preferred organization and information. Nelson also looks to similar documents, such as company brochures, to find the appropriate format. Nelson derived half of one proposal from past documents. Drafting only occupies 20% of the composition time. Material is divided into groups and subgroups to better organize information. An example of Selzer's observation is they way Nelson separates groups by writing a heading on a new sheet of paper when he wants to start a new group. Like other professional writers, Nelson spends a lot of time considering the purpose of a document and drafting the document.