The pen and the sword: how to make the writing process work for you. (Focus on Communications).

As employees advance through the ranks of an agency, the nature of their writing changes. Sergeants write fewer incident reports and more performance evaluations; lieutenants and captains respond to letters from the public, propose new programs, submit grant requests and the like; even chiefs and sheriffs may find themselves writing unfamiliar documents for new audiences. Civilian employees face similar transitions, from writing standard interagency memos to wide-ranging budget narratives and annual reports. As one student at the FBI National Academy recently said, "In law enforcement, there is a point where the gun becomes less of a weapon and writing becomes more of one." (1) Law enforcement officers should be proficient with both.

Business writing is not mysterious, magical, or impossible to learn. Writers at all levels can follow five logical steps to ensure that their documents get the job done with minimal fuss and effort. By answering a few questions, brainstorming potential information to include, selecting the needed information and organizing it logically, editing for style, and finally proofreading for grammar and punctuation, writers can produce successful documents.

Step One: Prewriting

When given a writing assignment, inexperienced authors frequently start typing right away. This approach usually leads to a jumble of rambling thoughts that readers cannot decipher. Just as officers learn to develop a plan for responding to a call for service before they arrive at the scene, writers should develop a plan for composing their documents before they sit down at the computer. Answering these four basic questions will put writers on the correct path:

* Who am I writing to?

* What is my purpose?

* What action do I want my reader to take?

* What is in it for the reader?

The answers to these questions will help writers form a simple, one-sentence statement that conveys the essence of their message: a bottom line. This sentence tells the reader the topic, who is affected, and what will or should happen. Here are a few examples of bottom lines for everyday documents:

* Internal job posting: To apply for this position in the Drug Unit, you must submit a letter describing your qualifications to Lieutenant Mary Jones by 1700 hours on 12/20/02.

* Information request: By Tuesday, please send me a spreadsheet showing the projected fleet maintenance costs for fiscal year 2002.

* Thank you letter: Thank you for speaking to my class today and sharing your expertise in legal issues.

* Performance evaluation: During the rating period, Mr. Adams met expectations in the areas of oral and written communications, but he needs to improve his interpersonal skills and filing system.

An effective bottom line predicts the information to follow; everything else in the document should support or clarify it. Anything that does not pertain to the bottom line does not belong in the document.

Step Two: Brainstorming

With a clear bottom line on paper, writers can begin brainstorming potential ideas to include in the document. This step often is called "fast writing" because the writer seeks to record as many ideas as possible without sorting or evaluating them. Not every idea generated at this stage will end up in the final document, but that is okay. Anyone who has participated in a group brainstorming session probably has experienced the phenomenon of having a silly idea from one person inspire someone else to think of the perfect solution. The same thing holds true here. No idea is too absurd or wrong to record during a fast-writing session.

Writers employ a variety of fast-writing techniques. Some jot lists of words and phrases for key ideas, while others use more visual techniques, such as webbing or mind mapping. Free writing, also known as letter writing, helps some writers generate ideas; this technique simply involves writing a letter about the topic to a trusted reader. Still others, encumbered by the tools of writing, talk through their ideas and record them on audiotape to transcribe into a first draft later. No matter the fast-writing method used, the objective remains to record as many ideas related to the bottom line as possible. From this pool of ideas, writers choose the best ones to include in the final document.

Step Three: Writing and Organizing

Writers can choose from many patterns to organize their information. For investigative reports, chronological order makes the most sense. For other types of documents, however, chronological order might not serve the reader or the writer well, so effective writers use different methods of organization.

For example, proposals frequently describe the problem or current situation first, follow with the proposed solution, and end with the anticipated results. Progress and after-action reports follow the same format, only all in past tense. Employee evaluations might employ a topical or grouping method, describing each performance element in a set order. Instructions and procedures follow sequential order from first step to last. Operational plans include a spatial component that describes the physical layout of the buildings, streets, or locations involved. Writers should select the pattern that best serves the document's purpose.

Step Four: Revising for Style

Clutter, jargon, ambiguity, and bias can derail even a well-organized document. Unnecessary verbiage acts like static on the radio; it just adds distracting noise to the message. Specialized terms, including abbreviated program names or the use of 10-codes in certain situations, exclude readers unfamiliar with the definitions. Vague references or unclear descriptions leave readers confused and frustrated. Similarly, language that exhibits prejudice can anger readers, causing them to dismiss the writer's message completely. The style choices writers make in each of these areas dramatically affect the success of the document; therefore, after crafting the first draft, writers should carefully review their documents for clarity, simplicity, specificity, and sensitivity.

Many kinds of clutter exist, including redundancies (e.g., free gift, fatal slaying), wordy expressions (e.g., "six individuals of the male persuasion" versus six men"), smothered verbs (e.g., "conduct an appraisal" versus "appraise" or "have expectations" versus "expect"), and passive voice (e.g., "All homicide cases are investigated by Detective Larson." versus "Detective Larson investigates all homicides."). Writers should strive for clean sentences that include no unnecessary words.

Writers also should choose the simplest words possible. Why say "assist with recuperative maintenance" when "help clean up" will do? When writers use plain language as much as possible, readers do not mind the occasional difficult or specialized term. Writers should try not to drown readers in big words or jargon. Not only does it annoy the reader, it defeats the writer's purpose because the audience cannot comprehend the message.

Writers can make their words more specific by describing observable actions and characteristics instead of using general conclusions. Rather than reporting that a suspect "appeared suspicious," for example, a writer might say that the suspect "left the car running at the curb, carried a brick in one hand, and peered into the window of the closed jewelry store." As the example shows, sometimes it takes more words to say something clearly. That is okay. Writers must never sacrifice clarity for brevity.

One last item for writers to check in this step is bias. Biased language-whether racial, ethnic, sexist, or otherwise-has no place in careful workplace writing. Writers should be sensitive to the concerns of their readers.

Such choices can determine whether a document succeeds or fails. With careful attention to these four aspects of style, writers will improve the readability of their documents, help readers who do not have a lot of time to devote to the task, and ensure that readers receive the intended message.

Step Five: Proofreading

After writers ensure that they have organized the content well and removed all clutter, they must check the fine details of spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Running the spell check application available in today's word processing programs will catch the obvious errors, but it cannot replace a careful line-byline, word-by-word review. Software programs cannot tell the difference between a misspelled word and a misused word.

For the most part, grammar-checking programs perform even more poorly than spell-checking applications. While they can highlight areas for the writer to examine more closely, such programs often misunderstand the writer's meaning and offer bad advice for corrections. Writers should invest in a good grammar book and take time to learn the basic rules of grammar and punctuation. Continuing education courses or in-service training can help employees refresh their skills.

When in doubt about the correct punctuation, writers should revise the sentence until they know for certain how to punctuate it. This frequently requires breaking a complex sentence into two or more simple ones.

Managing Time

This time-tested writing process divides a writing task into manageable steps. Some writers, however, tend to get stuck along the way and run out of time before completing all of the steps. To avoid such problems, writers can follow this general guide for dividing the time they have to complete a document: (2)

1) Prewriting              12.5%
2) Brainstorming           25.0%
3) Writing and organizing  25.0%
4) Revising for style      25.0%
5) Proofreading            12.5%

Thus, if a letter needed to go out in an hour, the writer would spend about 7 minutes answering the prewriting questions and developing a bottom line, 15 minutes brainstorming, 15 minutes writing and organizing, 15 minutes revising for style, and 7 minutes proofreading. These times are flexible, so 10 minutes brainstorming and 20 minutes writing would probably work well, too. The objective is to leave enough time to complete all five steps.

Conclusion

For most people, writing well requires study and practice. Law enforcement officers at all levels should approach learning this skill just like they learned marksmanship or investigative techniques: begin with the basics, split the task into steps, practice with feedback, and requalify regularly. With time and practice, the steps outlined here will become second nature.

Writing matters. It can help spend or save money, win or lose a case, and cause or avert danger. Members of the public expect their law enforcement officers to use all available tools to protect them and keep the peace; members of the department expect their leaders to do the same. Law enforcement executives must arm themselves with both the pen and the sword.

Endnotes

(1.) William J. Weightman, FBINA 206. Thc FBI hosts four 10-week sessions each year during which law enforcement executives from around the world come together to attend classes in various criminal justice subjects, including effective writing.

(2.) Ginny Field, "Time Management for the Writing Process," Lesson Plan, 1998.

Writing Resources

Stephen D. Gladis, Process Writing: A Systematic Writing Strategy (Amherst, MA: HRD Press, 1989).

Hodges' Harbrace College Handbook, 13th ed. (New York, NY: Harcourt Brace, 1998).

Online Writing Lab, Tidewater Community College, http://www.tc.cc.va.us/writcent/

William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, 3rd ed. (New York, NY: Macmillan, 1979)

Andrea J. Sutcliffe, ed., The New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1994).

Christopher Thaiss and John E. Hess, Writing for Law Enforcement (Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1999).

William Zinsser, On Writing Well, 6th ed. (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1998).

Ms. Linkins, Law Enforcement Communication Unit, is an instructor at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.