Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jul 1989

Defining Problems That Call for Innovation

Peter McGuire ; Sara Putzell

Abstract

In order to define a problem convincingly, technical writers must first decide what kind of problem they are defining. When both writer and reader begin with the same assumptions about what is important in a definition, problems can be defined easily. However, difficulties occur when writers and readers generally have differing assumptions. This is particularly true about problems involving innovation. Once writers recognize both their own and readers' assumptions about such problems, they can adopt techniques to gain reader concurrence.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
1989-07-01
DOI
10.2190/6pfq-bqa4-e7vk-bpkb
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