Overview

The purpose of the Quick-Start Section and Online Writing Process Roadmap in this chapter is to give you a brief overview of online writing. If you re crunched for time, you can read this chapter and get right to work on your writing project.

The section on Study the Web will help those readers who are new to online writing to create a self-study course for themselves. The section on Analyzing Your Existing Web Site will help readers who have experience in online writing and are ready to improve their current site. The Preparing to Write section will lead both new and experienced writers through the steps they need to take to develop a well-written document. These steps include research, identifying your target audience, determining your document s purpose, writing the first draft, and editing.

When you need more detailed information, the Online Writing Process Roadmap will help you to jumpstart your online writing learning by listing the pages to go to for more information.

Quick-Start Section: A Brief Guide to the Online Writing Process

William Zinsser, author of the classic book On Writing Well, once said, You learn to write by writing. I believe that the same maxim holds true for writing for the Web, but with an additional twist. You learn online writing by...