Introduction

You are asked to set goals at the beginning of the course – these goals will then guide your participation in course projects. For example, if one of your goals is to learn how to write a business letter, then you’ll identify opportunities to practice those skills in the class, and devote extra time to the parts of projects that ask you to practice professional correspondence. If one of your goals is to learn document design skills, you’ll take time in each project to focus on how your documents use visual design to organize information. Setting goals helps you to take responsibility for what you want to learn, and what will be most useful for you to learn.

However, setting a goal is not the only step required to achieve it. You’ll need to take steps actively towards your goals in each of the tasks you do to complete course projects. If you want to learn document design skills, you will practice and try out new things in your projects, but you’ll also want to ask questions about document design during peer review and conferences with your instructor. You’ll want to use what you know to help you create revision plans and write the revision notes that should accompany each project.

If it sounds like there’s a lot of work involved in researching, planning, and executing successful technical writing projects, you’re getting the idea! This is why technical writers often create what’s called a workflow for technical writing projects. Workflows are flexible frameworks that allow you to create any types of technical communication required. For example, Alejandro Piad Morffis (2024) created the CODER framework that allows a technical writer to: Collect information and ideas; Outline a structured, well-organized document; Draft your document by expanding on your most important ideas; Edit the structure, content, and style of the document; and Release the document to your audience after making final revisions.

While the work you do in this class may not go directly to a public audience (though it may, if you choose) practicing this process will prepare you for circumstances in your future, when you may be asked to create documents that communicate with a wide variety of audiences. A big part of practicing is becoming aware of your technical writing process and working to optimize that process based on your experiences doing work for this class. To help you do this, we’ll discuss two types of writing that can help you reach your goals: work logs and writing journals.

Work Logs

Grading contract systems rely on the idea of self-directed learning, a type of learning that centers “individuals taking initiative and responsibility for their own learning” (Loeng, 2020). In self-directed learning, Svein Loeng writes, “[y]ou are free to set goals and define what is worth learning” and exert “some personal control over either or both the planning (goals) and the management (support) of the learning experience” (2020). Learning in the classroom, then, is “a collaborative process between the teacher and the learner” (2020). Our professional and technical writing classroom, then, is a space where students and teachers work together to accomplish the learning goals set by the student.

To track your progress towards the goals you set, it can be very helpful to create a document called a Work Log^[1]. A Work Log is exactly what it sounds like: a space where you record notes about the types of work you do for your writing projects in the course, when you do that work, and how long your work sessions are. In the table below, you can see a very simple example of a Work Log:

In the Work Log sample above, the student records dates, times, and notes about his work session. He writes about the ads he’s found, and makes notes about his process as he’s completing the project. Notice how, sometimes, his notes from the previous session can set him up for what he should do in the next session. Further, since he’s kept accurate time records, he can estimate how much time he’s going to need to complete the work for each session, which helps him to make his work sessions more effective.

Should you choose (or be required) to keep your own Work Logs, you can use the simple example above as a template. You can also add any extras that make sense for you. For example, you could create a space on your work log to write down a to-do list for your next work session. You could also write down the location of each work session to give you data about which locations and times are most productive for you. Some people may find it easier to use time-tracking apps (as of 2025, Forest is a good example). There are many possibilities, and as you get into the habit of keeping a work log, you will get a clearer idea of your own needs as a writer managing technical writing projects.

That is, as Asao Inoue (2019) wrote, the goal of a writing course that is assessed using a grading contract is to promote mindful laboring. Mindful laboring asks us to focus on how and why we do work, in order to “investigate” (p. 119) our process. You might be able to answer questions like: how often do I need to work to finish a project on time? When do I do my best work? What interferes with my work sessions? To help us answer these questions, we can move from only logging our work to writing reflectively about it.

Writing Journals

The University of York (2025) frames reflection as a tool we use all the time; it helps us “plan and undertake actions, then think about whether each was successful or not, and how we might improve next time.” Reflective writing, then, is a way to record reflective thinking. Reflective writing, like all other types of writing, is a skill that you must practice in order to do well. It takes time to practice noticing the steps in your process and how productive and pleasing you feel those steps were. One way to practice this is regular reflection in a writing journal.

Keeping a writing journal – a journal that specifically focuses on our experiences of writing – is not something many of us are accustomed to doing. However, writing journals can be incredibly beneficial when paired with a work log. As Inoue (2019) wrote, reflecting on our work in a writing class is critical to facilitate “learning how one learns, managing one’s time best, and understanding the boundaries and limits one has in one’s life” (p. 123). Having this information allows us to assess our progress mid-project so that we can adjust our work to meet our goals – it can even help us to finish our projects on time.

Below are some brief samples of writing journals that relate to the work log in the previous section.

In the first entry, the writer thinks about the process he used to think about which ad to use for Project 2. He uses reflective writing to recap his reasoning process; doing so will help him begin establishing the reasons he wants this position, which will help him think about his fit for the position. This writing journal entry helps him clarify his purpose before he begins drafting his materials.

In the second entry, the writer explains what he did with his short work period on May 4. Here, we see a session that sounds less productive, at least if you measure by the number of words on a page. However, notice how this short work session let the student think through the choices he needed to make to start working on his draft. It’s likely that he can start his next writing session with a clear idea of exactly the work he needs to accomplish to finish drafts of both documents.

Though reflective writing can be hard at first, it is a skill worth practicing. Reflection is a tool that allows writers to write, analyze, and adjust; it requires you to observe your writing process and use the information you find to improve both your process and your project.

What Do I Do with All This Writing?

However your instructor has asked you to track and reflect on your work this semester, you should keep this writing as you work through the course. Putting these reflections in a place that is easily accessible to you (like a Google Drive or OneDrive folder) will help you complete important work in the course. Specifically, you can use any logs or reflections you have to help you write your revision letters, which accompany each major project. This work will also be useful as you assemble your materials to write your course reflection memo for Project 5.

As you create revision letters for Major Projects 2, 3, and 4, you can use work logs and writing journals to understand your writing process. These materials will provide a helpful record of your revision process so that you can explain your process to your instructor. Work logs and writing journals will also help you to create your Course Reflection Memo. As you create this document, you can use your logs and reflections to evaluate what types of work you did on the goals you set in Project 1. Your logs and journal entries will help you to remember the work you’ve done over the course of the class and to see your progress towards your goals in that work.

Though this writing adds to your course workload, the benefits of a clearer perspective on your writing process are things you can take with you as you continue your education or begin your career. These skills will help you to be a more thoughtful writer, researcher, and designer.

References

Inoue, A. B. (2019). Labor-Based Grading Contracts: Building Equity and Inclusion in the Compassionate Writing Classroom. WAC Clearinghouse, https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/labor/.

Loeng, S. (2020). “Self-directed learning: A core concept in adult education.” Education Research International. Accessed from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/2020/3816132, 2 June 2025.

Morffis, A. P. (2024). “A pragmatic workflow for technical writing.” The Computist Journal. Accessed from https://blog.apiad.net/p/a-pragmatic-workflow-for-technical, 26 May 2025.

University of York. (2025). “Reflective writing.” University of York: Practical Guides. Accessed from https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/academic-writing/reflective, 2 June 2025.