Difference between revisions of "ABC Approach"

...by students

Principles of Document Organization

Select Your Reader

Beginning and Ending

Repeat Key Points

ABC Format for Documents

Technical documents should assume three part structure that consists of beginning, middle and end. Every document should begin with an Abstract or an Overview that offers a summary of main points. The Body is the main content section of the document that elaborates on the main topics. The purpose of the Conclusion is to restate the central points that were covered in the document.

Document Abstract

The purpose of Abstract is to provide decision makers with the document's highlights. It explains to the readers how does a particular document concern them. Abstract always include general conclusion or executive summary, a clear purpose statement and the most important points for the decision makers. The exact name and size of this section could vary depending on the purpose and the audience in particular. Document highlights must be brief and yet unambiguous.

Document Body

The middle section of the document is the body. The purpose of this section is to provide supporting details for the concepts mentioned in the abstract highlights. It is a good idea to write expansively and elaborate on project's background, related work or experience and applicable conclusions and recommendations. Although there are no standard sections that must go into the body, the content must always be in reference to the key points that were introduced in abstract and mentioned in the conclusion.

The following are suggested guidelines for for writing document body:

a: Separate facts from opinions and clearly indicate if it is an opinion that you are stating. 
  Opinions that are derived from technical data should be mentioned as a suggestion in the 
  conclusive section of the document. This especially applies when readers are of technical 
  background and will rely on your document to perform their job. 

b: Documents should follow a standard structure. Use section headings and frequent subheadings 
  so the reader can find information immediately.

c: Introduce graphics to possibly eliminate the reading overhead and to draw attention to the 
  important points. This will visually reinforce details.

The body should not include raw data in order to preserve the overall flow of information. The body section is there to show the support information for the key points from abstract and not for the reader to derive new concepts.

Document Conclusion

The final section of the document is the Conclusion. It will provide a summary of the document's key points to the reader. A good conclusion will effectively describe each main point from the document, so that a reader can have a solid idea about the document's contents. There may also be some direction for future actions by the reader.

Conclusions can be of the following two formats:

a: Listing format is especially usefully for putting together key concepts, mentioned throughout the document
b: Summary format is appropriate if you cannot make a list of mentioned topics, for example when a single decision
   was derived from technical data.

Both alternatives are suitable for bringing the readers back to the main points to enhance the decision making process.

Organizing Sections and Paragraphs

The ABC format is used for the overall document structure. Each document construct must be designed with similar considerations to contain beginning, middle and end subsections. This allows the agile information flow and readers can easily transition between sections.

Paragraphs are the basic building block of technical and non-technical documents. ABC format requires each paragraph to have the following sections:

1: Topic sentence - an introductory or a section entry sentence that states the key concepts in a particular paragraph.
2: Main idea development -  a subsection that conveys fact about the idea stated above. 
3: Transitional elements - sentences that contrast the key ideas in further sections.
4: Closing sentence - a conclusive element that once again restates the main point and brief conclusions about it.