Many of the larger companies that manufacture highly complex machines, such as combat aircraft, computers, and nuclear power plants for submarines, also maintain huge research laboratories. Written reports on all of the activities including ideas for new or modified products must be submitted. The organizations that submit these reports do so not only because they are required to, but also because they hope that this information will lead to new contracts and revenues.
The flood of information is so great that the DDC has to put all this onto computer discs and tapes to conserve space. In the majority of these situations, technical writers are employed to prepare the reports from the data and information provided by an engineer, chemist, or physicist. It is then their task to organize, prepare, and distribute the final reports.
Government agencies, frequently branches of the military, as well as private industries and foundations, regularly solicit proposals from suitable companies to conduct research on a particular problem or to design a mechanism or facility. These "Requests for Proposals" may involve anything from investigating the socioeconomic impact of a new manufacturing facility-or assessing its environmental impact-through developing new traffic control patterns. They may even involve the design and manufacture of new military equipment.
Companies responding to "Requests for Proposals" must design proposals, often several volumes long, which convince the government agency or industry that their company's suggested research project or design work best fits their requirements and is worthy of funding. Often these proposals must be submitted within a short time after receipt of their request, so expertise in proposal writing is essential.
Proposals may seek funding in the millions of dollars. A company's success and its continued existence depend upon having its proposals accepted and funded. Without funded projects, there is no new business and no reason for the organization to continue to exist. Academic research units are in much the same position; without funding obtained through proposals, they cannot continue their work.
In all companies involved with proposal preparation, the technical writer serves a crucial function, and the ability to write concrete, persuasive proposals within tight deadlines is a highly marketable skill. Later, of course, these same writers may be involved in the preparation of the report and impact statements growing out of the research projects.
Regardless of the kind of proposal involved, it is a vital ingredient in all companies, large or small, in government agencies, and in universities. So, if you learn that General Electric or Lawrence Liver-more Laboratory or Lockheed has received grant money, you may be sure that a proposal writer was involved in obtaining the grant.
The importance of careful proofreading cannot be overemphasized.
In any publications department that prepares instruction books, you can see that the writer is really involved in the following four phases:
- Research. The writer analyzes the requirements of the project, collects the preliminary data, examines and interprets the data, and prepares the outline.
- Development. In the development stage, the outline prepared in the research stage is used by the writer as a guide in writing the text and in determining the illustration requirements of the first draft.
- Prototype. The research and development stages produce a proto-type or model of the instruction book.
- Production. In the production stage, all effort is concentrated on mechanically producing the book.
