Sequential thematic organization of publications
Jennifer Tracey, Dayne Rugh, W. S. Starkey · ACM SIGDOC Asterisk Journal of Computer Documentation · 1999
STOP is a systematic method of organizing and writing the technical report and proposal which significantly improves outlining control and editorial caliber of the content.Essentially, the method spoon-feeds the reader in "bite-size", 2-page topics.0 STOP stands for Sequential Thematic Organization of Publications.It is a new and unorthodox method that is surprisingly effective for outlining and writing technical reports, and proposals, particularly the lengthy, detailed and technically complex publications prepared by teams under time stress.In a STOP report or proposal the subject matter is organized into a series of relatively brief themes, each presented in a "module" of two facing pages, complete with associated figure, if any.Thus, you change the subject whenever you turn the page and your attention is occupied with only one message at a time.This framing of message "modules" in a STOP book increases the impact of each and makes it easier to comprehend.What makes STOP work as a practical method for all thematic types of technical writing is that it makes use of the more-or-less uniform topical structure that exists naturally in ordinary expository discourse, but which is hidden by conventional outlining practices.It can be shown statistically that this natural topical structure exists and that the topics, once you recognize them, fit the 2-page spread in an overwhelming majority of the cases.Therefore, recasting or boiling down is not required in the STOP technique.Conventional outlining practices not only hide the natural topics of a discourse, they allow the thesis of the topics to remain unstated, and this makes it easy for the reader to miss the most important points the author wants to make, and for the author to miss making them in the first place.The conventional outline is "categorical" rather than topical, so it is essentially a one-man tool.To supplant the categorical outline, Storyboards are used in the STOP technique to prepare a detailed, "team-visible" outline for each theme module.The traditional but neglected Thesis Sentence, which is the key to coherent outlining and writing, guides the design of each Storyboard for maximum thematic unity.The Thesis Sentence shows the reader at a glance the essential argument of the theme body, and since the total shape of the theme body is readily apparent, the reader is relieved of the common vexation: "When will this passage end, and what point is the author driving at ?" STOP is based on the principle of Thematic Quantization, which asserts that proper recognition and treatment of topical units of discourse is the essence of "coherence, " and that the best way to achieve topic recognition is the device of uniform modules.For a given subject area, the author always has the option of spinning off additional topics, provided each is treated in a unified manner, but he never exceeds a 2-page span of attention at any one moment.The topical segmentation of natural expository structure is thus taken advantage of: it replaces the arbitrary and artificial rules of "logical" categorizing as the issue of the "organizing" process.Experience with STOP over a period of years has demonstrated the practicability of this seemingly brochure-like organizing method for detailed technical exposition.One hundred and twenty major STOP proposals and reports have been produced since November 1962.It is considered now to be demonstrated as a practical method for all types of subject matter, the usual mix of engineering writing talent, typical crash schedules, and conventional methods of multilith production.