ClearTips: Riveting reports
How much time can you spend writing?
Writing, at least the writing of reports, is usually preceded
by the separate processes of research and analysis. Keep that in mind
when estimating the amount of time you will spend on a report. Also keep
in mind that other things are sure to intrude on your time.
Here, too, people are imprecise:
As long as it takes
Compare that with:
First draft: 5 days, 8 hours a day, to be finished May
1.
Revised final draft: 3 days, 4 hours a day, to be finished May 15.
Give your estimate in clock time rather than calendar
days, and think about multiplying that estimate by 2 or 3 to account for
optimism and unexpected interruptions.
Because most people squeeze writing in at the end
of the research-analysis-writing cycle, try to begin planning before you
start writing, during the analysis and even the research, and include
time for review and revision.
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