So far I've found this course to be significantly more complex than I imagined. The reading about understanding professional writing discussed topics that I had never really thought about on my own when writing. Of course I knew that good communication was key in business and technical writing. This is common sense. However, some of the more critical details discussed such as how proffessional writing's ultimate goal is to promote better relations and affect positive action and how all writing can serve multiple purposes got my attention. I always thought of professional writing as just trying to get your point across while sounding as confident and qualified as possible. It is much more than this however. Your professional writing can contribute to everything you do in so many ways in everything from persoanl relations to completing a project to getting an interview for a job.

Also interesting was the way in which an emphasis was placed on persuading using professional writing. I always thought of it as purely informing and teaching the reader, but often it is about persuading others, not just to believe what you are teaching, but to believe and respect you as a writer. I had always thought that entertainment and appeal were more important in writing fiction and that it was not often used in professional writing. However, through the reading and class discussion I have discovered that entertainment is important in professional writing as well in order to maintain the reader's focus and attention. I will keep all of this in mind as I begin to complete the work in this course as well as work in my future career.