ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the recent trends affecting our views of writing, as well as the current research interests relevant to professional writing. With a market place filled with similar products or services to choose from, customers will select according to how effectively they are addressed by the company. Knowing these current and future directions of writing research and practice can help organisations become proactive, interested in staff improving their writing skills to meet changes in the workplace. Then in the early 1980s, the focus of research shifted to business writing as organisations began to open their doors to writing researchers. It may focus on the types of writing common in an organisation, the writer's procedures in producing a document, or the ways that writers are influenced by organisational culture.
