The Technique of Technical Writing

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The Technique of Technical Writing

• Technically Write !, Chapter 11

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Outline

• The Whole Document
• Paragraphs
• Sentences
• Words
• Other considerations

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The Whole Document

• Three factors affecting the readability and
  effectiveness of a document
• Tone
• Least Tangible
• Informal, Semi-Formal, Formal
• Style
• Affected by reader and content complexity
• Arrangement of information Section Structure

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Style

• Low complexity / non technical lends to longer
  sentences / paragraphs.
• Important / complex information can be presented
  with short paragraphs and sentences, one idea at
  a time.
• Use bulleted list (watch parallelism)
• Step by step processes
• Can form subparagraphs

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Appearance

• Often specified (RFP, proposal, paper)
• Numbered paragraphs
• Specifications
• Technical instructions
• Numbered Sections
• For organization of longer reports
• Wide range of fonts and styles available
• Be consistent.

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Appearance

• Upper and lower case letters in headings better
  than all caps
• Use Bold rather than Underline for emphasis
• Keep headings the same font as text
• Use large font size for headings and smaller font
  size for sub headings

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Paragraphs

• Stand alone yet integrate with surrounding text
• Unity
• One topic, support behind topic sentence
• Coherence
• Logical sequence for presenting information
• Continuity between sentences
• Adequate Development
• Enough information for the idea

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Paragraphs Other points

• Length General rule is 10 lines.Adjust according
  to complexity and technical level of reader.
• Short paragraphs for complex topics, long for
  general topics
• Technical readers can handle long paragraphs
  covering complex topics
• Variety is visually lively
• The exception implies importance

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Sentences

• Each sentence should present a single thought
  (Unity)
• Coherence continuously clear and idea apparent
• Parallelism
• Emphasis
• Whole Sentence
• Part of a sentence
• Word Choice (Placement, Passive/Active voice)

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Sentences Other Points

• Completeness
• Fragments
• Run-on sentences
• End Punctuation
• ..said Now we can start the project.
• . specification (as shown in Table 2).
• ..specification. (The levels were higher than 82
  dBA.)

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Word Selection

• Try to avoid vagueness
• My senior report will be complete as soon as
  possible / in two months.
• Canadian spelling Know your audience
• Low-information-content words
• in such a manner as to ? to
• contacted. ? spoke to, telephoned, wrote to
• Avoid clich?s and hackneyed expressions

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Parallelism

• Similarity in shape
• Grammatically Reads smoother and helps
  communicate complex ideas
• Keep verb forms similar likes to study geomatics
  and to survey in her spare time
• Eitheror
• Neithernor
• Able to.unable to
• Rhythm of a paragraph binds it together.

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Other points

• Abbreviation of technical and non-technical
  terms
• Use lower case letters
• Omit all periods
• Write plural abbreviations in same form
• Exceptions (e.g., i.e., a.m., p.m., ID, No.)

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Numbers in Narrative

• General Rules
• Spell out single digits
• Use figures for multiple digit numbers (10)
• Exceptions
• Specific Technical information / Measurement (7
  kg)
• Series (7 cylinders, 14 caps and 26 specimens..)
• Figure 1, Table 3, Chapter 27
• Decimals / Fractions / percentages (7 ½ , 8.34,
  10)
• Time units (3 p.m. January 9, 1997)
• Money (23.87, 0.45)
• Age of persons

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Numbers

• Write out on of two non consecutive numbers for
  the shortest result (23 fifty watt bulbs
• Insert 0 in front of numbers lt1 (0.45)
• Use decimals rather than fractions
• Use spaces between numbers with 5 digits
• Sequence numbers (1st , 103rd , 2nd , 124th)

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Non Gender Specific Language

• Language must keep pace with society
• Eliminate masculine pronouns
• Replace gender specific nouns
• Person-hours vs man-hours
• Worker vs workman
• Chair vs chairman
• Reference to individual Mr / Ms

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Any questions ?