BASIC PRINCIPLES OF GOOD TECHNICAL WRITING
(Mills and Waters, 1981, P. 16)
1. Identify a specific reader whether real or
imaginary.
2. Identify exactly the purpose of the document and make sure every part contributes to the purpose.
3. Use simple, concrete, and familiar language.
4. Follow the principle of First you tell your readers
what youre going to tell them; next, you tell them,
and lastly you tell them what you have told them.
5. Make your technical documents presentable.
CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD TECHNICAL WRITING
Good technical writing (Markel, 1992, p.4 and Finkelstein, 2005,
p. 7)
- is clear, well-organized, and reads naturally;
- is concise, keeping it brief and to the point;
- use only the essential words;
- is accurate and well documented;
- is comprehensive;
- uses correct grammar and punctuation
-deals with technical information;
- relies heavily on visuals
- uses numerical data to precisely describe
quantity and direction;
- is grammatically and statistically correct.
WORKING PRINCIPLES TO ACHIVE A GOOD TECHNICAL WRITING STYLE
1. HOW? WRITE TO EXPRESS NOT TO IMPRESS;
WRITE TO COMMUNICATE NOT
TO CONFUSE
2. What am I arguing or describing?
3. Use a variety of sentence type but keep them short and
simple if possible
Simple: the President declared total war against cpp- npa an
even and.
Compound: simple + coordinating conjuction + simple
Complex: independent clause + 1 or more dependent clause
Compound-complex: 2 or more independent clauses + 1 or
more dependent clause
(average number of words is 15 to 20 per sentence)
4. Focus on the real subject
Ex. Political science =
Ex.
weak: the use of this method would eliminate the problem odor.
Strong: This method would eliminate the problem odor.
Weak: there are many politicians involved in drugs.
Strong: many politicians are involved in drugs.
5. Focus on the real verb
Ex.
Weak: an investigation of all possible alternatives was
undertaken.
Strong: all possible alternatives were investigated.
Weak: consideration should be given to an acquisition of the
Properties.
Strong: we should consider acquiring the properties.
6. Express parallel elements in parallel structures
Ex.
The board of directors watched the launching, and the crew was
acknowledged.
The board of directors watched the launching and acknolewdged
the crew.
7. Avoid misplaced and dangling modifiers
Ex.
The consultant only comes in on Fridays.
The consultant comes in on Fridays only.
Searching for the correct answer to the problem, the instructions
seemed unclear.
8. Avoid unclear pronoun references
Ex.
Marissa worked in a national forest last summer, which may be her
career choice.
Marissa worked in a national forest last summer, and she may
choose a forest management career.
9. Avoid obscure and pompous words
Ex.
It is the belief of the accounting department that the predicament
was precipitated by a computational inaccuracy.
The accounting department thinks a math error caused the
problem.
Subsequent to the passage of the subject ordinance, it is incumbent
upon you to advise your department to comply with it.
When the law is passed, you must tell your staff to follow it.
10. Be concise (short but complete)
1. Avoid needless phrases
Ex.
a majority of - most
a number of - many
At an early date - soon
2. Eliminate redundancy
Ex.
Basis fundamentals - basic/fundamentals
Completely eliminate - eliminate
11. Avoid shun words (-tion or sion)
Ex.
Utilization of - use
Came to the conclusion - concluded or decided
With the exception of - except for
12. Avoid camouflaged words (buried in the middle of surrounding
words)
Ex.
Make an amendment - amend
Make an adjustment - adjust
For the purpose of discussing - discuss
13. Use active and passive voice appropriately
14. Avoid sexist language by:
- using a more descriptive or inclusive compound words
Ex.
Businessman
Cameraman
Workmen
manmade
14. Avoid sexist language by:
- rewriting the sentence or passage
15. Be accurate
Guidelines:
distinguish facts from opinion
use absolute words carefully
include qualifying statement when needed
let someone else read it
read backwards
read one line at a time
read by syllable
use computer technology
Read figures, scientific, and technical equations, and abbreviations
read it aloud
use a dictionary.
