ENG 102 TECHNICAL WRITING Flashcards
Instead of “Other significant features of the program include expense reporting, detailed payroll capture, time management modules, and benefit features.
Redundancy
Getting Started in Technical Writing:
Define the purpose of the document and the key information it needs to convey (task analysis), Define the audience and their level of technical understanding (user or needs analysis), Determine the level of detail necessary for the document, Organize the data.
Entertaining, provocative and captivating
Creative writing
To ensure a professional submission, leave time for a final review of your document.
Final edit
Artistic, figurative, symbolic or even vague
creative writing
Fictional and imaginative
Creative writing
11 elements of style (cont.):
Present tense, active voice., Simple sentences, gender neutrality, abbreviations and acronyms, lists, sidebars, figures and tables, cross-references, footnotes and endnotes, redundancy, final edit.
subjective
Creative writing
Your role as a writer (employ ethical principles)
Avoid language that attempts to evade responsibility., Avoid language that could possibly mislead readers., do not de-emphasize or suppress important information., do not emphasize misleading or incorrect information., treat others fairly and respectfully.
Generalized vocabulary
Creative Writing
Why Technical Writing?:
In professional job, 20-40% of your time will be writing, career advancement, expanding knowledge, improving communication skills, every job profile requires versatility.
easily understood by intended audience
Clarity
clear without excess verbiage
Conciseness
Help you avoid plagiarism
Give credit where due
Project, progress, trip, incident, feasibility etc.
Reports
___ can save readers time, bulleted __ present a series of like items., numeric ___ denote sequential items or items ranked in importance., too many ___ can overwhelm readers.
Lists
Specialized vocabulary
Technical Writing
8 Characteristics of technical writing:
Clarity, Conciseness, Specific Audience, Specific Purpose, Accuracy, Correctness, Comprehensiveness, Accessibility
Help you support your position, recommendations, or conclusions
Give credit where due
You can improve many complicated sentences by splitting them into two simpler sentences, each expressing a clear idea.
Simple Sentences
To ask or answers queries, to set meeting agendas
Letters, memos, e-mail
help your readers locate the information and do follow-up research.
Give credit where due
A specialized, structured form of writing that presents technical information to readers in such a way that it:
is adapted to their needs and understanding level, helps to perform a specific task or solve a specific problem
Clear, precise and straightforward
Technical Writing
try to rewrite the sentence in the plural to avoid the issue of gender., use gender-neutral nouns and pronouns.
Gender Neutrality
Complete and consistent documentation of your sources of information can (Give credit where due):
Help your readers locate the information and do follow-up research. Help you support your position, recommendations, or conclusions. help you avoid plagiarism
Technical writing activities (in-house activities)
Letters, memos, e-mail, reports
targeted to particular readers
Specific Audience
The first time you use an ____ or ____ in a document, spell it out.
Abbreviations and Acronyms
To manager or another department to highlight problems, suggest solutions and recommended action.
Proposals (in-house activities-contd.)
Phrases to avoid
Style and Usage
contains all necessary information
Comprehensiveness
A specialized, structured form of writing that presents technical information to readers in such a way that it: (1) is adapted to their needs and understand level. (2) helps to perform a specific task or solve a specific problem
Technical Writing
includes Table of Content, headings, subheadings, indexes
Accessibility
written for a specific purpose
Specific Purpose
Common elements of good writing
Style and Usage
follows grammatical and technical conventions
Correctness
A short, alphabetical list of often-misused words and phrases, and examples of correct usage.
Style and Usage
Factual
Technical Writing
is factual, correct and free from bias
Accuracy
Present tense, active voice
Elements of style
Informative, instructional or persuasive
Technical Writing
can save readers time
Lists
denote sequential items or items ranked in importance
Numeric lists
present a series of like items
Bulleted lists
too much of this can overwhelm readers
lists
