Technical Writing

Question 1

Terms

Answer 1

Use terms consistently

Question 2

Acronyms

Answer 2

OttoGroup Server (OGS)
Use Acronyms only when
1.It’s significantly shorter than the full name
2.It appears many times

Question 3

Recognize ambiguous pronouns

Answer 3

1. Only use pronoun after you have introduced the noun
2. Place the pronoun as close as possible to the referring noun, In general, if there are more than 5 words, consider repeating the noun.
3. If you introduce a second noun between your non and pronoun, reuse noun.

Question 4

Active voice vs passive voice

Answer 4

Active voice = actor + verb + target
Passive voice = Target + verb + actor

Question 5

Active voice advantage

Answer 5

1. Most readers mentally convert passive voice to active voice
2. Passive voice obfuscates your ideas, turning sentences on their head. Passive voice reports action indirectly.
3. Some passive-voice sentences omit an actor altogether.
4. Active voice is generally shorter than passive voice.

Question 6

Reduce imprecise, weak or generic verbs

Answer 6

Forms of be: is, are, am, was, were etc
Occur
Happen
there is/are

Question 7

Minimize certain adjectives and adverbs

Answer 7

Refactor adverbs and adjectives into objective numerical information

Question 8

Distinguish that from which

Answer 8

That and which both introduce subordinate clauses.

In US, reserve which for nonessential subordinate clauses, and use that for an essential subordinate clause that the sentence can’t live without.

Place a comma before which; do not place a comma before that.

Question 9

Effective lists are parallel

Answer 9

All items in a parallel list match along the following parameters
1. Grammar
2. Logical category
3. Capitalization
4. Punctuation

Easier to start numbered list items with imperative verbs
Only punctuate items if they are sentences.

Question 10

Effective tables

Answer 10

1. Lable each column with a meaningful header
2. Avoid putting too many tests into a table. If a table cell contains 2 sentences, rethink
3. Strive for parallelism within individual columns.

Question 11

Introduce each list and table

Answer 11

Give each table and list a sentence to setup context
Terminate the introduction with a colon rather than a period

Question 12

Good paragraphs answer what, why and how?

Answer 12

What are you trying to tell your reader?
Why is it important for the reader to know this?
How should the reader use this knowledge? Alternatively, how should the reader know your point to be true?

Question 13

Good document

Answer 13

A good document starts by defining its scope
Specify its audience
Organize the document to meet your audience’s needs

Question 14

Punctuation - Commas

Answer 14

1. Separate list items, A, B, and C. The last comma before and is the serial comma or Oxford comma. It is recommended
   to add it
2. Comma is also used between the condition and the consequence. e.g. if …, then …
3. Wedge a quick definition or digression between a pair of commas

Question 15

Punctuation - Commas

Answer 15

A period separates distinct thoughts; a semicolon unites highly related thoughts.

Question 16

Punctuation - Semicolon

Question 17

Punctuation - Dashes and Hyphens

Answer 17

em dash __ widest (usually the length of the letter m)
en dash _ medium (usually the length of the letter n)
hyphen - narrowest

An em dash represents a longer pause than a comma.
Sometimes, use a pair of em dashes to block off a digression.

Question 18

Punctuation - Parentheses

Answer 18

Parentheses inform readers that the enclosed text isn’t critical.