Technical Writing

Luis G. Sison
Dept of Electrical and Electronics Engg University of the Philippines, Diliman

References
Strunk & White. The Elements of Style, 4th ed. Blake & Bly. The Elements of Technical Writing. David Patterson. Dave Pattersons Writing Advice.
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~pattrsn/talks/ writingtips.html

General tips
Think of your reader. The 3 Cs
Clear Complete Concise

Use simple language. Avoid street language. Revise, revise, revise

Simplify wordy phrases (S&W rule 17)

the reason why is that because with the result that so that has been widely acknowledged to be is it is clear that clearly could be considered as is this is a subject that this subject

Delete extenders
The fact that It has been shown that What is known as Has gained much more importance in recent years

Active Voice (S&W rule 14)

Bad as shown in Figure X Good Figure X shows Bad the diode is turned off by the gate Good ??

Thou shalt not steal

Paraphrase if including more than a few sentences from your source Cite the source of verbatim text and figures (if modified, say adapted http://goto.bilkent.edu.tr/insites/00debate1-thief.jpg from)

Miscellaneous
Ambiguous this (S&W p61) Bad: Visiting dignitaries watched yesterday as ground was broken for the new high-energy physics laboratory with a blowout safety wall. This is the first visible evidence of the universitys plans for modernization and expansion.

Miscellaneous
results to results in Do not use pronouns for objects BAD: the Z8Encore chip, who is responsible Go which-hunting (S&W p59) BAD: the diode which is on the upper right of the diode bridge