Technical Writing
Report Writing Procedure
The 5 Phases of Report Writing
Basically, there are five phases involved in putting a technical report together:
Data gathering Preliminary organisation Initial draft preparation Revision Final inspection
Data Gathering
As an engineering writer, you usually start with minimal knowledge of a subject, collect additional information on the subject and then write a summary of what you have learned. As an engineer on the job, you will find that you already group most of the information you need for a report and that bulk of the remaining specific data is available from your daily work.
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Data Gathering
It is usually true that the problem you will be facing is not finding enough information but rather how to limit and select from the data you have at hand. There are four main methods of obtaining technical data and information:
Direct observation and experience Testing and experimentation Consultations Library and web research
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Preliminary Organisation
Perform a detailed communication context analysis (purpose and audienceetc.) and write out your analysis. On several sheets of paper, write down -in random order as they occur to you- the specific items of information that you might include in the report.
Preliminary Organisation
Gather related items of information together:
Use index cards and post it notes to label your items Collect items that have similar labels together in piles or box-files Think of a title for each pile or box-file
Separate unrelated items of information and place them in a miscellaneous pile.
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Preliminary Organisation
If the amount of information is large enough, repeat the same procedure with each group to create sub-titles. Give some thought to the arrangement of the different groups you have:
Are they related in any way? Do some things have to be understood before others can be? Should information be presented chronologically or in order of importance?
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Initial Draft Preparation
Regard everything you write at this stage as something you are going to have to write over again. Do not strive for perfection first time round. The primary job in this phase is just getting ideas into words. Use double spacing and leave large margins in your draft to make it easy to revise and re-write.
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Initial Draft Preparation
Do not start at the beginning with your introduction. The introduction is usually the hardest part of your report. Start with the easiest section or the section you know most first. If you get stuck at a certain section, leave it, move to another section and then come back for it later.
Initial Draft Preparation
Pick your most productive time of the day to do your initial draft writing and block out significant amount of time for this task. To be effective in draft writing, you should have all your information at hand and be enthusiastic to write it down. Consider using a tape recorder for getting your ideas down smoothly.
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Revisions
The primary suggestion for the revision phase is to give yourself some time ( a couple of days ) before you start. Do your major revisions first, and then do your minor revisions. Reorganisation:
The entire report may need to be reorganised or only some sections or paragraphs.
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Major Revisions
Completeness and brevity:
This may include addition or deletion of large blocks of information.
Graphics and illustrations:
Consider the notes that will be mentioned later.
Writing style:
The writing style must be revised at the paragraph, sentence and word level.
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Revisions
Minor revisions include: punctuation, spelling, grammar, word usage and overall smoothness. The main recommendation here is to do the minor revisions on multiple stages. Go through the entire report looking for spelling, then do the same for punctuation, word choice and so on.
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Final Inspection
The main aim of this stage is elimination of errors and achieving an excellent document. Mark everything to be changed, and then make the changes section by section. Check for the following:
Typographical errors Missing or repeated words or phrases Missing page numbers or pages out of order
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Final Inspection
Misspellings of peoples names or names of firms Mistakes in numerical data, tables and figures Inconsistencies in abbreviations or the use of symbols Inconsistencies in terminology and references Inconsistencies between section headings and the table of contents Inconsistencies in headings formatting, line spacing, fonts, or margins
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