Technical Writing Tips

Style, Grammar, Usage

Pfeiffer, William S., Pocket Guide to Technical Writing, Second Edition

Writing Process
Style: Features such as word choice, sentence length, paragraph organization, and active and passive voice. Grammar: Rules that determine how language should be used. Usage: Context for the correct use of problem words.

Pfeiffer, William S., Pocket Guide to Technical Writing, Second Edition

Active/Passive Voice
Active-voice sentences emphasize the person or thing performing the action
We performed the aggregate gradation test. The group accomplished the ASTM E8 tensile test.

Passive-voice sentences emphasize the action itself that is something is being done by somebody
The aggregate gradation test was performed by the group. It is recommended that the aggregate be classified as coarse.

Avoid egocentric, repetitious tone, i.e. I, I, I, I, I

Pfeiffer, William S., Pocket Guide to Technical Writing, Second Edition

Accurate Wording
[Never sacrifice clarity for conciseness]

Distinguish facts from opinions We believe It is our opinion Include obvious qualifying statements when needed The concrete compressive strength was determined from one sample Avoid absolutes unless you mean them
Testing nine concrete samples will guarantee the compressive strength (reduce uncertainty)
Pfeiffer, William S., Pocket Guide to Technical Writing, Second Edition

Lists
Lists draw attention to three or more pieces of like information that are important enough to remove from standard text format Range of from three to nine items Precede the list with a lead-in that is a complete thought Place a colon after the last word of the lead-in Capitalize the first letter of the first word of each listed item
Pfeiffer, William S., Pocket Guide to Technical Writing, Second Edition

Wordiness
[Reducing verbiage without changing meaning]

Replace abstract nouns with verbs

Testing of the concrete occurred yesterday The concrete was tested yesterday

Replace long words with short ones

Advantageous => helpful Cognizant => aware

Leave out clichs

Ballpark figure needless to say

Write like you talk

Pfeiffer, William S., Pocket Guide to Technical Writing, Second Edition

Abbreviations
Do not use abbreviations when confusion may result Use parentheses for clarity Include glossary when there are many abbreviations Use abbreviations for units of measure with period if can be confused for a common word Avoid spacing and periods Be careful with company names

Pfeiffer, William S., Pocket Guide to Technical Writing, Second Edition

Capitalization
Capitalize names of specific people, places and things (proper nouns) Best practice includes limited, judicious use of capitals. Good examples in Pfeiffer reference

Pfeiffer, William S., Pocket Guide to Technical Writing, Second Edition

Correct Use of Problem Words

A/An Accept/Except Advice/Advise Affect/Effect Assure/Ensure/Insure Because/Since Cite/Site/Sight Data/Datum e.g./i.e. Farther/Further Its/It s Lead/Led Like/As Percent/Percentage Principal/Principle To/Too/Two Which/That Who/Whom

Pfeiffer, William S., Pocket Guide to Technical Writing, Second Edition

Avoid Plagiarism
Fully document all information obtained from journals, books, interviews, the Internet and all sources except your own ideas or common knowledge Common mistakes/violations
Specific paragraphs/sentences Tables Figures Illustrations

Citing Borrowed Material

Parenthetical citations in text or title of a table or figure (Pfeiffer, p. 9) List source at end of document (Pfeiffer, William S. Pocket Guide to Technical Writing, 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001.)

Pfeiffer, William S., Pocket Guide to Technical Writing, Second Edition

REFERENCES
[1] W.S. Pfeiffer, Pocket Guide to Technical Writing, 2nd Edition, Upper Saddle River, Prentice-Hall, 2001. [2] D. Beer, D. McMurrey, A Guide to Writing as an Engineer, 2nd Edition, United States of America, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005

D. Beer, D. McMurrey, A Guide to Writing as an Engineer, 2nd Edition, United States of America, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005