Technical Writing Essentials

317 Pages·2018·40.03 MB·English

by  Jon Balzotti

TECHNICAL
W R I T I N G
ESSENTIALS
JON BALZOTTI
SECOND EDITION
Editor /Production Manager: Kent Minson
Editors: Lindsay Tanner, Juliana Avery, Mari Molen, Kevin Haws
Special thanks to Kristine Hansen for some of the wonderful examples in
Chapter 2.
Copyright ©2018 Jon Balzotti and BYU Academic Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright here
in may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means- graphic,
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CONTENTS
Preface ix
I
What Is Technical Writing?
The Communication Process and Characteristics ofTechnical
Writing . ........... . 2
Big Picture: Defining the Writing Situation 7
Ethics . . . . . . 13
Suggested Exercises 20
2
Style 23
What Is Style? 23
Big Picture: Defining the Writing Situation 24
Plain Style 26
Persuasive Style 42
Conclusion . . 46
Suggested Exercises . 46
IV CONTENTS
3
Design Thinking and the W1riting Process 51
Understand: Empathy for the Reader . 53
Explore: Divergent Thinking . 56
Materialize: Failure Is an Option 56
Collaboration. 58
Document Design 65
What Is Document Design? . 65
Understand, Explore, Materialize 66
5 Principles of Design 69
Color 80
Illustrations 83
Conclusion 87
Suggested exercises . 87
5
Resumes, Cover Letters, Interviews 89
What Are Resumes, Cover Letters, and Interviews?. 89
Understand, Explore, Materialize . 90
How to Write Your Resume . 91
Style . 98
Document Design 98
How to Write Your Cover Letter 99
Style . 104
Document Design 104
How to Navigate Your Interview 104
Conclusion 108
6
Activity Reports 109
What Are Activity Reports? 109
Understand, Explore, Materialize 111
How to Write Your Report 112
CONTENTS V
Style . 116
Design . 116
Conclusion 117
Suggested Exercises . 117
7
Analytical Reports 119
What Are Analytical Reports? 120
Understand, Explore, Materialize 121
How to Write Your Report 122
Style . 128
Design . 128
Conclusion 129
Suggested Exercises 130
8
Proposals 131
What Is a Proposal?. 13 I
Understand, Explore, Materialize 132
How to Write Your Proposal . 135
Style . 139
Document Design. 140
Conclusion 142
Suggested Exercises 142
9
Technical Definitions 153
What Are Technical Definitions? 153
Understand, Explore, Materialize 154
How to Write Your Technical Definition. 155
Style . 158
Design . 158
Conclusion. 158
VI CONTENTS
IO
Instructions 159
What Are Instructions? . 159
Understand, Explore, Materialize 161
Before You Start . . . . . . 163
How to Write Your Instructions 163
User Testing 171
Style ... 172
Design .. 172
Conclusion 174
I I
Technical Descriptions 177
What Are Technical Descriptions? 177
Understand, Explore, Materialize 180
How to Write Your Technical Description . 182
Style ... 185
Design .. 187
Conclusion. 187
12
Literature Reviews 189
What Are Literature Reviews? 189
Understand, Explore, Materialize 190
How to Write Your Literature Review 192
Style ... 199
Design .. 199
Conclusion 199
Suggested Exercises . 199
I
Oral Presentations 201
Why Present? . . . 202
Understand, Explore, Materialize . 203
How to Give Your Presentation. . 206
CONTENTS VII
Design . 211
Resources. 213
Suggested Exercises . 215
A
Appendix A: Punctuation Guide 217
Comma. 218
Colon. 219
Semicolon. 220
Hyphen. 221
Em Dash . 223
En Dash 224
Apostrophe 225
Quotation Marks . 226
Asterisk. 227
Parentheses . 228
Brackets 229
Ellipsis . 230
Period 231
Exclamation Point. 232
Question Mark . 233
Ampersand 234
Slash. 235
B
Appendix B: Student Exercises 237
Transitional Words and Phrases 237
Parallelism. 239
Active and Passive Voice 239
Verbosity 240
Strong Sentence Structure 242
Imperative Mood . 244
Purpose Statements . 245
Precise Language . 245
VIII CONTENTS
Titles and Subject Lines 246
Natural Diction and Tone . 247
C
Appendix C: Supplementary Examples 249
Resumes and Cover Letters . 250
Reports. 254
Proposal 258
Instructions 272
Technical Descriptions . 291
Literature Review . 292
PREFACE
T
echnical communication is interactive and adaptive communication (more
on this idea in Chapter 1). Adaptive to whom:' Well, technical commu
nication, more than any other rype, is centered on readers. This means you're
brainstorming, writing, and revising with your readers' needs in mind. These
needs will affect your writing style, your diction, your choice of visuals, and your
overall document design, all of which have important ethical and legal implica
tions for you and the company for which you work.
Effective technical writers must learn to employ informed and flexible
processes for writing and speaking, including finding or creating ideas about
which to write, collecting evidence and essential data, planning and drafting,
editing and proofreading, and designing or presenting a message meant for spe
cific readers. All of this requires technical writers to analyze different aspects of
audience, purpose, and context to convey information clearly and efficiencly in
written, oral, and visual media.
Throughout this book, you'll learn the communication strucmres ( or
genres) typically used by technical writers in science and engineering and about
the processes that produce them, as well as their organizational and stylistic
conventions.
Technical writers have to articulate their ideas logically, provide evidence to
support those ideas, and discuss opposing arguments and research objectively.
This kind of work requires investigation, using library and Internet resources to
locate sources of current peer-reviewed research; assessment of the reliability
and pertinence of data; and avoidance of plagiarism by following current stan
dards for documentation. It's equally important that technical writers learn to
IX
x PREFACE
write in a correct, clear, and direct style that allows readers to comprehend and
use technical information. Finally, technical writers need to read their own work
critically, without ego and always willing to improve.
This book will aid you in developing the skills and attitude necessary to
become a professional technical writer and communicator. These are the essen
tials-let's master them together.