TECHNICAL WRITINGWeek 1

LSAngeles, MDC

WHAT DO YOU WRITE?

•At home?

•At work?

•For learning?

WHY SHOULD YOU LEARN TECHNICAL WRITING?

•To be functionally literate.

•To be critically literate.

WHAT EMPLOYERS SAY…

• 1/3 of the employees in America’s top companies are poorly trained in writing and cannot compose a coherent business response (National Commission on Writing)

• Conscientious employers are retraining employees to write in the workplace

Three-Part Foundation needed on the job

• Basic Skills (reads, writes, performs mathematical operations, listens and speaks)

• Thinking Skills (Thinks creatively, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes, knows how to learn, and reasons)

• Personal Qualities (Displays responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity and honesty)

•Five Workplace Competencies• Resources: Identifies, organizes, plans and

allocates resources

• Interpersonal: Works with others

• Information: Acquires and uses information

• Systems: Understands complex interrelationships

• Technology: Works with a variety of technologies

Possessing basic writing skills means that students need “to communicate thoughts, ideas, information, and messages in writing; and create documents such as letters, directions, manuals, reports, graphs, and flow charts.”

WHAT SHOULD YOU LEARN BY THE END OF

THE COURSE?

Recognize and explain the conventions of written communication in your discipline.

Apply the conventions of written communication in your discipline while demonstrating thinking skills such as recall, comprehension, analysis, synthesis, and/or evaluation of course content.

Analyze and evaluate the powerful role of experts in your discipline. Experts aren’t mere fact-collectors. Experts in any field produce knowledge and communicate knowledge, often through technical writing.

Synthesize what they learn about writing [process], writings [products] and writers in your discipline by acting as experts who produce and communicate knowledge.

HOW WILL WE LEARN TECHNICAL WRITING?

WHAT SHOULD BE THE PRIORITY OF OUR

CONCERNS IN TECHNICAL WRITING?

WHAT ARE THE BASICSOF TECHWRI THAT WILL

BE DICUSSED?

WHAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF A TECHNICAL WRITING

COMPOSITION?

• It is of considerable importance to ensure that under no circumstances should anyone fail to deactivate the overhead luminescent function at its local activation point on their departure to their place of residence, most notably immediately preceding the two day period at the termination of the standard working week.

•Always turn the lights out when you go home, especially on a Friday.

TRUE OR FALSE?

TECHNICAL WRITERS…

1. Write about technology.

2. Translate specialized knowledge in a manner that is adapted to readers’ needs, level of understanding, and background.

3. Present information that helps readers to solve a particular problem.

4. Persuade readers to see things, ideas, and events as the writers see them.

5. “Set the agenda” and shape day-to-day reality by choosing what gets written and for whom.

1. Write about technology. (TRUE AND FALSE)

2. Translate specialized knowledge in a manner that is adapted to readers’ needs, level of understanding, and background. (TRUE)

3. Present information that helps readers to solve a particular problem. (TRUE)

4. Persuade readers to see things, ideas, and events as the writers see them. (TRUE)

5. “Set the agenda” and shape day-to-day reality by choosing what gets written and for whom. (TRUE)

WHAT DOES TECHNICAL WRITING LOOK LIKE?

•Memos

•Résumés

•Policies

•Procedures

•Reports

•Business letters

•PowerPointpresentations

•Posters

•Professional e-mail

•Object (mechanism) descriptions

•Presentationhand outs & visuals

• Instructions

•Proposals

•Manuals

•Lab reports

•Newsletters

•Certain web pages

Examples of Technical Writing:

• Action Plans

• Advertisement

• Agenda

• Audit Report

• Book Review

• Brochure

• Budget

• Business Letter

• Business Plan

• Catalog

• Contract

• Critique

• Data Book or Display

• Description

• Diagram, Chart, or Graph

• Editorial

• Email

• Feasibility Report

• Field Test Report

• Incident Report

• Informational Form

• Informational Poster

• Informative Summary

• Instructions

• Interview Questions

• Itinerary

Examples of Technical Writing:• Job Application

• Job Description

• Lesson Plan

• Letter of Inquiry

• Letter of Recommendation

• Magazine/Newspaper

Article

• Marketing Plan

• Memo

• Meeting Minutes

• Newsletter

• Observation Report

• Performance Evaluations

• Persuasive Proposal

• Position Paper

• Product Comparison

• Proposal

• Questionnaire

• Research Report

• Résumé/Portfolio

• Scientific Paper/Report

• Survey

• Test

• Transcription

• Training Manual

• Travel Guide

• Web Page

• Work Order

WHAT IS TECHNICAL WRITING?

TECHNICAL WRITING AKA …

•Business Writing

•Workplace Writing

•Professional Writing

•Informational Writing

Technical Writing is the type of

everyday writing that surrounds us

from the time we wake until we climb

in bed at night.

• Directions on the toothpaste tube

• Nutrition benefits on the cereal box

• Business letters and catalogs that come in the mail

• Written instructions for assembling a new product

• Tax receipts and notices

• Product safety information

HOW IS TECHNICAL WRITING DIFFERENT?

• The information is organized, presented and communicated in a specific format.

• The writing is concise, clear and accurate.

• The writing takes into account the audience’s needs, biases and prior understanding.

• The writing presents information to help readers solve a problem or gain a better understanding of a situation.

• The writing conveys technical, complex, or specialized information in a way that is easy for a non-technical reader to understand.

Technical writing is a field of professional writing on technical subjects. It is quite different from fiction or journalism.

Technical writing is a natural partner to

academic writing. It is descriptive, creative,

and expository, but the format is different

and the standards are higher.

Technical writing requires 100% accuracy.

Academic Writing Technical Writing

Descriptive Writing Job Description, Incident Report,

Résumé, Process Explanation

Narrative Writing Observation Report, Progress Report

Analysis Performance Evaluation, Feasibility

Report

Cause and Effect Analytical Report, Product Field Test

Report

Compare-Contrast Product Comparison, Feasibility

Report

Persuasive Writing Proposal, Action Plan

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF

TECHNICAL WRITING?

The most critical skill required in today's business environment is the ability to communicate, both verbally and in writing, and technical writing is a major component of work environment.

THROUGH TECHNICAL CORRESPONDENCE, COMPANIES

MAINTAIN…

•Customer-client relations

•Completion of works as per schedule

•Regular maintenance of machineries

•Total quality management

CHARACTERISTICS OF TECHNICAL WRITING

THREE C’S OF TECHNICAL WRITING

•Clear

•Concise

•Complete

PRINCIPLES OF TECHNICAL WRITING

•Audience/Specific reader

•Purpose

•Language

•“First you tell your readers what you are going to tell them, and then you tell them what have told them.”

•Attractive

CHARACTERISTICS

•Clarity

•Conciseness

•Specific Audience

•Specific Purpose

•Accuracy

•Correctness

•Comprehensiveness

•Accessibility

GOALS OF EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING

•Clarity

•Conciseness

•Accuracy

•Organization

•Ethics

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: CLARITY

Methods for developing ideas precisely

•An expressive essay can clarify the writer’s intent through emotional, impressionistic, connotative words (soon, many, several, etc.).

•An impressionistic word such as “near” will mean different things to different people which is okay in an essay where the goal may be to convey a feeling.

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: CLARITY

• The ultimate goal of effective technical writing is to say the same thing to every reader.

“Place the space heater near an open window.”

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: CLARITY

•Specify

•Provide specific detail

•Avoid vague words (some, recently)

•Answer reporters’ questions (who, what, where, when, why, how)

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: CLARITY

• Avoid obscure words

• Use easily understood words

• Write to express, not to impress

• Write to communicate, not to confuse

• Write the way you speak

aforementioned already discussed

in lieu of instead of

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: CLARITY

• Limit and/or define your use of abbreviations , acronyms, and jargon.

Define your terms parenthetically

CIA (Cash in Advance)

or

Supply a separate glossary

Alphabetized list of terms, followed by their definitions

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: CLARITY

• Use the active versus the passive voice.

Passive voice:

It was decided all employees will take a ten percent cut in pay.Unclear: Who decided?

Active: The Board of Directors decided that all employees . . .

Overtime is favored by hourly workers.Wordy

Active: Hourly workers favor overtime.

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: CONCISENESS

• Limit paragraph, word, and sentence length.

• A paragraph in a memo, letter, or short report should consist of

• No more than four to six typed lines or

• No more than fifty words.

• Fog index (sixth to eighth grade level)

• Strive for an average of 15 words per sentence

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: CONCISENESS

Fog Index

• Count up to 100 words in successive sentences• Divide words by number of sentences = average number

of words per sentence

• Count number of long words (three or more syllables) within sentences• Don’t count proper names (Christopher Columbus), long

words created by combining shorter words (chairperson), or three syllable words created by ed or es endings (united).

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: CONCISENESS

•Use the meat cleaver theory of revision

• Cut the sentence in half or thirds

•Avoid shun words• Avoid words ending in –tion or –sion

• Came to the conclusion concluded

•Avoid camouflaged words• Make an amendment to amend

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: CONCISENESS

• Avoid the expletive pattern

• There is, are, was, were, will be

• It is, was

• There are three people who will work for Acme.

• Three people will work for Acme.

• Omit redundancies

• During the year of 1996

• During 1996

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: CONCISENESS

•Avoid wordy phrases

• In order to purchase to purchase

•Proofread for accuracy

•Consider ethics

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: ACCURACY

• The importance of correct grammar and mechanics

•Grammatical or mechanical errors make writers look unprofessional and incompetent.

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: ACCURACY

• Grammar is so important in technical writing that in a one page assignment

• 4 major grammatical errors = F

• 3 major grammatical errors = D

• 2 major grammatical errors = C

• 1 major grammatical error = B

• “A” means “excellent” which is defined as “without flaw”

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: ORGANIZATION

• Methods for organizing

• Spatial

• General to Specific

• Chronological

• Mechanism Description

• Process Description

• Classification

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: ORGANIZATION

•Methods for organizing

•Definition

•Comparison/Contrast

•More Important to Less Important

•Situation-Problem-Solution-Evaluation

•Cause-Effect

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: ETHICS

•Ethics – methods encouraging moral standards in technical writing

•Practical

•Legal

•Moral

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: ETHICS

• General categories of ethics in communication

• Behavior towards colleagues, subordinates and others (plagiarism, harassment, malicious actions)

• Dealing with experimental subjects, interviewees, etc. (informed consent)

• Telling the “truth” (falsify data, misrepresent facts)

• Rhetoric—choosing your words (loaded words, discriminatory language, logical fallacies)

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: PROCESS

• The writing process is effective . . . and easy.

•All that you need to do are three things:

•Prewrite (about 25 percent of your time)

•Write (about 25 percent of your time)

•Rewrite (about 50 percent of your time)

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: PREWRITING TECHNIQUES

•Reporter’s questions

•Mind mapping

•Brainstorming/listing

•Flowcharting

•Outlining

TECHNICAL WRITING

• Is important to success in business

• Lets you conduct business

• Takes time

•Costs the company

•Reflects your interpersonal communication skills

•Often involves teamwork