2/21/05 lecture06 1

Technical writing types…

Technical reports

Proposals

Theses

Instructions Memos and letters

2/21/05 lecture06 2

Technical writing…inside e.g., a report

Appendices

Bibliography

Summary

Results

Experimental procedure

Background Introduction

Abstract

Title

2/21/05 lecture06 3

Technical writing…inside a section

1. Introductory sentence/paragraph.2. Main material of section/paragraph.3. Perhaps a concluding sentence/paragraph.

2/21/05 lecture06 4

Technical writing…inside a sentence…the nitty gritty of it!

• What differentiates “regular” writing from “technical” writing?

• As we said at the start of the semester, we write in a style that is much less emotionally-charged, and reads as dry and impersonal.

2/21/05 lecture06 5

Technical writing…inside a sentence…

•This is the nitty-gritty of it…how do we write at the level of a single sentence?

•What are the rules?

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Technical writing style

• Remember – the object is always to convey information, keeping in mind the requirements of:– Accuracy (include all that is needed)– Clarity (remove the fuzz)– Completeness (don’t exclude vital information)– Honesty/integrity (don’t cheat or lie)

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Chapter 3 … editing for style

• Style refers to the way we write something…

– The words we use (number, simplicity)– The words we exclude (jargon, contractions)– The sentences we construct (short, long)

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Style

• Expendables…things we can eliminate.

1. Redundancies• Saying the same thing twice in one sentence

2. Inflated phrases• Using 10 words when three will do

3. Questionable expressions

2/21/05 lecture06 9

Style

1. Redundancies are best show by example (p. 49 of text)

• Final results (results MUST be final by definition!)

• Join together

• Twelve noon (just say noon)

Also see http://www.writethinking.net/Articles/How-to/fat-free_writing/fat-

free_writing.html

2/21/05 lecture06 10

Style

2. Inflated phrases are also shown by example (p. 50 of text)

• “at this point in time” “now”

• “in view of the fact that” “since” or “because”

Also seehttp://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm

2/21/05 lecture06 11

Style

3. Questionable expressions (p. 50 of text)

• Hopefully

• Needless to say

• It goes without saying that

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Style

Redundancies - Inflated phrases -

Questionable expressions

Let’s practice killing them off!1. In-class (now!), do the online exercises at

http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm • Do “wordiness”, “bloated”, “concise”, in that order.

2. Hand in on Wednesday (will not take long) Chapter 3, page 63, question 1 (re-write sentences).

3. More examples: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_concise.html

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Style

• Next…bureaucratic language…AVOID AT ALL COSTS

• Examples…where to begin?

• This language is everywhere in the business world!

• Page 51 nice historical example.

• Technical writing requires CLARITY!

2/21/05 lecture06 14

Style

• We write in the THIRD PERSON ONLY. No exceptions (yet).

• “I re-ran the code with the new subroutine” “We re-ran the code with the new subroutine”

• Or “The code was re-run with the new subroutine included”

2/21/05 lecture06 15

Style

• Passive versus active voice…

• Active: We measured the refractive index.

• Passive: The refractive index was measured (preferred in Met.)

• http://www.io.com/~hcexres/tcm1603/acchtml/twsent.html#passive

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Style

• Avoid jargon – or define it carefully!– When writing for a meteorological audience,

it’s OK to speak about vorticity, baroclinic zones etc.

– When writing for managers, it will upset them.

– Thus, you must carefully define jargon.

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jargon…

– The storm system off the coast (trough) is expected to strengthen over the next two days.

• Defines a term via parentheses.

– Sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) are generally much lower in January than July.

• Defines an acronym.

– Vorticity, a measure of the spin of air parcels, and a key predictor of…, will be measured…

• Defines a quantity early within the sentence.

2/21/05 lecture06 18

Style

• Exclusionary languageLanguage such as this may offend:

If a student wishes, he may request a re-take of the quiz. However, he can expect the re-test to be more difficult.

• This is obvious. Some are more subtle – think about what you are assuming about your audience. Write carefully.

• See also: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_nonsex.html

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Disputed/troublesome words

• Read pp 60-62! Highlights…– affect versus effect:

• Affect is a verb. – The warm SSTs did not seem to affect the storm’s

development.

• Effect is a noun. – The warm SSTs did not seem to have an effect on the

storm’s development.– So effect is preceded (proceeded?) by “a” or “an”.

2/21/05 lecture06 20

Disputed/troublesome words

– allot versus a lot:

• Allot means “to give”.– He was allotted his fair share.

• A lot refers to a large amount. – We had a lot of rain this week.

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Disputed/troublesome words

– ensure versus insure:

• Generally, use insure when speaking of insurance.

• Otherwise, use ensure.

– We will need to ensure (not insure) a safe power supply for the instrument.

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Disputed/troublesome words

– principal versus principle:

• A principle is a guiding rule or law.– Using the principle of error analysis, we…

• Principal refers to something that is first.– Our principal goal is to verify…

2/21/05 lecture06 23

Disputed/troublesome words

– there versus their:

• their is possesive.– Using their thermometers, error the students measured…

• There refers to a location.– There were no tornadoes reported on that date.

– No tornadoes were reported there.

2/21/05 lecture06 24

Disputed/troublesome words

Also…

http://www.io.com/~hcexres/tcm1603/acchtml/twspell.html

Exercise…

http://www.writing.eng.vt.edu/exercises/usage1.html