Technical Writing Style To communicate well through your writing, you need to develop clear smooth style.You must develop a standard by which to judge your own writing. Guidelines for writing clear sentences: Remember to use normal word order, write sentences of 12 to 25 words, use parallelism and place the main idea first. Use Normal Word Order: The normal word order in English is subject-verb-object. This order usually produces the clearest, most concise sentences. If you change the order, you emphasize the parts of the sentence that are out of place but often your sentence is just wordy. Dietitians write memos to doctors. Clear Memos to doctors are kinds of writing done by dietitians. Wordy Write a sentence of 12 to 25 words: An easy to read sentence is 12 to 25 words long. Shorter or longer sentences are weaker because they become too simple or too complicated. Cont... Use Active Voice Sentences: Active Voice is more direct than the Passive Voice. The active voice allows you to natural, direct and concise sentence; it places the emphasis on the performer of the action rather than the receiver. An insulator surrounds the electrode. The electrode is surrounded by an insulator. Active Passive. Use parallel structure: Using parallel structure means using similar structure for similar element. Careful writers use parallel structure for coordinate elements_ elements with equal value in a sentence. Faulty A successful firm is capable of manufacturing a product, marketing it and make a profit. Parallel A successful firm is capable of manufacturing a product, marketing it and making a profit. Put the Main Idea First: Place the sentence’ main idea__ the subject__ first. When you do so, you provide context for what follows. “A heaving line which is a coiled line or rope, a heaving jug which is a plastic container such as milk or bleach bottle with a half-inch of water in it to give it a buoyancy and line or rope connected to the jug and a ring buoy and line are three pieces of equipment used to tow victims to shore.( Main idea is at last)” “The three pieces of equipment used to tow a victim to shore are a heaving line, which is coiled line or rope, a heaving jug which is plastic container such as a milk or bleach bottle with a half-inch of water in it to give it buoyancy and with a line or rope attached, and a ring buoy and line. (Main idea is first.)” Cont… Writing Clear Paragraphs A paragraph consists of several sentences introduced by a topic paragraph. The topic sentence expresses the paragraph’s central idea and the remaining sentences develop, explain and support the central idea. You should generally place the topic sentence first and structure paragraph coherently, making each sentence expand on the idea of the topic sentence. Put the topic sentence First: In technical writing, almost all the paragraphs begin with topic sentence, followed by several sentences that explain its central idea. This structure called deductive, gives your paragraph, the direct, straightforward style, preferred by most report readers. Assembly drawings are drawings that portray and explain the completely fabricated final product. ……………………………………………………….. Topic Sentence ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Supporting Detail ……………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………............ . Structure Paragraph Coherently: coherent structure means that each sentence amplifies the point of the topic sentence. You achieve coherence by words you choose and by the way you place sentence in paragraph. You can indicate coherence by using words in four ways; by repeating terms, by placing key terms in the dominant position, by indicating class or membership and by using transitions. Cont… Repeat Terms: Repeat terms in order to emphasize them. Because fluid does not compress, its only path is between the gears and the housing.This path is least resistant…………………………………. …………………………………………………………………… “Path” is repeated in the second sentence to provide further details. Use the dominant position: It means to repeat a key term as the subject– or main idea– of a sentence. Contrast is one of the most important concepts in the black and white printing. Soft contrast is …………………. “contrast” is dominant. Maintain Class or Member Relationship: to indicate class or member relationship, use the words that show subsequent sentences are subpart of the topic sentence. Retailing has two career paths. Store management involves working in the store itself. Merchandising involves working in the buying office. In the above sentences “ store management” and “ merchandising” are member of the class “career paths” Provide Transition: using transition means connecting sentences by using words that indicate sequence or pattern. Cont… Arrange Sentences by Level: you can also develop coherence by the way you place sentences in a paragraph. In Guidelines for Revising for Clarity: almost all technical paragraphs each sentence has level. First level is topic sentence. The second level consists of sentences that support or explain the topic sentence. The third level consists of sentences that develop one of the second level ideas. Fourth sentence, could have several different relationships. As you revise drafts, you should look for language that might cause confusion and make your writing hard to grasp. Avoid Strings of Choppy sentences: Choppiness results from strings of short sentences. Since each idea appears as an independent sentence, the effect of such a string is to make all the ideas seem equal to one another. As a consequence, the writing does not clearly emphasize the important idea. The remedy for this problem is to combine and subordinate ideas so that only the important ones are expressed as main clause. The bowl is made from stainless steel. This material makes it lightweight and durable. The weight of the bowl is four pounds. The use of stainless steel also allows for easy cleaning. Because the bowl is made from stainless steel, it is durable, easy to clean, and lightweight– only four pound. Which paragraph is choppy which one is clear? Cont… Avoid wordiness: Generally ideas are most effective when they are expressed concisely. This guideline does not mean that you should write sentences in telegram style with all short words deleted. But it does mean that you should eliminate all excess wording. Watch especially for redundancy, unnecessary intensifiers (such as “very”), unnecessary repetition, unnecessary subordinate clauses, and unnecessary prepositional phrases. Two important concepts that go along with field are inventory control and marketing.( unnecessary sub. Clause) Two important concepts in this field are inventory control and marketing.( Revised) It is made of very thin glass that is milky white in color.( revise it.) Avoid Redundant Phrases: Since redundancy is such a common problem, here is a list of some common redundancies and their corrections. Cont…. Redundant phrases. More concise Words Due to the fact that because. Employed the use of used Completely eliminate eliminate Connected together connected Final result result Prove conclusively prove In as few words as possible concisely Cont… • • • • • • Avoid Abstract and General Terms: Given choices between, abstract, highly technical words and simple, concrete, specific words conveying the same meaning, always choose the concrete ones. If you must use a potentially confusing word, define it. Avoid or immediately clarify general terms( such as excessive, numerous and frequently) and words of judgment(such as effective, mediocre and significant). Specific words tell the reader far more. Use” there are” Sparingly. Use there are for emphasis or to avoid the verb exist. No easy answers exist. Weaker There are no easy answers. stronger Cont… Avoid Nominalization: Avoid using too many nominalizations– verbs turned into nouns by adding a suffix as –ion, -ity, -ment, or –ness. It weakens sentences by presenting the action as a static nouns rather than as an active verb. Determination of this percentage figure calls for an canalization of various errors and failures that occurred in planned purchases and allowances on merchandise given to employees. ( static) Determine this percentage figure by analyzing the errors that occurred in planned purchases and in allowances on merchandise given to employees. ( active) Avoid Sexist Language: Language is considered sexist when pronoun indicate only one sex when both are intended. Several strategies will help you write smooth nonsexist sentences. Avoid such phrases as he/she or s/he. An occasional he or she is acceptable, but a number of them in a short space destroys the sense of the passage. The clerk must make sure that he punches in. Sexist The clerk must make sure to punch in. Revise by infinitive Cont… Make the parallel structure. It serves the purpose of pulling the sheet off the coil and to straighten or guide the sheet through the rest of the machine. The two main functions of the tractor are supplying the necessary power to pull the load and to provide steering to guide the vehicle. Organizing clearly: We should follow guidelines for clarifying your organization to your reader. These guidelines allow us to write readable documents that steer readers effortlessly through the topic. Use Context-Setting Introduction: your introduction should supply overall framework so that the reader can grasp the later details that explain and fill it.You can use an introduction to orient readers to contents of the document in one of three ways (a) Define Terms (b) Tell Why Are You Writing. (c) State the Purpose of the Document.
