The Alphabet of Technical Writing

THE ALPHABET OF TECHNICAL WRITING A:

Accuracy. This can be attained by guarding against careless thinking, expressions and calculations.

B:

Brevity is conciseness of expression, checking the development of your own ideas and accuracy of expression.

C:

Confidence. If you believe in what you are saying is right and wise, write it. Have trust in yourself.

D:

Dignity. Particular attention should be given to diction. Avoid using contractions like won’t, shouldn’t, can’t, don’t. Use straightforward expression with summarized, simplified and well-organized information.

E:

Emphasis. Make your report forceful.

F:

Facility. Report Writing depends more on pacing, sequence, arrangement and connections to achieve smooth flowing, easy to read continuity.

G:

Grammatical Correctness. Acceptable grammatical practice is important for sensible as well as social reasons.

H:

Honesty. Proper documentation must be used. A technical writer must acknowledge his sources.

I:

Illustrations. The use of graphic materials is very useful in technical writing.

J:

Judgment. Judicious weighing of evidence is important in a report. The best evidence is that which is (1) most ample (2) most pertinent (3) most simple (4) most in harmony with the rest of available evidence.

K:

Knowledge. The communication of knowledge is one of the chief functions of the report. It is more than a collection of data for it involves interpretations and formulation of conclusions. Without intelligent interpretation, data will remain useless.

L:

Logic The process of showing the relations among groups of things and classes of group is logic. It is a process of classification, putting things in their proper places.

M:

Mechanical Neatness. A report should be neatly typed and well margined so that it will be easier to read. Headings, subheadings and indention are mechanical devices which help to make the organization of the content clear. Your report must then be clean, free from typographical errors and erasures.

N:

Normal Procedure. Conformity to standard practices makes report easier to understand.

O:

Objectivity can be achieved if you avoid the use of first person in order to give the impression that the work being reported is a team effort or a company activity.

P:

Planning. You need to have a clear idea of where you are going to end before you begin writing.

Q:

Qualification. Qualify what you write by describing what factors are constant and what factors are viable as you work.

R:

Revision. It is the most important phase of technical reporting aside from planning, designing, rough drafting.

S:

Straight Sentences, In a good report, each paragraph begins with a straight forward statement of its subject.

T:

Thoroughness. You can be thorough by (1) preparing a checklist or requirements in the planning phase (2) marking off each requirement as it is fulfilled (3) using the checklist again in the revision phase for a final check.

U:

Unity. A unified report is one in which everything is clearly relevant to main point under discussion.

V:

Viewpoint. Point of view, e.g. as a reporter, researcher or employee, should maintained consistently throughout the report.

W:

Word Choice. Avoid pompous, vague and ornate words. Be precise as you can.

X:

‘Xtra effort brings success.

Y:

You. A report is written for an audience and you should think in terms of pacing and timing. Thus your information can be presented in segments appropriate to your reader’s knowledge and needs.

Z:

Zest. Write only when you have something worth saying and write as though you were performing a service that only you can perform.