The Process of Technical Writing: Part 2 (of 2)

1. Think and prepare before writing

2. Organise and develop your thinking

3. Develop an outline

4. Do a rough draft

5. Revise

6. Do the final draft

7. Do the final presentation

Step 4 Do a rough draft

1. How to write a rough draft

2. The rough draft cures writers block

First draft is a rough draft. Its the only draft that has not been revised.

4.1 How to write a rough draft

· Take everything in your head relating to each outline point, and turn the outline into prose.

· Do it quickly, don't wait for inspiration. Just get the words down, regardless of how bad it seems.

· Don't stop to correct - interrupts flow of thoughts.

4.2 The rough draft cures writer's block

· Rough draft is major cure of writer's block.

· Outline tells you what to say. Rough draft shows how to say it without worrying about how.

· Don't show anyone the first draft so that no one but you will know how bad it is.

Step 5 Revise

Revision converts raw creative prose into flowing, readable writing.

1. Activate the language

2. Clarify the writing

3. Simplify the writing

5.1 Activate the language

Active writing creates interest and understanding. Verbs are central to active writing.

Check active and passive voice. Usually lots of passive voice in rough draft.

Stress is exerted by the load pushing down on the platform (passive). The load exerts stress on the platform by pushing down on it (active).

First, the electrical energy input of the motor must be calculated (passive). First you must calculate the electrical energy input of the motor (active)

Activate suppressed verbs. Suppressed = weak. They stop the verb from being more effective. Is usually the suppression of the active verb.

Words ending in `-tion', `-ing', `-ent' and the use of prepositional phrases with verb forms.

Completion of the heat tests has been accomplished by the lab (completion is suppressed). The lab has completed the heat tests (activated).

The software suite is dependant on a dedicated server for its operation (operation is suppressed). A dedicated server operates the software (activated).

5.2 Clarify the writing

If the reader can't understand, your writing has failed. When your writing is clear, the reader can go directly to your ideas without struggling with the writing.

Check the following:

1. Decide on personal vs impersonal reference. Will you use `I' and `You' (personal). Impersonal tends towards the passive. Use personal unless required to use impersonal.

2. Use connotation and denotation. Dictionaries denote meaning. Emotive words have connotative meaning. Connotative words are far more easily misunderstood. Waste/junk, miscellany/odds and ends, things/stuff, offspring/kids, man/bloke, woman/sheila, comact/smash.

3. Determine whether jargon is helpful. Jargon is exclusive language because it is coded to exclude its denotative meaning. Boot up, bit, byte, megs, bug, I/O, ports, CPU, RAM, ROM.

4. Change abstract words to concrete words. Vague abstract words obscure meaning. Can mean anything to anyone, or be imprecise in the context. The supports must be strong enough (abstract). The supports must have a tensile strength of ... (concrete).

5. Eliminate affected language. Uses complex and impressive vocabulary that says little. Tries to sound official, legal, scientific. Admonish/warn, altercation/dispute, anathema/curse, approximately/about, ascertain/find out.

6. Replace cliches and trite language. Cliches interferes with clarity and annoys the reader. Elongated word forms, superficial use of foreign words, and idiomatic expressions all detract from clarity. At this point in time/now, consensus of opinion/agreement, during the course of/during, in the vast majority of cases/in most cases, on a weekly basis/weekly, refer back to/refer to, until such time as/until, due to the fact that/due to.

7. Correct misplaced modifiers. Modifiers (gerunds, participles, infinitives) can help with clarity. When incorrectly used, they confuse. The topic of the seminar was digital conversion of analogue systems at our Sydney office. The topic of the seminar at the Sydney office was digital conversion of analogue systems. Both are plausible, but only the writer knows which is correct.

5.3 Simplify the writing

Big difference between simplified writing and simple-minded writing. Don't make the reader work harder than they have to get the information.

1. Keep sentence length down. Longer the sentence, the harder it is to read. Becomes a real problem when a document is made up of many long sentences (>30 words). Short sentences combine to make for clearer meaning. Aim for 12 to 15 words per sentence.

2. Keep word length down. Also makes it easier to get past the writing to the meaning. Technical terms may oblige the use of long words.

3. Eliminate needless words. Shipping considerations will be easy because of the flexible nature of the materials. Shipping will be easy because the materials are flexible.

4. Simplify positive and negative constructions. Present positive and negative statements in their most simplified construction. Were not a success versus failed.

5. Watch for the `It ... that' syndrome. It has been shown that, It can be proven that, It is a known fact that.

Step 6 Do the final draft

Format influences readability.

1. Allow for generous use of white space

2. Use topic heads often

3. Use listing

4. Use illustrations effectively

5. Include adequate appendices

6.1 Allow for generous use of white space

Solid blocks of small text is very discouraging. Readers want to feel that a page can be easily read.

6.2 Use topic headings often

· Topic headings open up the text and produce white space. Readers discouraged by unbroken text. Headings create manageable pieces.

· Headings indicate what is coming next.

· Headings alert the reader to major breaks in the writing and its concepts.

· Headings allow reading out of sequence.

6.3 Use listings

· Lists save time.

· Lists make it easier to see the various elements of the list.

· Use ordered list when order is important, otherwise use bulleted list.

6.4 Use illustrations effectively

A picture is worth a thousand words, provided the picture is appropriate.

Line drawings, tables, pie charts, bar graphs, line graphs, flow charts and logic diagrams, schematics, photographs, cutaway diagrams, exploded diagrams.

6.5 Include adequate appendices

· Use appendixes at the end to supplement and/or clarify.

· Appendixes contain relevant material that is either not critical or is too large to place in the main body.

Step 7 Do the final presentation

Report should be properly bound because it looks professional, and you need to prevent the pages from getting dirty or falling out.