1. TECHNICAL WRITING 2
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2. COMPOSING A TECHNICAL DOCUMENT
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3. INTRODUCTION
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4. Introduction Parts of the composing process: Situational Analysis,
Discovery,
Arrangement,
Drafting,
Revising, and
Editing.
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5. THE ORIGINAL DRAFT
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6. Original Draft
Find a quiet place to work.
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7. Original Draft Choose a time of day when you feel like working.
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8. Original Draft
Make your rough draft full.
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9. Original Draft
Include enough detail to demonstrate you know what you’re are talking about.
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10. Original Draft Begin with the section that will be the easiest
to write.
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11. Original Draft
Proceed swiftly to get your ideas on paper.
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12. Original Draft Do not write for more than two hours at one time.
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13. Original Draft
If you get stalled, reading what you have written is one way to get the flow going.
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14. REVISING YOUR WORK
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15. Revising
Write understandably, not impressively.
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16. Revising
Give enough examples and facts.
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17. Revising
Provide smooth transitions.
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18. Revising
Adapt your material to your audience.
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19. Revising Cross out pretentious words and substitute simpler ones.
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20. Revising
Cut out words that add nothing to your thought.
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21. Revising
Cut our artificiality and jargon.
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22. Revising Put yourself in your reader's place:
Does your discussion take too much for granted?
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23. Revising
Are questions left unanswered?
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24. Revising
Are links of thought missing?
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25. Revising Share drafts with colleagues and ask for their opinions.
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26. EDITING
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27. Editing
Editing is the next-to-final step before you release your report.
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28. Editing Be sure that all notes and citations match the references.
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29. Editing
Check your graphics for accuracy.
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30. Editing
Place graphics in the best locations.
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31. Editing
Spell checkers can be used but have no sense of grammar or usage.
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32. Editing
Grammar and style checkers should not be used.
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33. Editing Print your final draft and proofread it one more time.
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34. DESIGNING A TECHNICAL DOCUMENT
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35. INTRODUCTION
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36. Introduction
Your document must work visually.
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37. Introduction
People will scan your document, for sections that are relevant to their needs.
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38. Introduction
Computer users want to get to the right screen immediately.
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39. THE SCREEN
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40. Screen
Make the screen simple, clear, and
uncluttered.
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41. Screen
Make your paragraphs shorter in online documents than in paper documents.
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42. Screen
Keep a high contrast between text and
background.
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43. Screen Don't create artistic backgrounds that make the text
difficult to
see.
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44. THE BASICS
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45. Basics presentation, content, and style. Readers judge your work from:
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46. Basics
A reader's first impression comes from the appearance of your work.
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47. Basics
Consistency in design is essential to easy reading.
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48. Basics 40 point Century Gothic Style includes: type size, font,
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49. Basics
placement of text,
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50. Basics
borders,
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51. Basics Bold Heading Italic Heading bold headings,
italic headings, and…
Bold Heading
Italic Heading
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52. Basics Heading More space before Than after
amount of space before and after a heading.
More space before
Heading
Than after
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53. Basics Develop a page layout that will work well for your situation.
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54. Basics
Don't change formats just to be different.
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55. Basics
Use templates with your word processing program.
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56. Basics
Headings reveal content organization.
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57. Basics
Readers must understand how material is organized before they can make
sense of it.
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58. Basics
You don't need a table of contents…
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59. Basics
…or glossary for any report under
five pages.
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60. Basics
Add appendix material only if necessary.
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61. Basics In an online document: Limit the amount of information.
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62. Basics
Leave a blank space between paragraphs.
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63. Basics
List items.
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64. HEADINGS
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65. Headings
Use headings frequently.
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66. Headings
Center headings above the text, or to the left.
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67. Headings Headings break the text into manageable pieces. Headings
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68. Headings
Create a pattern for headings and stick to it.
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69. Headings All headings at any given level have the same: type size,
capitalization, and
placement.
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70. Headings
Limit the number of heading levels but not the number of headings.
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71. Headings
Match the size to importance.
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72. Headings
Generic headings such as Part I or Section 2 should only be used with appropriate titles such as Part I - Assembly.
Never leave a heading at the bottom of a page and the text on the next page.
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73. PARALLEL HEADINGS Change the data Add or delete columns
Change colors or patterns
Add titles and legends
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74. Parallel Headings Non-parallel headings are wrong!
Data Selection Updating
To add or delete columns
How to change color or patterns
Titles and legends can be included
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75. Parallel Headings Parallel headings are correct! Change the data
Add or delete columns
Change colors or patterns
Add titles and legends
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76. ON-LINE HEADINGS
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77. On-Line Headings Headings are the road map to an online document.
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78. On-Line Headings
Online readers jump directly from a heading to a screen of information.
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79. On-Line Headings
Online documents should have many headings but only two or three levels of headings.
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80. LISTS
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81. Lists Use bulleted lists for:
three or more parallel points in a report
two or
more
parallel
points on a
screen.
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82. Lists
Use numbered steps for instructions.
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83. COLOR
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84. Color Color works well in headings, graphs, charts, and pictures.
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85. Color
Color does not work well for text except for emphasizing key words or phrases.
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86. FONT
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87. Font
For most word-processed documents, 12-point type works well for regular text.
Use point type for:
headers,
footers, and
footnotes.
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88. Font
Use 14 point and larger font for:
titles, and
headings.
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89. STATISTICS
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90. Statistics
Technical presentations contain statistics.
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91. Statistics Statistics are useful in substantiating disputable claims.
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92. GRAPHICAL ELEMENTS
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93. INTRODUCTION
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94. Introduction
Use pictures, tables, and other graphics.
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95. Introduction We live in a society that emphasizes visual forms of
communication.
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96. Introduction
Even newspapers and magazines rely on visual as much as verbal communications.
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97. Introduction Graphics can present an accurate picture of data.
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98. Introduction Place the graphic close to the point it explains.
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99. Introduction
Keep your graphic as simple as possible.
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100. Introduction
Use graphics to simplify concepts.
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101. Introduction
Use photographs to present objects.
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102. Introduction
Graphics software offer a vast range of visual display options.
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103. Introduction
Browse the Web for ideas.
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104. TABLES
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105. Tables
Box each table.
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106. Tables
Keep the title brief.
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107. Tables
Number each table.
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108. GRAPHS
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109. Graphs Graphs quickly and effectively help readers visualize: trends,
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110. Graphs
processes…
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111. Graphs
relationships, and…
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112. Graphs
comparisons.
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113. Graphs A table can often be converted into a: bar graph, pie chart, or
line graph.
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114. Graphs
Three-dimensional graphs are often difficult to interpret -except for a pie
chart.
Note: Does
NOT meet
minimum
number of
sections.
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115. Graphs Make the graph big enough to be legible. 28 point minimum
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116. Graphs Label the x-axis and the y-axis on all graphs. X = ? Y = ?
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117. Graphs Avoid placing too much information on a graph. Can you Read all
This?
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118. Graphs Color can enhance the effect of a graph...
Excessive color can reduce comprehension and distort information.
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119. Bar Graphs Bar graphs should be used only for discrete data. Cannot
Have ½ an
Accident!
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120. Circle Graphs
Circle graphs, or pie charts, are used to portray percentages or proportions.
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121. Circle Graphs Clearly label all segments. Too many Segments. Type Too
Small.
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122. Circle Graphs
Labels should be horizontal.
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123. Line Graphs
Use line graphs for continuous data.
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124. Line Graphs
Avoid placing too many lines on one
graph.
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125. DRAWINGS
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126. Drawings Use cutaway drawings to visualize the interior of products.
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127. Drawings
An exploded view allows the reader to see the product's components.
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128. Drawings
Flowcharts show steps in a process.
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