1. Technical Writing

2. Purpose of Technical Writing
Explain/convey technical subject matter to, possibly, non-technical audience
Example:
Reporting the details of a software project to a manager or CEO of a company or the marketing personnel
Formal structure
Conference and journal papers, technical reports

3. Five Steps
Preparation
Research
Organization
Writing
Revision

4. Preparation Think about the primary purpose(s) of the report
E.g., Course report versus capstone project report
Determine the scope of your report
What you should say, what you can say and what you are not required to say, what you are not supposed to say
Assess/evaluate your audience’s background
Review the formal structure you are going to use
Establish a timeline/milestones/schedule

5. Research Gather solid, sound and fruitful information for your writing
Use only reliable, well established sources to gather information
E.g., Wikipedia is a good source of information for learning but articles appearing in Wikipedia are not (necessarily) refereed
E.g., blogs in internet are mostly personal opinions and may not serve as good source of information
Write/take notes while you gather information
Do not keep in your mind

6. Organization of your report
Must already be familiar with the formal structure you are going to use in writing the report
Determine the type of report you are about to write
E.g., project report for a course
E.g., capstone project report
E.g., a paper for a conference
Each type of report requires a different mode or style or a set of requirements for writing

7. Organization (continued)
Must prepare an outline of the report first
Evaluate and modify the outline before filling up the contents
Discuss with peers and advisers, if available
Compare your outline with other (previously approved) reports
Use the formal structure and scope of the report to determine the size

8. Writing the report
Elaborate the contents of each component from the outline
Not advisable to change the outline drastically; minor changes to the outline are acceptable
Use materials from your research (done earlier)
Use appropriate writing style (depends on the type of report)
Make sure that there are no spelling and grammatical mistakes

9. Writing (continued) Use figures and tables cautiously
Do not overuse them
Use figures and tables when necessary, instead of explaining using text
Make figures and tables clearly visible and readable
Make sure that figures and tables fit inside the margins
Avoid colors, if possible, unless they are necessary
Readers may be color-blind
Use captions and figures with proper numbering as dictated by the formal structure

10. Writing (continued) Use references
Often people ignore this in technical writing
Use only valid, reliable and accessible sources as references
Use of web sites as references should be avoided because they might not be stable
Understand the difference between “Bibliography” versus “References”
Use the notations as dictated by the formal structure being used

11. Writing (continued)
Acknowledge sources of information if you include quotes, figures, tables or other materials from any source
E.g., © James Lester, 1993
E.g., In [12], the authors say “… the use of a third piece of information for login other than username and password is an added security feature.”

12. Revision No one can write a perfect document in one attempt
Any report definitely needs revisions after it is written
The more you revise, the better it will be
Get help from peers and advisers
Revision by people other than the writers themselves is highly recommended and encouraged

13. Bibliography on technical writing
Gerald Alred et al., Handbook of Technical Writing (Seventh Edition), St. Martin’s Press, 2003, ISBN:
James Lester, Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide (Seventh Edition), Harper Collings College Publishers, 1993, ISBN:
The Chicago Manual of Style (15th Edition), The University of Chicago Press, 2003, ISBN: