WRITERS INFORMATION NETWORK
The Professional Association for Christian Writers

BY ERNST S. SIBBERSON

Good technical writing conveys only one meaning to all readers. It is clearly written and to the point. You don’t talk to someone in complex sentences filled with jargon and impressive words--so why write that way? The following paragraphs show the difference between poor and good technical writing techniques.

1. Keep It Simple. Don’t write lengthy and complicated sentences that seem to say, "I dare you to try and read this." Avoid compounding sentences with words such as and, but, or however. Examples of complicated sentences are:

POOR: The following section lists the the major pieces of equipment used in a modern print shop, their physical differences as well as a short explanation as to their function in the publishing scheme.

BETTER: Here is a list of the major pieces of equipment used in a modern print shop. This list gives physical dimensions and tells how the equipment operates.

POOR: The design of a precipitator incorporates pipes, 150 to 300 about nine inches in diameter, which are suspended vertically inside the steel shell which encloses the precipitator.

BETTER: The precipitator consists of 150 to 300 vertically suspended pipes enclosed in a steel shell. Each pipe is about nine inches in diameter.

2. Avoid Lazy Phrases. These are groups of words that add nothing to the meaning of the sentence. Not all are wrong, but often they contribute to a dull, uninteresting style. Examples include:

3. Get To The Point. The beginning of a sentence is important in effective communication. Don’t waste it with a lazy start. Watch for sentence starts that begin with: There is.... There are.... It is. Do not start a sentence with weak, meaningless phrases like: The fact that.... In the case of.... Here are some examples of weak sentence starts:

Poor: There are six stages of training in our apprentice program. They are....

Better: The six stages in our apprentice program are:

Poor: The fact that the vent was clogged caused the fumes.

Better: A clogged vent caused the fumes.

4. Keep It Moving. Watch for weak verbs. Don’t change a strong, active verb to an adjective or noun. Another weaker verb will then be needed to take its place. The reader will quickly become bored and lose interest. Look at these examples:

Poor: The speedometer gives an indication of how fast the car is traveling.

Better: The speedometer shows the car’s speed.

Poor: Be aware of what requirements must be met for the system to operate properly.

Better: Know the system’s proper operating requirements.

5. Don’t Ramble. Avoid unnecessary preposition such as up, out, and of. They dilute perfectly good words which are capable of standing alone. Wherever possible, use a more precise word.

6. Don’t Confuse The Issue: Use jargon and acronyms sparingly. Jargon is one of the most common faults in technical writing. The jargon addict says "reference was made" rather than "I mentioned". Want another? Procedures were instituted for the implementation of the project. How about saying, "We started work on the project".

Acronyms are abbreviations of word groups such as LASER for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Light or RAM for Random Access Memory. If you must use acronyms, include a glossary.

Strive to use clear words rather than impressive ones. And forget what your English teacher said about richness of style and variety of vocabulary. Those principles don’t apply to technical writing. Remember, the idea is to keep it simple! The following are used too often in technical writing.

I know it’s hard work to keep things simple. Take comfort in knowing one definition of genius: A genius takes complex subjects and reduces them to simple elements. Perhaps that’s why Edison said genius was one percent inspiration and and 99 percent perspiration! Whether you are a genius or not, buy a good thesaurus, style manual and dictionary -- and don’t be afraid to use them. Do not rely on your computer's grammar and spelling checkers. Granted, they are good tools for an experienced writer--but it takes a human being to communicate effectively with another human being.

© 1988, 1992 Ernst S. Sibberson, all rights reserved.

Ernst is a experienced technical writer web content writer with over 30 years' writing experience on everything from acoustics to XML. Visit his website at www.bluejaypub.com.