Technical Writing

Post Graduate Notes

Course Contents

I will select some of the topics described here. A comprehensive group of courses on technical writing may include the following:

• Why study technical and professional communication?• Specific Applications

– Resumes (CVs), Business letters, reports (short, long, and feasibility), memos, proposals, theses, journal articles, oral presentations, and meetings and negotiation.

• Visual elements– Such as formatting, tables, and drawings. How to select and create

visual elements.

• General strategies for the writing process– Generating ideas, identifying audiences, constructing

arguments such as claims and proofs, and stating problems.

• Readability– General Principles, writing paragraphs, using

parallelism, maintaining focus, creating flow between sentences, emphasis, and choosing appropriate words.

• Review of grammar, style, and vocabulary building.– Nouns, verbs, etc. Punctuation, Capitalization,

documentation sources, common grammatical and stylistic errors.

Part One-why technical writing

Part OneWhy Technical Writing?

• The work of a brilliant scientist or engineer might not be unnoticed if not properly conveyed to clients, coworkers, or supervisors.

• Good communication skills are necessary for good teamwork.

• Legal aspects: accidents happen because of poor communication, or poorly written assembly instructions.

Part TwoSpecific Applications

1- Resumes (CV) and Job Letters• The cover letter and CV are not so much technical

specs as they are example of how you write.• Stress what you can do for the company or the

program• Address the person who has authority.• Stress your accomplishments and responsibilities.• Use dynamic verbs such as devised, organized,

researched, supervised, improved, and developed.• Make the resume and the letter look beautiful.

Designing the letter of application

The letter is usually one page long and include:1. The heading: writer’s and reader’s addresses and date.2. A first paragraph which introduces you, if possible,

cite an impressive recommender. Establish the company’s need and your ability to fill it.

3. A second paragraph, or more, which establishes your most relevant experience and qualifications and which stresses your accomplishments and work quality. You should include some proof that you did a good job (X will provide a letter).

4. A closing paragraph, to give any additional data, ask for an interview, and provide a phone number and hours you can be reached.

ExamplesNotice the difference between the two examples. The first one is from

an experienced person who comes from a good school. Notice how he emphasized his work experience.

The second is a person who has minor qualification to apply for a major business school, engineering degree and experience as a pool manager!

Notice how he formatted his skills in a way that seems to support his appication, underlined them, and used parallel construction to highlight the qualities he wants the reader to consider

Designing the resume (CV)

• Remember that the CV and the letter can get separated.

• Resumes should include your name, address, and phone number. Also add e-mail address and a web page.

• Resumes should describe where you are heading professionally (career goals?) and where you have been (qualification and experience?)

• Put you most impressive qualifications first. For example, emphasis on education first if you know that you do not have .

• Add a section for honors and activities if relevant.

• Finally, references. You can say available upon request or mention names and phone numbers. If the resume is too short, or if you have impressive recommenders, mention names.

• You might write a single resume for most purposes or schools and different letter. The following example shows how the writer tailored his language to fit the Japanese style of starting with a complement and stressed his fluency in English.

2- Business Letters

• Letters are often personal emphasizing the reader/writer relationship with the generous use of I, we, and you.

• Letters should first direct the reader’s attention to the topic at hand, then explain why the writer is writing. Then enough information so that the reader can understand what to do.

• Consider the following two examples, the first one is of poor orientation, the second is of good orientation to the topic.

Basic Letter Formats• There are three common formats:1. Unblocked format, very common. Check the following two examples.

The third example describes the number of blank lines.2. Semi-blocked format, the fourth example3. Blocked format, fifth example.• If company stationary is used, do not add writer’s information.• Continuation pages, see example.• After the signature, add lines, if necessary for initials of the person

who typed, enclosures, and copy line.• Use Mr. Ms, or title. If you do not know the gender or martial status

of recipient, use complete name, or Mr. Or Ms.