Now
Shipping- SECOND EDITION - For
2001
Technical
Writing with Style
Introduction
There are newspaper, legal,
scientific and scholastic writing stylebooks; this is a
technical writing stylebook for writing procedures to
accomplish specific goals.
Procedures can be as simple, as
instructions for removing the child-proof cap from an
aspirin bottle; as personal, as assessing the worthiness of
credit applicants; as timely, as tuning a car engine; as
complex, as troubleshooting a computer network. To avoid
problems, procedures must be both accurate and easy to
follow
Technical writing has its
requirements. Words are selected to be easily understood by
people who don't speak English well. Sentences are short and
very descriptive with few assumptions of knowledge and
experience. Punctuation supports the possibility that each
procedure can be read to someone by telephone. Composition
assumes that the reader will be performing the procedure,
step-by-step, with someone like a supervisor or customer
watching!
When a reader is pressured to
perform in a timely manner, he or she is more interested in
how than why. And when options must be assessed, hunting for
critical decision-support information affects the outcome;
more time is required and errors are more likely to result.
How your writing helps a reader to deal with these problems
is a question of style.
A professional writer develops
his or her own style and adapts it to each project. This
publication presents my ideas for writing step-by-step
procedure and troubleshooting support documentation of all
kinds. After thirty years of technical writing, I am still
experimenting and learning, so expect revisions and new
topics to be added in future editions.
Writing for highly structured
electronic and print publication requires some new and
revised compositional styles--which are presented here. If
you find that some of the ideas are controversial, we can
discuss them by email. Alternative ideas and techniques of merit
will be presented and credited if requested.
My goals here are to provide a
framework for writing complex technical documents that are
interesting, sufficiently detailed and in the least amount
of space.
This website contains samples
from the Getting the Words
Right section of the book and the section on
Punctuation. The
abbreviated Table of
Contents below lists some
of the thousands of topics in the book. If you want more
details, send your email request to me.
Ken
Lachnicht
Technical
Writing with Style
Abbreviated Table
of Contents
- GETTING THE
WORDS RIGHT
- Do the Words Make
Sense?
- The words don't make sense;
but its too late to change common usage
- Analogies, Euphemisms and
Idioms of languages, professions and
industries
- Abusing Commonly Used
Phrases
- Using Foreign Language Words
and Phrases
- Writing for Translation into
other Languages
- Using jargon
- Words that are Spelled Alike
or Sound Alike, but have Different Meanings
- Words that are Similar, But
Not Interchangeable
- Words inappropriately used
as both noun and verb
- Creating New
Words
- New Combined Words
- Abbreviations and
Acronyms
- PUNCTUATION
- TEXT AND TYPOGRAPHICAL
CONCEPTS
- COMPOSITIONAL
CONSIDERATIONS
- Glossaries and
Dictionaries
- TEXT-PAGE LAYOUT
CONSIDERATIONS
- Determining page size,
color, binding and other factors
- Natural Reading
Habits
- Graphs and Graphic Images
- Page Numbering
- Planning Book and Booklet
Publishing
- Print Specifications Sheet
- WRITING PRODUCT PACKAGE
LABELS
- WRITING DEVICE
LABELS
- Device Label: Identifying
Equipment Controls
- Device Label: Identifying
Activity Lights and LEDs
- Device Label: Identifying
Cable Interfaces
- Device Label: Identifying
Equipment Manufacturer
- Device Label: Text and
Icons
- Device Label: Names and
Abbreviations
- Device Label: Type
Size
- Device Label: Printed,
Raised or Recessed Letters and Icons
- Device Label:
Computer-related Controls and Interfaces
- Device Label: Examples of
Control and Interface Icons
- WRITING INSTRUCTIONS and
USER MANUAL PROCEDURES
- Instructions:
Objectives
- Instructions: Audience
Definition
- Instructions: Project
Development Plan
- Instructions: Project
Considerations
- Instructions: Structuring
Step-by-Step Procedures
- Instructions: Conditional
Statements and Compound Decisions
- Instructions: Reference
Notes
- Instructions: Activity and
Cautionary Phrases Considerations
- Instructions:
Decision-Support Information - selection and organization
- Instructions: Illustrational
Considerations
- Instructions: Graphic
Elements and Illustrations - content and
design
- Instructions: Illustrations
on Product Labels
- Typing Standard Keyboard
Characters
- WORD GUIDE
GETTING THE
WORDS RIGHT
This
site includes these samples from the
publication:
Because
the samples are presented in HTML, they do not include
samples of graphic elements, examples of nested
relationships and representations of complex layouts. These
pages are formatted for viewing with a browser with at least
Netscape 3.0 capabilities.
PUNCTUATION
This
site includes these samples from the
publication:
LINKS
Now Shipping
an expanded
Technical Writing
with Style
- SECOND EDITION -
For 2001
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Copyright
(c) 2001 Ken Lachnicht, reprinted with permission
by
CHAMPIONS
Management Support Services, Inc. All rights
reserved.
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