University:
Kentucky State University
Course:
ENG 216 | Technical Writing
Academic year:

2020
Views:

207

Pages:

31
Author:

strofamay60

Lecture 2:Writing Style Writing Style   Technical writers usually use a more formal writing style than do non-technical writers. A degree of formality is required because the personal style of a technical writer must be secondary to the clear and objective transmission of information. Any injection of personality that obscures (make difficult) the exact meaning is undesirable. But this does not mean that technical writing has to be dull and rigidly (strictly) stereotype. Writing Style The writing process can be broken down into the following functional steps: 1. Planning. 2. Gathering Information. 3. Organizing the contents. 4. Writing and editing the Draft. Planning a) Planning: Schedule the writing intelligently. Planning As early as possible, determine answers to the following questions: 1. what type of report will be required? 2. when must it be completed? 3. who will be the primary readers? 4. what kind of information will they want? 5. how will they use the information ? 6. who will review and edit report(s)? 7. what is the desired final format? Planning Description of the reader:  In helping to understand the reader, the writer should establish the answers to the following questions as early as possible:  Who will read your report? How well he or she know the test item and the test object?  Why are you writing this report ? what will it support?  When how soon is the information needed? Planning Readers Needs: The writer should assume the following when writing a technical report:  That the reader is intelligent but uninformed.  That the reader is busy and wants to be able to read fast.  That the reader wants to be able to browse the report discontinuously. b) Gathering information. – – Write a periodic summaries and evaluations and include verbal descriptions with your drawings and diagrams. write reports with the idea that you will use many of your definitions, statements ,descriptions ,and drawings in later reports. c) Organizing the content. Logical organization is essential if the reader is to find the information he needs quickly and to follow the writer’s train of thought within a complex discussion . Clear organization must therefore exist both on: - “macroscopic” level (the order and content of the report as a whole) - “microscopic” level (the organization of material within a particular discussion) d) Writing and editing the draft. Some specific suggestions for developing and improving your writing style. 1) Writing Naturally  Imperative (important) in developing a good writing style is writing naturally. Many technical reports are stilted and overly formal. A stilted style is difficult to read and detract from the contents. Some specific suggestions for developing and improving your writing style.  To avoid a stilted style : a) write in a way that comes easily, using words and phrases that come naturally to you. b) Do not try to impress readers with your vocabulary, but be certain that the words you use convey your exact meaning. Some specific suggestions for developing and improving your writing style. Your readers will be interested in: “ What you have to say and not in how eloquently (expressively) you say it ”. c) Avoid long, complicated terms if shorter and more familiar ones are available. d) Do not use jargon (slang) because it may be misinterpreted. Some specific suggestions for developing and improving your writing style. 2) Guiding the reader    To achieve clarity and continuity in a report, you must carefully direct your readers’ attention throughout the report. Many successful writers do this by using the classic principles of presentation: Tell readers what you plan to tell them (Introduction). Then tell them (Main text). Finally tell them what you told them (Summary of Results or Conclusions). Some specific suggestions for developing and improving your writing style. Example: State your purpose or objective clearly and follow it with a concise description of the method you will use in presenting the subsequent discussion. Then proceed with your presentation, making certain that it is consistent in every respect with your plan. Finally summarize your conclusions and recommendations. Some specific suggestions for developing and improving your writing style. 3) Getting to the point Technical reports are not mystery novels; Do not lead your readers in and out of blind alleys before taking them to the final destination.  Get to the point as directly as possible.  Omit information that does not directly relate to the conclusions. Remember, readers are interested primarily in conclusions and supporting evidence.  If you must include some information or discussion that may be of interest but is not directly pertinent to your conclusions, put it in an appendix. (Using an appendix allows you to bring up points that may be of interest to some of your readers without distracting the reader who is interested solely (only) in your conclusions.) Some specific suggestions for developing and improving your writing style. 4) Emphasizing major ideas Because the purpose of technical reports is to transmit ideas, emphasize your major ideas so that they cannot be missed. To do this:  The report outline is particularly useful here because it establishes the major and supporting points for each section of the report.  Your major ideas can also be emphasized by briefly stating them at the beginning of each section and then summarizing them at the end of the section.  Emphasis can also be aided by careful use of headings. Table of contents Headings in the report body  Provide informative headings Section headings should tell the reader exactly what type of information is contained in the section. They should be specific and content-focused. Examples:         Example: Uninformative headings The Organization Management Example: Informative headings Overview of the Organization Communication in the Organization Groups in the Organization Management Style and Methods  Make all headings consistent and parallel in structure This means that headings should follow a similar grammatical form. Examples      Example: Inconsistent headings The Company Structure [ noun phrase] Do the Communication Channels Work? [ question] Participating in Groups [ gerund phrase] How to Develop an Effective Management Style [ instruction heading] All have been changed to noun phrases.  Example: Consistent headings  Company Structure  Communication Channels  Group Participation  Development of an Effective Management Style Example: 1. MAIN HEADING 1.1 Lesser Heading 1.1.1 Small Heading Some specific suggestions for developing and improving your writing style. 5) Separating fact from opinion  Reports should clearly differentiate between facts and opinions.  Many authors are remiss (careless) in doing this, overlapping discussions of their experimental results and the conclusions they have drawn. Carefully alert your readers when facts ends and opinion begins.   The statement of your opinions is an instance where the use of the first person is desirable. For example, if you follow the presentation of some specific results with “It is believed that …..,” your readers cannot be sure if this is your opinion or a generally accepted belief. To avoid this confusion, use the first person pronoun to say (opinion), for example, “From these results I conclude that……”. Facts Or Opinions  Facts are statements that can be proven either true or false.  Opinions are statements that cannot be proven either true or false. They usually indicate judgments, feelings, or beliefs. Words which indicate opinion are: perhaps, usually, often, sometimes, on occasion, I think, I believe, I feel, I suggest, and in my opinion Examples: Fact: Ex: The St. John’s River is the largest river in Jacksonville. (Measurements can be taken and compared with those of other rivers in Jacksonville.) Opinion Ex1: Mr. Ali is the best teacher in the world. (Who says he’s the best? Does everyone? Who knows all the teachers in the world? What does “best” mean?) Ex2:Because he has missed so many days of class, he will probably not pass the course. (“Probably” suggests some doubt.) Fact/Opinion Exercise 1- Students should be allowed to decide how many classes they can miss without penalty. 2-English is a harder subject than math. 3- A pen is an instrument used for writing. 4- The first of May has been recognized internationally as Labor day Answers: 1- O-This statement cannot be proven true or false. 2-O-Whether English is harder than math depends on the individual 3- F-It is a proven fact that pens can be used to write with. 4- F-Calendars and other published material can be used to document it.

Lecture 2 Writing Style

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