technical writing style
Technical Writing Style
As you draft and edit, it is helpful to keep in mind the effective ways to present sentences and paragraphs.
When you revise your drafts, check the language and remove any area of possible confusion. If you have repeated any word, see whether you can change the sentence. The following passages will help you to be aware of any difficult construction of sentences, so that you can modify the same and ensure reader's comfort.
Write Clear Sentences
Follow these guidelines for writing sentences which will be clear to the readers.
Keep the main idea on top. Use active voice. Employ parallelism. Repeat for emphasis. Write sentences of 15 to 25 words. Provide transitions. Avoid wordiness. Avoid redundancy.
Keep the Main Idea on Top
This is the key principle in writing so that your sentences are easy to understand. Place the sentence's main idea, the subject, first. The subject makes the rest of the sentence accessible. Readers therefore orient themselves and they are able to interact with the subsequent discussion.
See this example from a popular newspaper.
"Doubts persist over World Cup 2007." (Note how the interest of the reader is immediately captured.)
(Now the details follow.)"Clouds are gathering over the West Indies, and they are more than rain-bearing masses of cumulous. With eight months and a few days to go for the 2007 World Cup, doubts are increasingly being aired about the ability of the region to host a venture of such and complexity." Thus readers are informed about the crux of the problem so that they are interested to read on.
Use Normal Word Order
The normal word order in English is subject-verb-object. This order makes it easier to read as it reveals the topic first and the structures the idea. This order produces sentences which are clear to the readers and do not cause any confusion.
Read the following sentence. "Finance Minister on Tuesday backed the
As you draft and edit, it is helpful to keep in mind the effective ways to present sentences and paragraphs.
When you revise your drafts, check the language and remove any area of possible confusion. If you have repeated any word, see whether you can change the sentence. The following passages will help you to be aware of any difficult construction of sentences, so that you can modify the same and ensure reader's comfort.
Write Clear Sentences
Follow these guidelines for writing sentences which will be clear to the readers.
Keep the main idea on top. Use active voice. Employ parallelism. Repeat for emphasis. Write sentences of 15 to 25 words. Provide transitions. Avoid wordiness. Avoid redundancy.
Keep the Main Idea on Top
This is the key principle in writing so that your sentences are easy to understand. Place the sentence's main idea, the subject, first. The subject makes the rest of the sentence accessible. Readers therefore orient themselves and they are able to interact with the subsequent discussion.
See this example from a popular newspaper.
"Doubts persist over World Cup 2007." (Note how the interest of the reader is immediately captured.)
(Now the details follow.)"Clouds are gathering over the West Indies, and they are more than rain-bearing masses of cumulous. With eight months and a few days to go for the 2007 World Cup, doubts are increasingly being aired about the ability of the region to host a venture of such and complexity." Thus readers are informed about the crux of the problem so that they are interested to read on.
Use Normal Word Order
The normal word order in English is subject-verb-object. This order makes it easier to read as it reveals the topic first and the structures the idea. This order produces sentences which are clear to the readers and do not cause any confusion.
Read the following sentence. "Finance Minister on Tuesday backed the