Handout 45

10 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR TECHNICAL WRITING

Know your reader--Are you writing for engineers? managers? technicians? lay people? Make the technical depth of your writing compatible with the background of your reader.

Write in a clear, conversational style--Naturally, a technical paper on sizing pumps shouldn't have the same chatty tone as a personal letter. But most technical professionals lean too much in the other direction, and their sharp thinking is obscured by windy, overly-formal prose.  The key to success in technical writing? Keep it simple. Write to express--not to impress. A relaxed, conversational style will add vigor and clarity to your work.

Be concise--Technical professionals, especially those in industry, are busy people. Make your writing less time-consuming for them to read by telling the whole story in the fewest possible words.  How can you make your writing more concise? One way is to avoid redundancies--a needless form of wordiness in which a modifier repeats an idea already contained within the word being modified.  For example, a recent trade ad described a product as a "new innovation." Could there be such a thing as an old innovation? The ad also said the product was "very unique." Unique means "one of a kind," so it is impossible for anything to be very unique.  Some other redundancies that have come up in technical literature are listed below, along with the correct way to rewrite them.  However, be careful – some modifiers may not be redundant.

It is becoming increasingly inappropriate to use many common terms.  Many technical writers are fond of overblown expressions such as "the fact that," "it is well known that," and "it is the purpose of this writer to show that." These take up space but add little to meaning or clarity.  The following list includes some of the wordy phrases that appear frequently in technical literature.

Be consistent-- inconsistencies in technical writing will confuse your readers and convince them that your scientific work and reasoning are as sloppy and disorganized as your prose.  Good technical writers strive for consistency in the use of numbers, hyphens, units of measure, punctuation, equations, grammar, symbols, technical terms, referencing, footnoting and abbreviations.  For example, many writers are inconsistent in the use of hyphens.  The rule is: two words that form an adjective are hyphenated. Thus, write: first-order reaction, fluid-bed combustion, high-sulfur coal, space-time continuum.

Use jargon sparingly--Chemical engineering has a special language all its own. Technical terms are a helpful shorthand when you're communicating within the profession, but they may confuse readers who do not have your special background.

            Take the word "yield," for example. To a chemical engineer, yield is a measure of how much product a reaction produces. But, to car drivers, yield means slowing down (and stopping, if necessary) at an intersection and to a banker, yield refers to the interest that an investment earns.  There are other words that have special meaning to engineers but have a different definition in everyday use include: vacuum, pressure, batch, bypass, recycle, concentration, mole, purge, saturation, catalyst.

            Use legitimate technical terms when they communicate your ideas precisely, but avoid using jargon just because the words sound impressive. Do not write that material is "gravimetrically conveyed" when it is simply dumped.

Avoid big words--Technical writers sometimes prefer to use big, important-sounding words instead of short, simple words. This is a mistake; fancy language just frustrates the reader. Write in plain, ordinary English and your readers will love you for it.

Prefer the specific to the general--Technical readers are interested in detailed technical information--facts, figures, conclusions, recommendations. Do not be content to say something is good, bad, fast or slow when you can say how good, how bad, how fast or how slow. Be specific whenever possible:  a tall spray dryer = a 40-foot-tall spray dryer, a plant = an oil refinery, a unit = an evaporator, unfavorable weather conditions = rain, structural degradation = a leaky roof, high performance = 95% efficiency

Break the writing up into short sections--Long, unbroken blocks of text are stumbling blocks that intimidate and bore readers. Breaking your writing up into short sections and short paragraphs - such as is done in this handout - makes it easier to read.  In the same way, short sentences are easier to grasp than long ones.  A good guide for keeping sentence length under control is to write sentences that can be spoken aloud without losing your breath.

Use visuals--Drawings, graphs and other visuals will reinforce your text. In fact, pictures often communicate better than words; research suggests that we remember 10% of what we read, but 30% of what we see.  Visuals can make your technical communications more effective. The different types of visuals that might be used in research and technical reports are photograph or illustration (what something looks like), maps (how it is put together), schematic diagram (how it works or is organized), graphs (quantity or how one thing varies as a function of another), pie charts (proportions and percentages), bar charts  (comparisons between quantities), tables (a body of related data) and mass - energy balances (what goes in and what comes out).

Use the active voice--In the active voice, action is expressed directly: "John performed the experiment." In the passive voice, the action is indirect: "The experiment was performed by John."  When possible, use the active voice. Your writing will be more direct and vigorous; your sentences, more concise. The passive voice often seems puny and stiff by comparison to the active voice:

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