Posts Tagged ‘Technical Writing’
Communication is Critical For Engineering Students
(Excerpts) After 25 years of teaching UC Berkeley engineering students the writing and speaking skills they will need for their profession, the Technical Communication Program in the UC Berkeley College of Engineering faces potential elimination. The loss of this program will do irreparable damage to the future careers of engineering students and to the strength…
Read MoreTechnical Writing Salaries in the USA
Enter your U.S. city and state in this web site and it tells you the average salary that a technical writer (or any other occupation for that matter) makes. For example, in New York, NY, an average tech writer seems to make $89,000. In Los Angeles, it drops to $70,000. Check your own city and…
Read MoreGlossary of MP3 Technology Terms
If you’re a technical communication professional specializing in MP3 players and writing about digital audio technology you need to familiarize yourself with the following industry terms and concepts: AAC Stands for Advanced Audio Coding. It’s the MP3-alternative digital audio standard used by Apple (in iPhone, iPod, iTunes, etc.) and Sony PlayStation 3. AAC supports up…
Read MoreHow to Split and Simplify Your Complex Sentences
© 2009 Ugur Akinci Here is a sure-fire method to split your long sentences into shorter and more easily understandable ones: Split your sentences at conjunctions like “and”, “or”, “while”, “however”, “although” etc. Those are the connection points where one clause is linked to another. By breaking your clauses apart you can develop a simpler…
Read MoreGlossary of Internet Connectivity Terms
If you’re a technical communication professional writing articles and reviews about Internet connectivity, you should be thoroughly familiar with the following 4 terms: Wired Ethernet Connectivity When your computer is connected to the Internet through a wire in the wall that is called a “wired” connection. It is the oldest, most reliable, and fastest type…
Read MoreHow to Eliminate Redundant Words from Your Writing
© 2009-2010 Ugur Akinci Repeating an idea has its rightful place in article writing, essays, or journalistic writing. Even if you’re writing a technical article for engineers and scientists it pays to express the main idea once in the header (a must), then in the sub-header, another time in the opening paragraph, and lastly for…
Read MoreGlossary of HDTV Terms
If you’re a technical communication professional writing about HDTV (High Definition TV) you should know the meaning of the following industry terms: Aspect Ratio The ratio of a TV screen’s width to it’s height. An HDTV screen is much wider than a traditional cathode-ray tube (CRT) screen. A typical HDTV aspect ratio is 16:9. That…
Read MoreA Meditation on Time Management for Technical Writers
(Excerpt) Time management means being able to say “no”. Whenever someone comes running to you saying “I need your help,” it’s automatically an emergency. You’re a team player, so you may say “Sure, I can help you with that” without thinking. Stop. Think. Less obvious but more common is the failure to prioritize tasks. How…
Read MoreAPI Writing – as “Technical” as Technical Communication Gets
Some technical communication fields have low entry thresholds (like press release and resume writing, for example). Others have far tougher entry conditions and they also pay accordingly. API (Application Product Interface) writing is one such highly technical documentation field. API writing is for software engineers who would like to switch to documentation, or technical writers…
Read More10 Things NOT to Say to a Technical Writer
It’s okay—the programmers are writing the user documentation. I’ve scribbled down the specs on these bits of paper, discarded napkins and the back of my hand. Just put it together in a nice document by Friday. If you have any questions, none of the development team will be around so you’ll have to talk to…
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