Posts Tagged ‘Technical Writing’
English – Eliminate SIMPLY from your Technical Documents and Copy
Eliminate SIMPLY from your sentences for more impact and greater clarity in your technical documents and commercial copy. ORIGINAL: Simply enter your User ID into this field. BETTER: Enter your User ID into this field. – – – – – ORIGINAL: I have to remind you that this simply is not going to work. BETTER:…
Read MoreTechnical Writing – What is a SCOPE Document?
© Ugur Akinci A SCOPE document is one of those fundamental documents that define and guide any major project. As a technical writer you may be asked to write one, in close coordination with the project management (or your private client). In terms of its strategic abstraction, the SCOPE comes right after the VISION document.…
Read MoreHow to Write About Swine Flu
At this writing, the Swine Flu is spreading out fast all across the world. This is again one of those times when accurate and detailed information is absolutely necessary. Technical writers are uniquely qualified to provide such a service to the information-hungry public. So how would you write a Swine Flu information article, brochure, or…
Read MoreLogic and Reasoning in Technical Communications
We writers sometimes forget that “communication” must be logical in order to be effective. Otherwise we might as well be writing poetry (which I love and dabble with in my spare time as a hobby but never mistake it for “technical communication”). One of the most important logical fallacies committed in technical communication is the…
Read MoreFrameMaker – How to Insert Text Inside an Anchored Frame
© Ugur Akinci PROBLEM: You would like to insert a text inside a frame (box) in FrameMaker (FM) with one condition: you’d like to have both the text and the frame move appropriately with the rest of the body text when anything is deleted or added to your document. SOLUTION: 1] Let’s assume that this…
Read MoreWhy Does Persistence Pay? The Mathematical Proof
We’ve all heard it a million times that “persistence pays.” We’ve seen countless examples of people succeeding in something just because they’ve kept trying at it until… SHAZAM! Something gives away, an invisible lever in the sky flips over, and the obstacles disappear like magic. We use the phrase “lucky break” to describe the mysterious…
Read MoreFacts about Abbreviations & Acronyms
I just came across a great article on how to abbreviate titles and other things and what NOT to abbreviate. I think we all need a refresher like this from time to time, especially if English is your second language. Here is an excerpt from this useful article by M. J. Mardan: Titles before names: Mrs.,…
Read More3 Words in Technical Writing that Kill Objectivity
Objectivity in writing is a frail bird. It can get killed by a single word. “All,” “any” and “every” are the three words that kill objectivity in most (if not “all”) situations in technical and copy writing alike. A long time ago I learned to guard myself against using “very” in my writing. “Very” is…
Read MoreReview: Adobe Technical Communication Suite
A learned review from a practicing tech communicator out there in the field. You can tell he works for a software company. I concur both with his observations and reservations. (Excerpts:) It is fair to say I am not always at the front of the queue when it comes to PC or software upgrades. Even…
Read MoreTechnical Writing – Importance of Participating in Project Team Meetings
Most technical writers, especially in the high-tech sector, work as a part of a project team. When the product is already finished and the technical writer is called in to provide the documentation after the fact, this may not be the case. But for those products that are still in development, a technical writer should…
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