The Technical Writers Handbook

The Technical Writer's Handbook is by a practising scientist who screens hundreds of manuscripts each year. It is directed at scientists, engineers and others who want to improve their writing and communication. It teaches that technical writing, although it has its own special requirements, is no different from ordinary writing and should be written with short, clear sentences and in the active voice.

This book explains how people can improve their writing style by following a few rules. The first part is an introduction, which provides simple guidelines for writing and organizing reports of all kinds. The second part is presented in dictionary format and covers a wide variety of themes.

New to this edition: Up-to-date information on on-line research and computer resources. A unique four-way access system enables users of the Handbook of Technical Writing to find what they need quickly and get on with the job of writing: 1. The hundreds of entries in the body of the Handbook are alphabetically arranged, so you can flip right to the topic at hand. Words and phrases in bold type provide cross-references to related entries. 2. The topical key groups alphabetical entries and page numbers under broader topic categories. This topical table of contents allows you to check broader subject areas for the specific topic you need. 3. The checklist of the writing process summarizes the opening essay on "Five Steps to Successful Writing" in checklist form with page references to related topics, making it easy to use the Handbook as a writing text. 4. The comprehensive index provides an exhaustive listing of related and commonly confused topics, so you can easily locate information even when you don't know the exact term you're looking for.

Every complex product needs to be explained to its users, and technical writers, also known as technical communicators, are the ones who do that job. A growing field, technical writing requires multiple skills, including an understanding of technology, writing ability, and great people skills. Whether you're thinking of becoming a technical writer, just starting out, or you've been working for a while and feel the need to take your skills to the next level, The Insider's Guide to Technical Writing can help you be a successful technical writer and build a satisfying career. Inside the Book Is This Job for Me? What does it take to be a technical writer? Building the Foundation: What skills and tools do you need to get started? The Best Laid Plans: How do you create a schedule that won’t make you go crazy? How do you manage different development processes, including Agile methodologies? On the Job: What does it take to walk into a job and be productive right away? The Tech Writer Toolkit: How do you create style guides, indexes, templates and layouts? How do you manage localization and translation and all the other non-writing parts of the job? I Love My Job: How do you handle the ups and downs of being a technical writer? Appendixes: References to websites, books, and other resources to keep you learning. Index

The Tech Writing Game (Facts On File, 1992) offers a comprehensive introduction to the craft and business of technical writing.

Drawing on IBM's unsurpassed technical communications experience, readers discover today's best practices for meeting nine quality characteristics: accuracy, clarity, completeness, concreteness, organization, retrievability, style, task orientation, and visual effectiveness. Packed with guidelines, checklists, and before-and-after examples, Developing Quality Technical Information, Third Edition is an indispensable resource for the future of technical communication.

"The examples are excellent--right on target and easy to understand and adapt. Even those who don't adopt the entire procedure can profit from the parts, but the greatest value will flow to those who adopt the whole." --Carolyn Mulford, senior writer and editor of Writing That Works "This is also a book that students can keep for their professional libraries because it will increase in its value to them after they leave class and face real life experiences on the job. It is plain enough for them to understand while they are learning, and at the same time comprehensive enough to support them as professionals." --Elizabeth Boling, Instructional Systems Technology, Indiana University "It practices what it preaches. Its guidelines are understandable and appropriate; its examples clear. It contains exactly what writers and editors need to know. It is the book that I would have written." --Cynthia E. Spellman, Unisys The #1 guide to excellence in documentation--now completely updated! A systematic, proven approach to creating great documentation Thoroughly revised and updated More practical examples More coverage of topic-based information, search, and internationalization Direct from IBM's own documentation experts, this is the definitive guide to developing outstanding technical documentation--for the Web and for print. Using extensive before-and-after examples, illustrations, and checklists, the authors show exactly how to create documentation that's easy to find, understand, and use. This edition includes extensive new coverage of topic-based information, simplifying search and retrievability, internationalization, visual effectiveness, and much more. Coverage includes: Focusing on the tasks and topics users care about most Saying more with fewer words Using organization and other means to deliver faster access to information Presenting information in more visually inviting ways Improving the effectiveness of your review process Learning from example: sample text, screen captures, illustrations, tables, and much more Whether you're a writer, editor, designer, or reviewer, if you want to create great documentation, this book shows you how!

Helps both engineers and students improve their writing skills by learning to analyze target audience, tone, and purpose in order to effectively write technical documents This book introduces students and practicing engineers to all the components of writing in the workplace. It teaches readers how considerations of audience and purpose govern the structure of their documents within particular work settings. The IEEE Guide to Writing in the Engineering and Technical Fields is broken up into two sections: “Writing in Engineering Organizations” and “What Can You Do With Writing?” The first section helps readers approach their writing in a logical and persuasive way as well as analyze their purpose for writing. The second section demonstrates how to distinguish rhetorical situations and the generic forms to inform, train, persuade, and collaborate. The emergence of the global workplace has brought with it an increasingly important role for effective technical communication. Engineers more often need to work in cross-functional teams with people in different disciplines, in different countries, and in different parts of the world. Engineers must know how to communicate in a rapidly evolving global environment, as both practitioners of global English and developers of technical documents. Effective communication is critical in these settings. The IEEE Guide to Writing in the Engineering and Technical Fields Addresses the increasing demand for technical writing courses geared toward engineers Allows readers to perfect their writing skills in order to present knowledge and ideas to clients, government, and general public Covers topics most important to the working engineer, and includes sample documents Includes a companion website that offers engineering documents based on real projects The IEEE Guide to Engineering Communication is a handbook developed specifically for engineers and engineering students. Using an argumentation framework, the handbook presents information about forms of engineering communication in a clear and accessible format. This book introduces both forms that are characteristic of the engineering workplace and principles of logic and rhetoric that underlie these forms. As a result, students and practicing engineers can improve their writing in any situation they encounter, because they can use these principles to analyze audience, purpose, tone, and form.

No other book can better prepare you to work as a writer in the technical world, to write better about technology for a nontechnical audience, or to understand how the ever-more-inportant writer can help fill the technology gap between the knows and know-nots. Book jacket.

Engineers and scientists of all types are often required to write reports, summaries, manuals, guides, and so forth. While these individuals certainly have had some sort of English or writing course, it is less likely that they have had any instruction in the special requirements of technical writing. Filling this void, Technical Writing: A Practical Guide for Engineers and Scientists enables readers to write, edit, and publish materials of a technical nature, including books, articles, reports, and electronic media. Written by a renowned engineer and widely published technical author, this guide complements the traditional writer’s reference manuals and other books on technical writing. It helps readers understand the practical considerations in writing technical content. Drawing on his own work, the author presents many first-hand examples of writing, editing, and publishing technical materials. These examples illustrate how a publication originated as well as various challenges and solutions.