Technical Writing Style (Part of the Allyn &

Advanced technical communication books are becoming more and more available. However, each book is solely devoted to a specialized topic such as technical editing, design, illustration, usability testing, and online documentation. Despite all of these introductory and advanced books, not one is available specifically devoted to the challenges of style in technical communication.KEY TOPICS:This 12-point approach offers the most current and comprehensive instruction available in achieving an effective style in technical documents. It shows that technical prose style varies from the highly formal to the colloquial, from the pretentious to the plain, and it demonstrates the many stylistic strategies writers should consider for every technical document they write.Anyone who has to write professional and technical documents, specifically, engineers, software developers/consultants, medical writers, professional technical writers.Part of the Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical communication.

Dan Jones is the Coordinator for the B.A. and M.A. Programs in technical communication in the English Department at the University of Central Florida. He has taught a variety of technical communication courses for the past 21 years and has done consulting for more than 20 companies including AT&T, IBM, Westinghouse, and Lockheed Martin. Dan is the editor of an anthology of essays, Defining Technical Communication, published in 1996 by the Society for Technical Communication, and the author of two other textbooks published by Longman: The Technical Communicator¿s Handbook and Technical Writing Style, an advanced technical communication textbook in the Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication.

Foreword to the Series

xi

(2)

Preface

xiii

1 Understanding Technical Writing Style

1

(18)

Chapter Overview

1

(1)

The Problem with Defining Style

2

(1)

A Definition of Style

3

(1)

Style in Technical Writing

3

(4)

The Domain of Technical Writing Style

7

(3)

Why Technical Writing Is Often Ineffective

10

(1)

Technical Writing as a Craft

11

(1)

Chapter Summary

11

(1)

Case Study 1 Three Mile Island and Ineffective Communication

12

(2)

Questions/Comments for Discussion

14

(1)

Exercises

14

(3)

Notes

17

(2)

2 Reflecting the Style of a Discourse Community

19

(23)

Chapter Overview

19

(1)

What is a Discourse Community?

20

(2)

How Does a Discourse Community Affect Style?

22

(3)

Questions to Consider Before Writing to a Discourse Community

25

(1)

Case Study 2 The Space Shuttle Challenger and Different Discourse Communities

26

(8)

How Does Style Relate to Subject, Purpose, Scope, Audience, and Other Elements of Writing?

34

(4)

Chapter Summary

38

(1)

Questions/Comments for Discussion

38

(1)

Exercises

39

(1)

Notes

40

(2)

3 Choosing an Appropriate Style

42

(20)

Chapter Overview

42

(1)

On Style and Grammer

43

(1)

Prescriptive and Descriptive Approaches to Style

43

(1)

Good and Bad Writing

44

(1)

Good and Bad Style

45

(1)

Appropriate and Inappropriate Styles

46

(1)

Kinds of Styles

46

(10)

Chapter Summary

56

(1)

Questions/Comments for Discussion

57

(1)

Exercises

57

(2)

Notes

59

(3)

4 Persuading through Style

62

(23)

Chapter Overview

62

(1)

Technical Prose as Persuasion

63

(1)

The Rhetoric of Science

64

(3)

Some Practical Consequences of the New Rhetoric of Science

67

(3)

Persuasion and Technical Prose Style

70

(1)

Rhetorical Choices and Style

70

(1)

Persuasive Strategies and Stylistic Choices

71

(4)

Case Study 3 The Exxon Valdez and Persuasion

75

(1)

Chapter Summary

75

(4)

Questions/Topics for Discussion

79

(1)

Exercises

80

(2)

Notes

82

(3)

5 Choosing Appropriate Words--Diction

85

(33)

Chapter Overview

85

(1)

On Diction

86

(1)

Levels of Diction

87

(3)

Denotation and Connotation

90

(1)

Challenges Presented by Specialized Diction

90

(1)

Major Diction Strategies in Technical Prose

91

(6)

Common Diction Faults

97

(9)

Technical Prose and a Literary Style

106

(3)

On Euphemisms and Dysphemisms

109

(1)

Chapter Summary

110

(1)

Case Study 4 The Ruby Ridge Incident and Diction

110

(3)

Questions/Topics for Discussion

113

(1)

Exercises

113

(1)

Notes

114

(4)

6 Handling Technical Terms and Jargon

118

(26)

Chapter Overview

118

(1)

Using Technical Language

119

(1)

Words, Terms, and Terminology

120

(1)

Technical Terms as Jargon

120

(2)

The Challenges of Using Technical Terms

122

(3)

The Challenges of Using Jargon

125

(4)

Other Specialized Languages

129

(4)

Abbreviations, Acronyms, Initialisms

133

(1)

Tips for Using Clear Technical Language

134

(1)

Chapter Summary

134

(1)

Case Study 5 Apollo 13 and Jargon

135

(3)

Questions/Topics for Discussion

138

(1)

Exercises

139

(2)

Notes

141

(3)

7 Creating Sentences with Style

144

(19)

Chapter Overview

144

(1)

Sentences in Technical Prose

145

(1)

A Brief Review of Sentence Basics

145

(5)

Sentence Combining Techniques

150

(3)

Emphasis

153

(2)

Rhythm

155

(1)

Sentence Variety

155

(1)

Sentence Elegance in Technical Prose

156

(1)

Sentence Faults

156

(2)

Chapter Summary

158

(1)

Questions/Topics for Discussion

159

(1)

Exercises

159

(2)

Notes

161

(2)

8 Structuring Paragraphs and Other Segments

163

(24)

Chapter Overview

163

(1)

Writing Technical Paragraphs

164

(1)

Writing on One Topic

164

(3)

Developing the Paragraph Topic

167

(7)

Achieving an Effective Flow

174

(3)

Providing Adequate Details

177

(2)

Larger Segments in Technical Prose

179

(1)

Common Paragraph Faults

179

(1)

Chapter Summary

180

(1)

Questions/Topics for Discussion

181

(1)

Exercises

181

(3)

Notes

184

(3)

9 Establishing an Appropriate Tone

187

(28)

Chapter Overview

188

(1)

Tone in Technical Prose

188

(2)

The Key Emphasis of Tone

190

(12)

Strategies for Developing an Appropriate Tone

202

(2)

Humor in Technical Writing

204

(3)

Chapter Summary

207

(1)

Case Study 6 Computer Viruses and Tone

208

(3)

Questions/Topics for Discussion

211

(1)

Exercises

211

(2)

Notes

213

(2)

10 Considering Style and Bias

215

(21)

Chapter Overview

215

(1)

Bias in Technical Prose

216

(2)

Kinds of Bias

218

(10)

Political Correctness

228

(1)

Chapter Summary

229

(1)

Case Study 7 Gender-Neutral Language

230

(1)

Questions/Topics for Discussion

231

(1)

Exercises

232

(1)

Notes

233

(3)

11 Determining the Ethics of Style

236

(17)

Chapter Overview

236

(1)

What is Ethics?

237

(1)

Ethics and Technical Prose

238

(1)

Ethics and the Professions

238

(3)

Criteria for Judging Ethical Actions

241

(1)

Unethical Language

242

(3)

The Ethics of Style

245

(1)

Chapter Summary

246

(1)

Case Study 8 Deception and the Exxon Valdez

247

(2)

Questions/Topics for Discussion

249

(1)

Exercises

249

(3)

Notes

252

(1)

12 Editing for Style

253

(17)

Chapter Overview

254

(1)

Misconceptions about Editing

255

(1)

Approaches to Editing

256

(2)

The Challenges of Editing for Style

258

(1)

Strategies to Help You Edit for Style

259

(5)

Copyediting for Style

264

(1)

Chapter Summary

265

(1)

Questions/Topics for Discussion

265

(1)

Exercises

266

(3)

Notes

269

(1)

Glossary

270

(10)

Bibliography

280

(10)

Index

290

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Technical Writing Style (Part of the Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication)

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials