A Comparison of the Three Articles
Article #1 – from STC – “A Career in Technical Writing: What’s in It for You”
This was mostly a description of the field of technical writing. It stated the indispensability of technical writing in today’s high-tech world, that technical writing involves many medium (writing, videos, films, Power Point presentations, web sites, surveys, and the results of studies). A technical writer acts as an advocate and source of information regarding the cause and purposes of his employer and to ensure that the product, instructions and recommendations are understandable to the general public. He must translate information from experts in other fields into language comprehendible to the layperson and know how to present information in various appropriate media. The essence of this article was that proficiency in technical writing will make one “a more valuable employee and a more marketable job candidate”.
Article # 2 – from US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics – “Writers and Editors”
This article described the characteristics of writing as an occupation. It distinguished between writers and authors (fiction and nonfiction), copy writers, technical writers, and editors. It stated job opportunities and prospects, and earnings potential in the various writing fields. I found this article to be interesting and informative, but contained few points applicable to me.
Article # 3 –from Smart Biz – “10 Ways to Improve Your Technical Writing”
This was, by far, the most useful article for me. It gave practicable advice, with examples, of how to write a technical article or report, rather than the qualifications of or prospects for a career in the field. I quote from the article the ten technical writing “tips”
1) Know your reader/audience
2) Write in clear, simple, conversational style
3) Be concise and avoid redundancies
4) Be consistent, e.g.: numbers, hyphens, units of measure, punctuation, grammar, capitalization, technical terms and abbreviations.
5) Use jargon sparingly
6) Avoid big words
7) Prefer the specific to the general
8) Break the writing up into short sections
9) Use visuals, e.g.: photos, maps, graphs, charts, etc.
10) Use the active voice
I intend to keep the above list handy throughout the remainder of this course and, probably for the rest of my life.abxsci
Article #1 – from STC – “A Career in Technical Writing: What’s in It for You”
This was mostly a description of the field of technical writing. It stated the indispensability of technical writing in today’s high-tech world, that technical writing involves many medium (writing, videos, films, Power Point presentations, web sites, surveys, and the results of studies). A technical writer acts as an advocate and source of information regarding the cause and purposes of his employer and to ensure that the product, instructions and recommendations are understandable to the general public. He must translate information from experts in other fields into language comprehendible to the layperson and know how to present information in various appropriate media. The essence of this article was that proficiency in technical writing will make one “a more valuable employee and a more marketable job candidate”.
Article # 2 – from US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics – “Writers and Editors”
This article described the characteristics of writing as an occupation. It distinguished between writers and authors (fiction and nonfiction), copy writers, technical writers, and editors. It stated job opportunities and prospects, and earnings potential in the various writing fields. I found this article to be interesting and informative, but contained few points applicable to me.
Article # 3 –from Smart Biz – “10 Ways to Improve Your Technical Writing”
This was, by far, the most useful article for me. It gave practicable advice, with examples, of how to write a technical article or report, rather than the qualifications of or prospects for a career in the field. I quote from the article the ten technical writing “tips”
1) Know your reader/audience
2) Write in clear, simple, conversational style
3) Be concise and avoid redundancies
4) Be consistent, e.g.: numbers, hyphens, units of measure, punctuation, grammar, capitalization, technical terms and abbreviations.
5) Use jargon sparingly
6) Avoid big words
7) Prefer the specific to the general
8) Break the writing up into short sections
9) Use visuals, e.g.: photos, maps, graphs, charts, etc.
10) Use the active voice
I intend to keep the above list handy throughout the remainder of this course and, probably for the rest of my life.abxsci
posted by cathie jackson at 5/30/2008 10:34:00 AM
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