Five traits of technical writing

2. “If a student fails to clearly
understand a poem, a short
story, a play, or a novel, that is
unfortunate; however,
equipment is not damaged, no
one is physically hurt, and no
one is sued.”

3. Clarity in technical writing is
mandatory.
When the reader fails to understand the
content, three negatives can occur:
BAD- The equipment is damaged. This
requires the owner to ship the equipment
back.
WORSE- The owner is hurt, leading to pain,
anxiety, doctor’s bills, and bad public
relations.
WORST- The company is sued. The company
loses money, the writer of the manual loses a
job, and public relations are severed.

5. Reporter’s Questions Checklist

8. Good technical writing is
concise.
In contrast to traditional
essays, effective technical
writing uses short words and
short sentences.
Technical writing must fit in
the box.

9. Conciseness can be achieved
through short words.
Changing Long Words to Short Words
LONG WORDS SHORT WORDS
Cognizant know
Endeavor Try
Domicile Home
Morbidity Death
terminate end

10. Conciseness can be achieved through
short sentences.
You can shorten a sentence by avoiding:
Redundancy
Prepositional phrases
Passive voice
Here is an example of unsuccessful technical
writing:
“In order to successfully accomplish their
job, the team has been needing more work
space for some time now.”
An improved sentence would read,
“The team needs more work space to do its

11. 1. Avoiding Redundancy
Wordy Sentence Less Wordy Sentence
1. We collaborated
together on the
projects.
1. We collaborated
on the project.
2. This is a brand new
innovation.
2. This is an
innovation.
3. The other
alternative is to eat
soup
3. The alternative is
to eat soup.

12. 1. Avoiding Prepositional Phrases
Wordy Sentence Less Wordy Sentence
1. He drove at a rapid
rate.
1. He drove rapidly.
2. I will see you in the
near future.
2. I will see you soon.
3. I am in receipt of
your e-mail message
requesting an increase
in pay.
3. I received your e-
mail message
requesting a pay
raise.

13. 1. Avoiding Passive Voice
Passive Voice Active Voice
1. It is my decision to
run for office.
1. I decide to run for
office.
2. There were sixteen
people who tried out
for the basketball
team.
2. Sixteen people
tried out for the
basketball team.
3. The computer was
purchased by Tom.
3. Tom purchased the
computer.

14. Idea…
Plus Minus Interesting
Complete the chart below on your answer sheet by writing your important learning in
PLUS, the topics which you have difficulty in learning in MINUS, and the topics you are
interested to learn more about in INTERESTING.
Plus-Minus-Interesting (PMI Reflection
Sheet)