Technical writing is a functional type of prose. A technical writer must outline and define the subject matter for his reader. In addition, he should be aware of the reader's intelligence, and he must be able to adapt the written material. Furthermore, a reader must not be over-burdened with wordy sentences, vague words, or technical jargon. The information should be organized and presented clearly. If the article is written to an audience of homeowners, its contents should be easily understood, and the principles presented must be defined. Simple and concise language should always prevail. Sometimes a writer can communicate his concepts with the use of visual aids. These aids may be composed of charts or graphs that can be easily comprehended. However, when a reader is a person with experience or has advance knowledge of the subject matter, a more direct approach to writing can be used. The writer can deal with facts and anticipated questions. An author of technical writing must have a flexible style as well as knowledge of who his audience is. If he presents what the reader desires, he is assured of retaining their interest.

Several innovative methods were used to help technical writing students to write more purposively, professionally, and effectively: writing a paper on the improvement of style in technical writing; reading science literature and writing critiques; editing a technical report; writing a professional technical report; writing science books for children; and writing for publication.

The journal analysis matrix helps a writer learn about an editor's preferences and as a result the writer can more carefully craft his work to approximate journal style. This crafting raises the possibility that the editor will accept the article. The material explains how to set up a matrix, and includes some possible categories for analysis.

The transition from teacher of literature to teacher of technical writing was both a matter of choice and a matter of necessity. By choice I teach in a community college. But the subjects I teach and the manner in which I teach them are largely influenced by the nature of the institution and the students. The institution, committed to the concept of extending educational opportunity to all, attracts a uniquely heterogeneous student body who prefer occupationally oriented programs.

The ornate style practiced before the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century too often led to obscurity and verbal games rather than clarity and the pursuit of truth. In reacting against ornateness, however, scientists developed the ideal of a plain style that is itself problematic. The writer's posture is essentially defensive; he is more concerned with what not to do than what to do in his writing. The practice of amplification, useful for audience adaptation, has been abandoned, and rhetorical devices that promote the personal touch are no longer taught. Recent experiments indicate that classroom exercises involving rhetorical devices can help promote economy and clarity, encourage more personal and aggressive writing, strengthen the idea that writing is an art, and arouse writer and reader interest. The study of stylistic devices in use before the scientific revolution can be fruitful for modern scientific and technical writing.

In this student paper, the author discusses technical writing with clarity as a major emphasis. It is suggested that the technical writing discipline can achieve more effective communication through the further development of writing skills.

Perhaps with tongue in cheek, the author gives sound advice on how to avoid some of the pitfalls of style, punctuation, and grammar. He suggests that the principles he gives will result in clearer and simpler writing.

Looking back to a time when he was a student in technical writing courses, the author discusses the importance to the practicing engineer of style and correctness in communication. He cites the characteristics of an effective style. This is followed by the problems of grammar and the ways to attain reader interest.

Modern technical writing often suffers from its tendency toward jargon. Technical writing courses should include units on grammar as it relates to stylistics in technical writing. Transformational-generative grammar offers an effective and useful approach to train technical writers to communicate more effectively and to avoid the problems inherent in an impersonal style. One way of organizing a discussion of transformational-generative grammar is to consider its application to sentences and clauses, phrases, and individual words.

Mr. Kowal, a frequent contributor to this journal, presents his ideas on how the photographer can add writing to his other skills, increase his professional abilities, and enlarge his horizons. The theme is developed in ten steps, including research, scheduling time, using a simple style, and using resources wisely.

This paper posits that the technical communicator probably spends more time engaged in oral communication activity than he does in written; thus, to be an effective technical communicator one needs an appreciation and an understanding of both modes. Differences between oral and written communication, and methods of difference reduction, are discussed for the dimensions of: 1) permanency, 2) style, 3) interactional control, 4) mediation, and 5) effects. The conclusion is drawn that to be effective the technical communicator must develop the ability to produce messages which evoke common understanding among those participating in the communication event.

Technical writers are speeding language change by dropping possessive forms of nouns before gerunds, subjunctive forms of verbs after “if,” full words to make acronyms, and subjects (and thereby dangle modifiers). Until a generation ago, English teachers and editors admonished students and writers to uphold the traditions of formal style. Remember these traditions: Use noun and verb forms for fullest immediate understanding. Spell out acronyms the first time that you use them, and modify stated subjects. What you lose in time, you gain in meaning.

This is an expanded version of an evaluation originally given at the International Technical Communication Conference, Washington, D.C., 1976. The questionnaire was an attempt to get in touch with as many graduates of Rensselaer's Master's Program in Technical Communication as possible and to find out their reactions to the curriculum. The questions covered such topics as present and past occupations, usefulness of the Rensselaer curriculum, recommended curriculum changes, making use of invited speakers, degree of emphasis on style and format, supplementary courses, contact with professional writers, and adoption of new techniques.

Addressing the professional communicator, the technical writing teacher and the interested student, this article discusses Benjamin Franklin's major contributions to the development of technical communication. While the article centers on Franklin's technical writing style as a model for today's technical communicator, it also outlines Franklin's philosophy of technical communication and his incisive views of the scientist's role in society.

The author of this article has observed the needs of the manual writer from two viewpoints, that of the technical writing teacher and that of the consultant to industry. He offers several suggestions for helping the manual writer through attention to resource materials, planning of courses, organization, and style and mechanics.

Prepared for engineering and science students, this article stresses the preparation for the talk, the judicious use of notes, and the effective use of visual aids. To deliver a talk effectively, students must know the elements of delivery: ample projection of the voice, natural movements, relevant gestures, and eye contact. Furthermore, students should be aware of such errors as the following: poor board work, lack of movement and enthusiasm, overuse of notes, monotonous voice, poor eye contact, repetition, and the use of slang and colloquialisms. To make effective oral presentations, one should develop an extensive vocabulary and should evaluate his delivery.

This paper reviews the design and use of an instructional system wherein ITV and telephone were linked to a computer. The computer stored instructional materials and presented this material to the learner through its control of ITV broadcast and voice response units.

Technical and scientific writing students can approximate professional style by determining the types and incidence of sentence openers in their own manuscripts. This article analyzes a variety of technical and scientific writing and suggests that students analyze their own writing in the same manner.

Addressing both students and technical writers, Dr. Estrin discourses on the subject of why write for professional journals. The four benefits are an effect on professional advancement, an enhancement of prestige, financial payment, and “psychological” compensation. Some manuscripts are rejected because editors have similar articles, because the subject matter has been recently printed, and because the article may not hold the reader's interest. Five guidelines for selecting a subject are its timeliness, the availability of equipment, the contribution to the profession, one's interest in the subject, and the subject's objectivity. In selecting a journal, one must consider its editorial policy, its use of graphic aids, style sheet, and review policy, and the average length.

Most technically orientated students are never exposed to lessons in effective technical writing skills. Yet, knowing how to express oneself properly is a necessity in today's technical world. The technical writer must use correct grammar and exact language in his descriptions of precise, technical subjects. He must learn how to adapt his personal style to the impact he wants to make. In addition, he must also learn how to communicate to various levels of audiences, for not all of his readers will possess the same knowledge about a subject. Also, he must learn to use graphic aids in the presentation of an article.

This paper explains the usefulness of the style guide as a cost reduction tool. The major areas of technical manual production are listed, and examples are provided of how the style guide can reduce costs in each area.

A technique is presented for the analysis of technical publications by comparison—with special regard to factors influenced by intended audience and professional category of author (i.e., scientist-engineer or writer). Writing style and use of graphics are important considerations; “readability” may be assessed. The technique is illustrated with an analysis of two articles on the same subject from different publications. Although the technique is intended chiefly as a teaching tool, some of the principles involved may be useful to others interested in judging the character of publications in a field, perhaps to help select the most suitable outlet for an article or to aid in designing a paper for a specific publication.