ENGR1201: Writing as an Engineer

From "Writing as an Engineer" by David Beer and David McMurrey

Noise and the communication process:

Find the mistakes in the following sentences:

a.) When they bought the machine they weren’t aware of it’s shortcoming.

b.) There was not a sufficient enough number of samples to validate the data.

c.) Our intention is to implement the verification of the reliability of the system in the near future.

a.)

The possessive form of it = its
it's = it is

Example:

It's raining today. (It is raining today)

The dog wagged its tail.

b.)

redundant and wordy:

There weren’t enough samples to validate the data.

c.) Wordy

We want to verify the system’s reliability soon.

Focus on:

- Why you are writing.

to inform, request, instruct, propose, recommend, persuade, record?

- Who are your readers?

Fellow engineers from your field?
Engineers from a different field?
Managers? Marketing?
Mixed audience?

Are you communicating technical information on a level your audience can use?

Are you using appropriate vocabulary, examples, definitions, and depth of detail?

Satisfy Document Specifications

- Adhere to suggested length.
- Format spec’s: headings, spacing, margin widths, font

Get to the Point

Put important info first.
Intro - briefly state key points, complaints, requests, and conclusions.
Do not include details until the body of the text.

Accuracy

Accurate references
Accurate directions and instructions
clearly state the conditions your data is applicable to.
Do not state opinions as facts.

Logical Presentation and organization:

Numbered sections and subsections with titles.
Organize in levels of detail and importance

main subject first

fill in the details later

First level headings should be in large font

separate headings from text by one line
indent minor headings

Use Lists

Lists are often the most efficient way to communicate information.

List material from most important to least important

3 types of lists:

numbered (or lettered) for procedures, or prioritized lists
checklists – for things you need to do
bullet lists – items in list occur in no specific order

Be Clear & to the point:

Ambiguity – comes from the Latin word meaning to be undecided, causes readers to see more than one meaning in your writing without knowing which is correct.

Avoid words like “they” and “it” to be specific and avoid ambiguity.

Ex:
Ambiguous: Before accepting materials from the new subcontractors, we should make sure they meet our requirements.

Who are “they”? the materials? Or the contractors? or both?

Clear: We should make sure the materials from the new subcontractors meet our requirements before we accept them.

Ambiguous: The microprocessor interfaced directly with the 7055 RAM chip. It runs at 5 MHz. (What does “it” refer to?)

Clear: The microprocessor interfaced directly with the 7055 RAM chip. The 7055 runs at 5 MHz.

Vague – contains no useful information.

Example:
“Take a few of these pills every so often.” How many pills? How often?
Vague: The Robotics group is several weeks behind schedule.
Useful: The Robotics group is six weeks behind schedule.
Vague: The CF553 runs faster than the RG562 but is much more expensive.

Useful: The CF553 runs 84% faster than the RG562 but costs $4,320 - $2,840 more than the CF553.
Coherence – comes from the word “cohere” or stick together.

Clear transitions – use words like “because”, “this shows”, “in addition”, “thus” to link sentences to one another.

Use a clear subject for each paragraph

Everything should support the subject of report

Directness:
Avoid suspense.

Put the most important information first.

example: Indirect: After a long and difficult development cycle due to factory renovation, the infrared controller will be ready for production in the very near future.
Direct: The infrared controller will be ready for production March 4. Its development cycle was slowed by the factory renovation.

Avoid wordiness
Avoid unnecessarily pompous or ostentatious & showy words. The point of technical documents is to convey information, not to make yourself look smart.

keep it simple and straightforward.

Remember, often your readers have English as their second language.

pompous - straightforward

Commence – start

Compel – force

Comprises – is

Employ – use

Endeavor – try

Fabricate – make

Finalize – end

Initiate – begin

Optimal – best

Prioritize – rank

Proceed – go

Wordy: I regret to say that at this point in time I basically do not have access to that specific information…

Clear: “I don’t know.”

Wordy – efficient

A large number of – many

At this point in time – now

Come in contact with – contact

Exhibits the ability to – can

In the event of – if

In some cases – sometimes

In the majority of instances – usually

Redundancy
using multiple words to say the same thing

Redundant – clear

Alternative choices – alternatives

Actual experience – experience

Completely eliminate – eliminate

Connected together – connected

Collaborate together – collaborate

Very best – best

Component part – just say either “component” or “part”not both

Turning verbs into nouns:
Write in an active voice (rather than passive) by using verbs instead of nouns.

wordy – clear

An analysis of the data – analyze

An investigation of xyz – xyz was investigated.
made a selection – select

Procurement of services can be accomplished by – services can be procured by

Paragraph Length:
Avoid walls of words
rule of thumb – keep paragraphs to under 12 lines
Most paragraphs will be much shorter. (one liners are just fine)
Formatting

Margins – Use large margins to prevent pages looking too busy

Typeface – 10 to 12 point, Times New Roman, Arial

Use ample “white Space” around figures, headings, paragraphs, equations, & lists

Manage your time

Create and use a schedule

Give yourself time to edit

Team: divide and conquer, assign different sections to different people, but then have one person organize, and re-write it to create a smoothly flowing document (rather than a patchwork quilt of different writing styles)

Graphics & Charts –
use numbered figure captions,
refer to the figure in the text by the number.

Tables
include a table heading. Heading go above tables (figure captions go below figures)

Report