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By Robert Bly
Better technical writing can result in proposals that win contracts, advertisements that sell products, instruction manuals that technicians can follow, and letters, memos, and reports that get your message across to the reader. Here are ten tips on style and word choice that can make writing clear and persuasive:
* Know your reader--Are you writing for engineers? managers? technicians? lay people? Make the technical depth of your writing com patible with the background of your reader.
* Write in a clear, conversational style--Naturally, a technical paper on sizing pumps shouldn't have the same chatty tone as a personal letter. But most technical professionals lean too much in the other direction, and their sharp thinking is obscured by windy, overly-formal prose.
The key to success in technical writing? Keep it simple. Write to express--not to impress. A relaxed, conversational style can add vigor and clarity to your work.
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