TITLE : TECHNICAL WRITING IN THE CORPORATE WORLD.

 
 
SECTION 1
 
1.0 Understanding Technical Writing......................2
1.1 Surveying Your Attitudes Toward Writing..............3
1.2 Knowing Your Audience................................7
    Case Study #1: !Analyzing an Audience................11
    Exercise: Evaluating Effective Technical Writing.....12
1.3 Understanding the Writing Process....................14
    Exercise: Thinking About Your Writing Process........16
1.4 The Five C's of Report Writing.......................17
 
 
SECTION 2
 
2.0 Developing the Technical Document.....................24
2.1 Correspondence........................................25
    2.1.1 The Memo........................................25
    2.1.2 The Cover Letter............................... 28
    2.1.3 The Resume......................................30
2.2 Reports...............................................32
    2.2.1 The Trip Report.................................32
    2.2.2 The Activities Report...........................35
2.3 Proposals.............................................38
    2.3.1 The Brief Proposal..............................39
    2.3.2 The Extended Proposal...........................41
    Case Study #2: Thinking Argumentatively...............46
2.4 Procedures............................................50
2.5 Long Documents........................................52
    Exercise: Collecting Model Technical Documents........59
 
 
SECTION 3
 
3.0 Editing the Technical Document........................62
3.1 Organization..........................................63
3.2 Style.................................................64
3.3 Correctness...........................................66
    Exercise: Identifying the Seven Deadly Errors of
    Technical Writing.....................................67
    3.3.1 Pronoun-Reference Agreement Problems............69
    3.3.2 Subject-Verb Agreement Problems.................69
    3.3.3 Vague Pronoun Reference.........................69
    3.3.4 Dangling Modifiers..............................70
    3.3.5 Overuse of Passive Voice........................70
    3.3.6 Inappropriate Comma Use.........................70
    3.3.7 Inappropriate Semicolon Use.....................71
    A Note on Editing.....................................72
 
 
SECTION 4
 
4.0 Conclusion: The Importance of Technical Writing........74
 
APPENDICES
Appendix A   Building a Community of Technical Editors.....75
Appendix B   Word Processing for the Technical Writer......76
Appendix C   Technical Writing and English as a
             Second Language...............................77
Appendix D   For Further Reading...........................78