COMPUTER SYSTEMS RESEARCH
Elements of Technical Writing
2005-2006
Good technical writing is well organized
- Poor organization stems from poor planning. Before you write, plan.
- Create a rough outline that spells out the contents and organization of your report or paper. The
outline need not be formal.
- "The outline is a tool to aid in organization, not a commandment etched in stone. If you want to change
it as you go along, fine.
- Using an outline helps you divide the writing project into many smaller, easier-to-handle pieces and parts.
- Common formats for organizing technical material
- Order of location (an article on the planets would start Mercury, go to Pluto)
- Order of increasing difficulty
- Sequential order
- Alphabetical order
- Chronological order
- Problem/Solution
- Inverted pyramid - newpaper style, the lead paragraph summarizes the story, following paragraphs present
facts in order of decreasing importance.
- Deductive order - start with a generalization, then support it with facts, research results, examples, and
illustrations. Scientists use this in research papers.
- Inductive order - Start with one or more examples or stories, then lead the reader to the conclusion,
idea, or principle that can be drawn from the examples.
- List - divide your discussion into a series of distinct points.
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