As a technical writer, your credibility is paramount. You realize you need to do something you want to guard it. Hence the significance of making sure your writing is suitable for your readers, accurate, clear, and as clean as viable in your readers to comply with your argument and are available to the identical conclusion.
Technical writing covers an extensive variety of activities: this text will mainly assist document writers. Please endure in thoughts that this text is set writing traps, now no longer the content.
Not surprisingly, the primary lure to keep away from is plagiarism.
Plagiarism, ‘the appropriation or imitation of another’s thoughts and way of expressing them, to happen as one’s own’, is in no way acceptable. It’s simply now no longer really well worth doing and has consequences.
Copyright infringement will tarnish your expert credibility and authority. Copyright, ‘the one-of-a-kind proper, granted via way of means of regulation for a sure time period of years, to make and take away copies of, and in any other case to control, a literary, musical, dramatic or creative painting’, protects creators from unauthorized copying of all or a great a part of their paintings. Copyright legal guidelines fluctuate among nations, so make certain you apprehend what the regulation on your USA lets in you do. If you want to have permission from the author, do it – do not simply desire you will escape with it.
Failure to well known the sources of associated fabric you have used will, on the very least, reduce the honor of your colleagues. And take into account to test that your citations are correct, and written correctly – proper right all the way down to the usage of commas and complete stops. Always consult with your fashion manual in case you want to refresh your memory.
Using generalizations can result in readers wondering about your authority. Phrases like ‘all and sundry know’, ‘all of us realize’, ‘studies suggest’ are quality averted as they can purpose readers to surprise in case you virtually do realize what you are saying.
Lack of attention of ease of studying could make the project of studying your technical statistics that tons harder. Generally, your readers dislike (amongst different things) massive chunks of textual content or overcrowding of the page; spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistakes; masses of phrases while a graph, desk, or example ought to inform your tale greater easily; loss of headings or different techniques (desk of contents, bolding of key phrases, bullet or numbered lists) to manual them via your document; use of jargon or technical phrases that are not safely explained; loss of consistency in paragraph spacing, caption fashion, use of shortened forms, font selections, etc.
Having written your document, it is time to test that you have now no longer fall into any of those traps. Reread, and, if necessary, rewrite, upload lacking citations, adjust the layout. Ask a colleague to study it. Ask a person who is now no longer been concerned with the task if they have any problems studying and information your document. Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation; evaluate consistency.
And if you may have the funds for it, lease an editor to offer it its very last polish.
Then be assured that your professionalism and credibility have now no longer been lessened via way of means of your writing.
Definitions of ‘plagiarism’ and ‘copyright’ from The Macquarie Concise Dictionary, 1/3 edition, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, Sydney, 1998.
Desolate Page, the proprietor of Perfect Pages, is an authorized editor (Institute of Professional Editors, Australia) who specializes in modifying and proofreading nonfiction writing.
I paintings with you to increase your precise voice, to apprehend your audience, to make clear your message, and that will help you use clear, particular language to get your message across.
