Encompasses computer and technology writing, end-user documentation, code documentation, engineering, the sciences, consumer manuals, and more.
3
votes
1answer
100 views
Path to publishing a technical book
I'm 21 years old female from South India. I would like to publish a book which concentrates on any one latest computer technology. Now, I have completed my BE- Computer Science and Engineering. I'm ...
3
votes
1answer
232 views
What is the style used in ISO/IEC publications?
I'm in the process of preparing a document to be sent to ISO/IEC WG14. What is the official style used in ISO/IEC publications (if there is one)? If there is no official style guide, is there a ...
2
votes
2answers
176 views
Is this blog post clear and coherent?
I wrote a pseudo-technical blog post trying to apply some game theory concepts to s/w startup industry. This is my first serious attempt at tech blog writing. Iwas left feeling disappointed by the ...
2
votes
3answers
132 views
What's the correct vocabulary for a web application tutorial?
I am writing a tutorial on how to use a specific web application and I don't know which verbs to use. Shall I use "click" for buttons? But what if the user doesn't use a mouse? Contrary to "normal" ...
2
votes
2answers
87 views
What are “industry leading royalties”?
In the breakdown description I received from a publisher, they mention that they also pay industry leading royalties of ##%.
What does that mean?
2
votes
2answers
378 views
Are contractions antithetical to academic writing?
This question is very specific to academic writing:
I used the contraction "don't" instead of "do not" in some of the papers. Some of the reviewers mentioned that "don't" is not a formal style of ...
2
votes
3answers
103 views
Would it be weird if I write “a simple sample something”?
Not getting too technical, I am writing a configuration file for a piece of software I have developed. This software allows others to write "services" and attach them to my software.
I have written a ...
2
votes
3answers
217 views
Should Game Genre Types Be Capitalised?
I am currently writing a report for college about computer games and I am wondering whether genres need to be capitalised. Usually I do not but for some reason it just feels that I should.
For ...
2
votes
4answers
86 views
Advice on interface text in a videogame
[This fits somewhere between technical writing and user experience, so perhaps this is the wrong board]
I'm developing a modification to a popular videogame (a Playstation One RPG), with the ...
2
votes
1answer
91 views
Resources for thesis writing
Will be writing my master's thesis in a few months. I have never written a thesis yet though. I was unlucky enough not to be required to have a thesis during my undergrad years. Anybody know some good ...
2
votes
1answer
110 views
In what narrative mode should you explain a process or task?
I want to explain a psychological and behavioural process to someone via email.
I start off in first-person and speak to them in second-person, but what do I use when I want to explain a process ...
2
votes
2answers
171 views
List of figures and diagrams?
I was wondering what is the most acceptable way of including a large diagram in my thesis.
The diagram takes up a full page and splits a paragraph.
In your opinion is this bad?
Should I put the ...
2
votes
3answers
370 views
Is there anything like 99designs for text writing?
I'm not a writer, but a technical oriented entrepreneur.. One of the barriers I always run into is that I'm also the lead guy for providing the content for marketing gigs, speaker bio's and website ...
2
votes
1answer
76 views
How to combine a visual and textual outline
I am a Ph.D. student in engineering, so most of my writing fits into a fairly strict idiom: the IMRaD (Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Discussion). In general, I like to use an outline to help ...
2
votes
1answer
635 views
APA (sixth edition) citation for the Fourth Assessment Report
I'm trying to cite a source from the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_and_data_reports.shtml
I'm fairly new to APA in general and I'm struggling to ...
2
votes
1answer
136 views
How should be the format for literature references that are websites (URLs)?
In technical writings are good established standards for formatting literature references. But that doesn't work this well for URLs. How should these references be formatted?
2
votes
2answers
544 views
Multiple authors in MLA header
I'm writing a group paper and I was wondering whether there's a correct way to list multiple authors at the top of the first page in MLA format. Normally the header would look something like:
My Name
...
2
votes
1answer
287 views
What is the best way to learn technical writing in English?
I have a moderate level of skills in technical writing in English (TWE) having gone through graduation in engineering. I was wondering what would be the best way to sharpen my knowledge. I am also ...
2
votes
1answer
83 views
Mashery vs. Apigee
I was wondering if anyone could lend some advice as to the pros and cons between using Mashery versus Apigee for documenting an API? I have do some evaluating and have about 2 weeks to come up with a ...
2
votes
2answers
56 views
Introducing the next sub-section or not?
I am writing my phd dissertation in a technical field and I have a question. When in the same chapter, I finish a section and want to connect it with the next section I am not sure what is better. ...
2
votes
1answer
313 views
How to write time duration correctly
Within a user manual, I need to convey the maximum time period allowed as "365 days 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds" - are commas expected between each component? Is the word "and" expected before the ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
How can I prepare for a career in instruction writing and editing?
To technical background authors (e.g. Isaac Rabinovitch) who would possibly work in teams with non-technically trained writers:
How can I prepare myself to be able to do what you do?
How can I ...
1
vote
7answers
631 views
Verb tense for technical document titles
I'm writing a technical manual about creating database systems, and wondered what is the best verb tense for title names.
My ideas are:
Continuous (-ing) form: (e.g. "Creating a Cluster", "Creating ...
1
vote
4answers
113 views
Is this description of my small productivity application clear enough?
I wrote a small productivity application, Tomate. Since I'm not a native English speaker, I'm afraid the description of the project may not be clear enough for potential users. Can you help me improve ...
1
vote
4answers
129 views
How can I express this more clearly or concisely?
I'm documenting a block of computer code and would like to make it clear and concise. I'm describing a function that populates a field on a user input screen. Here's my best shot but it still seems ...
1
vote
3answers
122 views
How do I use my blog as a platform for practice and improvement?
I've recently followed the advice of our very own Jeff Atwood and started a blog site in order to become a better writer and communicator.
My goal is to improve my skill at technical writing and ...
1
vote
1answer
57 views
Multiple tasks and a step by step tutorial
To my knowledge step-by-step tutorials should have the form of a ladder, where you describe how to get to a place step by step– accomplishing a single task at the end. Is it possible to accomplish ...
1
vote
1answer
632 views
What counts as a word when dealing with a word limit?
I am trying to determine if it will be feasible to revise a manuscript for a journal that has a 6500 word limit. Currently, the manuscript is between 7500 and 8000 words long, depending on how I count ...
1
vote
2answers
140 views
What free tools are there to help me improve my English?
I am in the process of writing a research paper in Computer Science. Are there any free tools/browser plugins/web sites/latex plugins that would help me improve my English? I am looking for some nice ...
1
vote
1answer
154 views
Using Glossary Instead of Footnotes (for translation/transliteration)
I am writing a technical report with keywords which are mainly English. I am using a Glossary at the end, which describes translated keywords. Is it a replacement for footnotes or I should just keep ...
1
vote
3answers
228 views
How can I manage screen shots and other graphics for maintenance?
Our ~1500-page documentation set contains numerous screen shots and related graphics (schematics, flow diagrams, etc). Sometimes the user interface changes and we have to update all the affected ...
1
vote
1answer
93 views
What resources will teach me about the state of the art in technical writing?
I've been asked to modernize some technical documentation - user manuals in particular. I have some guidelines, but a lot of free rein to take it in whatever direction I think is worthwhile. Where ...
1
vote
1answer
62 views
How to represent dependencies in outlines
The bulk of my writing consists of technical papers, reports, notes, and memos. Because of the mathematical nature of my work I spend a lot of time writing definitions, and it is very important that I ...
1
vote
4answers
136 views
Where to find authors for highly technical articles?
I've looked at some of the largest outsourcing sites. These have huge amounts of software developers, and huge amounts of casual writers. I'm having enormous difficulty finding authors that would be ...
1
vote
1answer
121 views
combining sentences
I want to say couple of this within one sentence. so my sub sentences would be:
We removed the vertical features from the classification process.
The removal of vertical features enhances ...
1
vote
1answer
55 views
Numeral Citation Scripts
I am writing a report in Farsi and using ieeetr bibliography style for my references. This style uses numeral references like [1] [2] etc but regarding context (Farsi) I am using Arabic number scripts ...
1
vote
3answers
94 views
The Best Title for my Skill Set [closed]
I'm about to branch off into the freelance world. I'm starting an LLC and I'd like some input on what I should title myself as the owner. For example "creative specialist" or "creative technician" or ...
1
vote
3answers
548 views
Where should index and glossary appear in a report?
I am writing my thesis and now wonder whether I should typeset index and glossary as an appendix or after them.
There's no department-level accepted writing style, so my adviser's opinion might be ...
1
vote
0answers
56 views
Regarding Professional Report [closed]
I am new in the working world and I happen to be given a lot of tasks related with creating report.
Later on I heard people give me comments that my sentence structure and my word choices are not ...
1
vote
0answers
60 views
How to use His/My/Your permutations in adressing persons [closed]
I'd like to understand the rationale of when, why and how His/My/Your are used in titles of addressing people.
For example, the standard commonly accepted uses are:
"His Honour"("His Grace", or ...
0
votes
2answers
87 views
Am I correctly referencing chapters which belong to the same book?
Looking for some help on how to reference chapters in a book inside of a booking I'm helping with.
Should I be capitalizing Chapters 3 and 4 and would referring to chapters simply by capitalized ...
0
votes
1answer
107 views
How would I say this in the reverse?
I am sending out a message to all users that have filed a bug report for my last game; the one I shut the server down on. The broadcast message I am sending is going to be an email, but I'm not ...
0
votes
1answer
77 views
Giving something an alias
Within a technical document I want to refer to a system or process by a shorter name. I have no idea what this process is called so searching the internet is not getting me anywhere.
Is this correct?
...
0
votes
3answers
100 views
Risk Assessment in Technical Standards Documentation
In your experience, are sections on risk and risk management typically part of technical standards documentation?
For example, in a document that describes how the Network Time Protocol is ...
0
votes
2answers
50 views
What is the correct word/term that needs to be before the names of the maker of the project?
I am doing a project with one other person, we have finished the project
and we are working on a cover page.
We are not sure what to write out before our names, we have thought
of a couple of ...
0
votes
2answers
51 views
What are the advantages of different date formats in resumes and CVs?
I've seen a somewhat related question, but it doesn't answer my question quite right. Say you're writing an event that happened on a single day, and you need to put it in your resume or CV. So how ...
0
votes
1answer
322 views
What are the names of the different levels of English?
In a recent discussion regarding software manuals, we came across the issue of different styles of writing / speaking in English. I am having a hard time finding a list of the different styles, such ...
0
votes
1answer
80 views
Should this sentence be included in the Executive Summary?
I found some examples of good and poor example of executive summaries here. Everything seems fine but in one of them, they included this sentence -
"All calculations can be found in the ...
0
votes
1answer
88 views
website to publish article on high-performance cluster computing?
I am writing a tutorial-type article on high-performance cluster computing. It is aimed at researchers and grad students who want to use clusters to answer scientific questions, especially in the life ...
0
votes
1answer
118 views
To translate a novel with Westerner's point of view
I am an Easterner. I have been translating a novel, that is originally written in my native language, into English. During the process, I have also been learning about cultural things, meant to ...
