Best Practices in ATW

Technical Writing Best Practices

Located in Atlanta, ProEdit provides technical writing services throughout the U.S. and abroad.
ProEdit’s technical writing services reflect the industry’s best practices. Here are some of the
best practices we employ:

 Analyze the audience. David A. McMurrey, professor and technical writer, considers the
audience “the most important consideration in planning, writing, and reviewing a
document.”1 To write effective documentation that suits the users, we must understand
their needs. In other words, ProEdit doesn’t create a 300-page manual when a quick
reference guide will do.
 Write reader-friendly documentation. Technical writing is full of complex
information. ProEdit writes documentation to your audience’s readability level. Many
methods exist to test readability, including the Gunning’s Fog Index and the SMOG
Index. Microsoft Word also includes a Flesch-Kincaid readability tool to check the
readability of a document.
 Use active voice. It is commonly held that passive voice is acceptable in scientific and
technical writing. However, overuse of passive voice, or use of passive voice in long and
complicated sentences, can cause readers to lose interest or to become confused.2 ProEdit
uses active voice to ensure that your readers and users clearly understand your
documentation.
 Use advance organizers. In technical writing, an advance organizer (also called a “jump
list”) is a bulleted list at the beginning of a chapter that provides an overview of the
chapter. David Ausubel, a psychologist who developed advance organizers, states in his
Subsumption Theory, “The most important single factor influencing learning is what the
learner already knows.”3 Advance organizers help users process and retain information
based on what they already know.

Achieve Clear and Accurate Communication:

Understand the communication paradigm
Define the general guiding principles of written communication
Understand the 10 golden rules of writing
Understand the principles of clear English

Plan technical documentation and reports:

Conduct research, record and organise information
Identify document type: formal, progress report, email, letter, routine
Create a workable routine
Develop an appropriate structure that suits short and long documents
Utilise the appendix where necessary
Understand how to bottom-line information for improved focus

Drafting the technical document:

Ensure clarity of meaning & impact
Understand back to basics
Use the grammar checklist: punctuation, tense, use of verbs
Structure sentences to enhance meaning
Ensure that paragraphs are well structured to achieve requirements
Understand word power - use vocabulary that avoids jargon and increases meaning
Look for word alternatives

Formatting techniques:
Use styles that enhance visual appearance: display information into graphs, charts and tables
Ensure consistency in all aspects of the presentation, including numbering and applying lists
Create formats for improved readability

Polishing techniques:
Write the covering letter and the executive summary
Assess readability of the document where required against criteria for strong communication
Edit for the final version and 'trim the fat'

Personal Action Plan:

Test for technical accuracy
Develop a plan for on-going improvement