Technical Writing, 2nd Edition

2Technical Writing Basics

2.1Introduction

Although it is an unfortunate stereotype, engineers and technical professionals are often regarded as poor communicators. When I was an engineering undergraduate student, a frequently heard insult was “I couldn’t even spell ‘engineer’ and now I are one.” Yet, most of the engineers and scientists I know are well read and articulate, and can write effectively.

I am a professor of neither English nor communications, and this chapter is not an introduction to basic writing principles such as verb tense consistency, avoiding run-on sentences, and proper transitions. I assume (really, hope) that you can write well enough. And I certainly won’t bore you with the more esoteric subjects of introductory writing—for ...