How to Be a Good Technical Writer

Good technical writing is just as efficient as mathematics.

Many analytical left-brained people often ask me how to be a better technical writer, not realizing that writing is as systematic as math is. It's just harder to explain. But some very consistent patterns can be found in good technical writing; and we must remember that the entire purpose of good grammar is to eliminate ambiguity, like math systems eliminate ambiguity with numbers. Here's my how to on being a good technical writer. It takes practice, so don't get discouraged if it doesn't come easily. Math doesn't come easily to me.Things You'll Need:

• Paper
• Pen
• Practice time

1. Good technical writing makes good use of parallel structure.

   Good writers, authors, and speakers take advantage of the grammatical expression of "parallel structure." You know to use it in lists, like, "I went to the store, the mall, and the pool." Noun, noun, noun. You know not to say "I went to the store, the mall, and swam." Noun, noun, verb. Did you know that you can use it for phrases and sentences, too? Obama does this a ton, and it's why everyone thinks he's such an excellent speaker. For instance: "The verdict just as much decided on the merits of the Prosecuting Attorney's Expert Witness as the Defense Attorney's Blundering Testimony." Note the capitalized word phrases -- they are both adjective, possessive, adjective, noun. Try parallel structure in your grammar in long phrases and sentences when you run into trouble about how to say something.

2. Good technical writing makes use of action verbs.

   After you get parallel structure down, to be a good technical writer, you want to use action verbs and stay away from linking verbs like be, do, is. Precise action verbs make your story jump off the page. Consider: "I went to the store" versus "I waltzed happily to the store." Close your eyes and visualize the two scenarios. Which one comes alive? So to be a good technical writer, rewrite sentences that have linking verbs as sentences that have precise action verbs.

3. Good technical writing mixes up sentence structure.

   Once you get your verb structure down, the last step to good technical writing is to mix up your sentence structure. If you cannot think of any other way, go simple sentence, complex sentence, simple sentence, complex sentence. Once you get good, you will be able to rewrite sentences as rhetorical questions and the like. It's this difference in sentence structure that makes writing seem all artsy, but it's actually very technical and mathy. Take your favorite literature and see how often your author uses similar sentence structure patterns. You'll be surprised. Take advantage of it, and good luck becoming a good technical writer!