Book Description

Technical Writing equips students with the tools and knowledge required to write clear, concise, and well-organized technical documents. This comprehensive guide encourages students to carefully consider word choice, sentence construction, document organization and formatting, the use of visual queuing, and more to create easy-to-read, high-impact technical documents. The text begins by outlining the major differences between academic papers and technical documents, and discussing critical elements to consider when writing technical documents including audience, the goal of the document, readers' expectations, organization, and more. Later chapters address technical writing style, the importance of design, the basics of cognitive theory, and various types of communication documents. Students learn how to tailor writing for the technology industry, successfully incorporate research into technical documents, and create technical reports. The book concludes by walking students through setting up a professional portfolio of their work, addressing portfolio organization, topical strategy, strategic layout, and potential legal issues. Technical Writing is an accessible and comprehensive guide designed to help students write technical documents confidently and efficiently. The text is well suited for undergraduate courses in technical writing, communications, computer science, and engineering. Suzanne Disheroon, Ph.D., is a professor of English at Cedar Valley College, where she teaches courses in technical writing, composition, and literature. She earned her master's and doctorate degrees in English from the University of North Texas. Dr. Disheroon's areas of expertise include the writing and development of technical manuals, instructional design, grant writing, and editing. Kenneth R. Price teaches graduate and undergraduate professional and technical communication courses at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. He is a graduate faculty member at Missouri State University; California State University, Chico (where he directed the professional/technical writing program); the University of Alaska Anchorage; Western Carolina University; and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. He was also a software documentation consultant to Macromedia.