Technical Writing

Phillip A. Laplante is a professor of software engineering at Pennsylvania State University’s Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies. Dr. Laplante is an IEEE and SPIE fellow and a licensed professional engineer in Pennsylvania. His applied research encompasses software project management, software testing, and requirements engineering.

The Nature of Technical Writing
Introduction
Who Writes Technical Documentation?
Taxonomy of Technical Writing
Technical Reporting
Business Communications
Scientific Writing





Technical Writing Basics
Introduction
Structuring Your Writing
Positioning Your Writing
Choosing the Right Words
Avoiding Traps
Making Your Technical Writing More Interesting
The 5 Cs of Technical Writing
Referencing





The Writing Process
Introduction
The Traditional Writing Process
Environment
Dealing with Writer’s Block
Meeting Deadlines
Writing Tools
Permissions and Plagiarism





Scientific Writing
Introduction
Technical Reports
Tutorials
Opinion
Research Papers
Reviews of Books, Papers, and Reports





Business Communications
Introduction
Resumés
Transmittal Letters
Writing Letters of Reference
Memos
Meetings, Agendas, and Minutes
Customer Relations Writing
Press Releases
Presentations





Technical Reporting
Introduction
Technical Procedures
Proposals
Panel Sessions
Strategic Plans and Planning
Problem Reports





Using Graphical Elements
Breaking up the Monotony
Modeling Ideas with Graphics
Selecting the Best Model for a Schedule
Dealing with Figures
Dealing with Tables
Dealing with Equations
Dealing with Dynamic Content





Publishing Your Work
Introduction
Making a Living as a Writer
The Review Process
Handling Rejection
Open Access Publishing
Self-Publishing





Writing for E-Media
Introduction
E-Mail Can Be Dangerous
E-Newsletters
Blogging
Social Networks
E-Magazines
E-Readers





Writing with Collaborators
Introduction
Writing in Different Voices
Very Large Collaborative Writing Projects
Behavior of Groups
Other Paradigms for Team Building
Antipatterns in Organizations





Glossary


Index





Exercises and References appear at the end of each chapter.