Technical Report Writing Guide

technical report writing guide_3"technical report writing guide"

The First Choice 'article Writing' Template

This is a reviewed copy since at initial posting we didn't put a link to our website yeboyesafrica.com. You may wish to visit us for more resourceful articles.

You want a quick guide to super-quick article drafting, you got the right guide.

Welcome!

I don’t doubt I’m offering a good resource for those who may want to start on article writing, it doesn’t matter what the purpose is. Those that already write articles can get to know a different approach to fulfilling the same goal. To authors, applying all or some of the information I shall give will leave your readers wanting some more of your articles.

The inspiration to write this article comes from a ‘status reporting template’ I adopted from a website I can’t recall or even identify today. When I first saw the template, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. I have used this template for many reports and it has proved to be extremely good. I know this from the reaction I always get from customers of my reports. This template has put me in good position with all project sponsors I have handled some work for. Each time any of the project sponsors responded to any of my excellent project status reports, I’d know exactly that it’s largely because of the professional layout of the report. One good thing about this template is that it guides the reporter to give a truthful picture of the project status.

Concept Transfer

How about writing equally good articles using a template? That is the question that has been bothering me for a long time. What if each time I write articles, they hit the mark right away like the project status reports. I knew I could develop a template that would fulfill that need.

My four years experience of publishing books and articles for local magazines has earned me the art of mastering attention catching articles. I now know what people are looking for in an article and the therefore the template will do just that.

Why articles? I guess there is reason behind that you got interested in this article. There are many reasons that one would want to write a winning article at the shortest time possible. I don’t know about you, but I often get rushed by a soon approaching deadline, yet I still wish to come up with a good article. This template is therefore a good tool to help authors write good articles in a short time.

I know that often times other authors would give the lengthy points on ‘brainstorming the topic’, ‘research the market’, ‘start with the summary’, etc. Yes, it is not wrong to follow all those processes. They probably work in certain circumstances but not when time is an issue of concern. Moreover, to me writing is only a part-time hobby. Then, when it comes to research, brainstorming topics and following all the other process, it turns out to be a nightmare. You may call my template the ‘Laziest method’ to writing good articles because all you’d need is time to come up with the topic and work from there. Yes, I can’t completely avoid some of the processes like researching on the topic (not researching on the market), coming up with an outline and reviewing my work.

The articles that we will be producing from the template are good for internet marketing, freelancing and reporting, not at all for academic purposes. This template will assist writers to develop relevant content within a short space of time. Articles produced using this template would definitely market the author’s capabilities to potential markets, particularly on the internet.

Please note that the template is not addressing any particular subject, but it is a general outline. So then, this template won’t do the thinking for you, you will still need to apply yourself a little bit to write your article.

The Template

Let’s go straight to the template.

Topic--You have to come up with a simple, relevant and catchy topic. Give a straight to the point topic. A topic like, ‘Preventing Child Abuse’ would be better than ‘Methods used to Prevent Child Abuse’.

Your topic could be followed by a short explanatory sentence. For our example topic, the short sentence could read as follows: ‘An outline of simple strategies that children can use to defend themselves’.

Content outline This is ignorable. You may or may not list the table of contents for your article. The table of contents may be ideal for either very long articles (+/-20, 000 words) or those with distinctive sub-topics.

Introduction--This is where you need to catch the interest of your readers. Include some or all of the following:

1. Brief outline of what will be covered

2. The motivating factor behind the selected topic, e.g. background and benefits. Go on to tell your readers why you think you are the right person to address the subject. It is important to tell the truth, if it’s because you’re simply interested in the subject, state so.

3. A brief statement on your credentials, experience and exposure.

4. What you have achieved from your experience. For example, if writing has improved you writing skills, mention it. It helps convince your readers that you know the subject very well.

Tackling the core Subject Matter--- 1. Address the subject attention areas that would define the gap between the uninformed and the knowledgeable. For example, if knowledge on the subject would help save some money, make it clear to your readers. This will help convince your readers to read to the end of the article.

2. Start with simple/general knowledge and gradually intensify the technicality of the subject. For example, you can first suggest a manual and later dwell on digital or more advance technological approach. State the expected challenges (pros and cons) in each case. This will create the link between the norm and the desired state to your readers.

Enriching the Body--- 1. At this stage, you can add technical information without reservations.

2. State a range of requirements and their options. For example, if a computer and a DeskJet are necessary, mention it.

3. Compare players in the market and promote good practice. List and emphasize on desired actions, taking a chronological approach to each stage.

4. Attempt to indirectly answer any questions you think your readers may have. E.g., if your readers are not sure why water paint is preferred to oil paint. Let them know that oil paint is flammable yet water paint is not.

5. Give supporting points to your confidence in the approach you recommend. You can suggest other options based on price and availability.

Conclusion---At this stage you have stated all your facts. You are ready to give recommendations. In your recommendations, you can refer your readers to either your other related products or resource elsewhere. You can visit my website at yeboyesafrica.com.

OK! Now what’s the next step: your assignment. If you follow this simple guide, you can definitely come up with a good article in the shortest time possible. Remember that ‘practice makes perfect’. The ball is in your court. Good luck!

About the Author

An author of five motivational books, a motivational speaker and businessman. Visit us at yeboyesafrica.com

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technical report writing guide
technical report writing guide
technical report writing guide

Technical Report Writing Guide

technical report writing guide_2"technical report writing guide"

Write a Better Technical Article in Half the Time

Good technical articles are challenging to write. They’re time-consuming, demanding to research and hard to organize. But they’re valuable weapons in the PR and marketing arsenal, and you need them.


If you can outsource the article, great. That’s what writers like me are here for. But if you can’t – or don’t want to -- then read and apply the tips below to save time and energy on research and writing, and come out with a much better product.


Get Ready


1. Review your resources – hard copy like books and articles, Web access, interview contact information.


2. Arrange for interviews if you need them, it always takes a while to track down the interviewees. Note: If you’re ghostwriting an article for a company, you may not have an interview past the initial meeting.


3. Make sure you know the following: a) the reader’s challenge, b) the key message relating to their challenge, and c) the type of reader you’re writing to.


4. Understand the main message the client want to communicate. Many technologies are similar, but your client will have a defined slant on their implementation. (If they don’t, they should – this is your chance to offer them your strategic message building services.)


5. Even “vendor-neutral” articles are written with a point of view – either the writer’s or the company the writer is working for. This is only a problem if the article bias makes for a misleading article, or tells a whopping big lie.


Outline


6. Never skip this step, for your own or your readers’ sakes. Outlines speed up your writing, and readers will follow your argument much better.


7. Organize your research into three themes. Some thematic organizations are obvious – for example, I wrote an article on three steps to optimizing your storage. In other articles, there may be several possibilities. There is probably no one right choice, so if two or three seem fine to you, just pick one and go with it.


8. Remember your junior high school/high school/college outline lessons? They apply. If you don’t remember your lessons, here’s a reminder: I. Introduction (Outline problem, introduce solution, state theme) II. Body A. 1st major point B. 2nd major point C. 3rd major point III. Conclusion (short case study/example, restate solution, concluding paragraph)


9. Put your outline on paper and let it guide you as you go. It’s not iron-clad – if a new organization presents itself while you’re writing you can change it – but don’t do it too much or you’ll defeat the outline’s purpose.


Writing the Rough Draft


10. Here’s the key to writing your rough draft: Just Do It. Write without thinking about it. Paste in random chunks of text from your research. Write some more. Write in any bizarre, random order. All you want to do at this point is get down large masses of information onto paper.


11. Keep going until you’ve got 2-3 times the words you actually need, then you can stop.


12. Once you have your mass of information on paper, you can organize it into your outline. No big deal – just cut and paste paragraphs under the points they best fit.


13. Now that you’ve slapped all of your rough text and research into your outline, guess what? The draft is done. Congratulate yourself and take a break.


Subsequent Drafts


14. Now it’s time to whip this rough mass into shape. Start by saving your rough draft under a different name. You’re going to be doing a lot of deletions in this stage, and you don’t want to accidentally delete something you meant to use.


15. Working with the new copy, start your edits. Paraphrase the notes you have from other sources -- memos, product briefs, other articles, brochures. (Journalists do it all the time. It’s called "research.")


16. I'll often download online research but mark it in a different color, so as not to commit the embarrassing – not to mention illegal -- mistake of repeating someone else's writing. When I’ve learned what I need to from the research, I capture the facts in my own words and delete the original notes.


17. Borrow freely from your client’s Website and other materials. Don’t repeat the text – that’s bad policy and bad writing – but you’re not going to be accused of plagiarism. Laziness maybe, but not plagiarism.


18. Music can be helpful on writing assignments. Personally, I like Vivaldi for drafting and movie scores for revising. Quite the combo. (As I write this sentence, The Last of the Mohicans is playing. Baroque is better for the draft stage.)


19. You might find that dictating works better for you at the rough draft stage. Probably not the old-fashioned kind, where the hard-bitten boss called in his trusty secretary to “Take a memo!” You’re more likely to use an application like Naturally Speaking. This type of application needs a lot of training beforehand – the application, not you – but can be very helpful for writers who try to critique themselves out the gate.


Writing the Final Draft


20. You’ve done the rough draft, 1st draft, and are into the 2nd draft. You’ve put everything in your own words and are observing your outline structure. The article is starting to sound less like something you’ll get blamed for, and more like something you might actually claim.


21. Edit for readability, grammar and style.


22. Use active voice in all your writing. “Active voice” is a sentence construction where the subject performs the verb action. Don’t go to sleep on me, this is important. Example: “The dog bit the boy.” Quick, active, easy. Here’s an example of passive voice: “The boy was bitten by the dog.” Yikes!


23. Technology writing is full of hideous passive voice construction. Here’s another example from a technology marketing document: “This successful vendor interoperability was demonstrated at the Summit in Chicago.” Ack! Instead, write: “Vendor teams successfully demonstrated interoperability at the Summit in Chicago.” See how easy that was? PLEASE use active voice. Everyone will be so much happier.


24. If you learn nothing else about business writing in all your born days, learn to write in active voice. Subject all of your sentences to this simple little exercise and you will improve your writing 100%.


25. Please don’t be boring, but don't get too cute. I will stick in something funny every once in a while -- mostly because I get a big kick out of myself -- but don’t get too chummy.


Final Draft


26. You’re almost there – you see light at the end of tunnel, and it isn’t a train. Now is the time to polish sentence structure and word choice, and punch up your paragraphs.


27. Polish your opening paragraphs. Add a snappy lead, define what you're talking about and why it's important, and list the three or so points you’re going to make.


28. Read through your article and make sure you’ve made those points. If you did an outline, the main points should already be subheads. (See why an outline is so great?)


29. Polish your conclusion. The conclusion doesn’t have to be undying prose, but do restate your points and conclusions.


30. Read through one more time for overall readability.


31. Run your spelling and grammar check.


32. Save and send – but be careful to send the right file! I accidentally turned in my rough draft once instead of the completed final. Luckily this was with one of my oldest clients, so they contacted me and asked me for the real article. A new client would simply have assumed complete incompetence on my part.


33. And for the final tip: everything gets easier with practice. Good thing, too.

About the Author

www.onlinepublishingsite.com

Google I/O 2010 - Writing real-time games for Android redux


technical report writing guide
technical report writing guide