WRITING SKILLS - 2

WRITING   SKILLS  -  2

It is absolutely vital for you as a professional engineer to actively develop the skill of writing; not only because of the time involved in writing, but also because your project's success may depend upon it. Indeed, since so much of the communication between you and more senior management occurs in writing, your whole career may depend upon its quality.

In relation to a project, documentation provides a means to clarify and explain on-going development, and to plan the next stages. Memoranda are a simple mechanism for suggestions, instructions, and general organisation. The minutes of a meeting form a permanent and definitive record

Writing is a central part of any design activity. Quality is improved since writing an explanation of the design, forces the designer to consider and explore it fully.

If you are having trouble expressing an idea, write it down; you (and possibly others) will then understand it. It may take you a long time to explain something "off the cuff", but if you have explained it first to yourself by writing it down - the reader can study your logic not just once but repeatedly, and the information is efficiently conveyed.

Aim

You start with your aim. Every document must have a single aim - a specific, specified reason for being written.

The reader

A document tells somebody something. There are three considerations:

• What they already know affects what you can leave out.
• What they need to know determines what you include.
• What they want to know suggests the order and emphasis of your writing.

To be most effective, you may need to produce three different reports for the three different audiences. Your writing must be right for the reader, or it will lost on its journey; you must focus upon enabling the reader's access to the information.

Structure

Writing is very powerful. The power comes from its potential as an efficient and effective means of communication.

The document is broken down into distinct sections which can be written (and read) separately. These sections are then each further decomposed into subsections (and sub-subsections) until you arrive at simple, small units of information - which are expressed as a paragraph, or a diagram.

Draft, revise and edit

Layout…….

Style …..

The beginning….

Punctuation….

Spelling….

Simple errors ….

Sentence length…

Word length…

Jargon…

Wordiness

Conclusion

Writing is a complex tool, you need to train yourself in its use or a large proportion of your activity will be grossly inefficient. You must reflect upon your writing lest it reflects badly upon you.

When writing, be mindful of the fact that once something is in written form, it cannot be taken back. Communicating in this way is more concrete than verbal communications, with less room for error and even less room for mistakes. This presents written communicators with new challenges, including spelling, grammar, punctuation, even writing style and actual wording.

The importance of "style"...

Some of the most basic tips to remember when writing include:

• Avoid the use of slang words
• Try not to use abbreviations (unless appropriately defined)
• Steer away from the use of symbols (such as ampersands [&])
• Clichés should be avoided, or at the very least, used with caution
• Brackets are used to play down words or phrases
• Dashes are generally used for emphasis
• Great care should always be taken to spell the names of people and companies correctly
• Numbers should be expressed as words when the number is less than 10 or is used to start a sentence (example: ten years ago, my brother and i…). The number 10, or anything greater than 10, should be expressed as a figure (example: my brother has 13 matchbox cars.)
• Quotation marks should be placed around any directly quoted speech or text and around titles of publications.
• Keep sentences short

·         The body of the letter needs to explain the reason for the correspondence, including any relevant background and current information. Make sure the information flows logically, ensuring you are making your points effectively.

·         The closing of the letter is the final impression you leave with the reader. End with an action point, such as ‘i will call you later this week to discuss this further’

The body of the letter needs to explain the reason for the correspondence, including any relevant background and current information. Make sure the information flows logically, ensuring you are making your points effectively.

·         The closing of the letter is the final impression you leave with the reader. End with an action point, such as ‘i will call you later this week to discuss this further

·         Is your written communication well organized? Does each idea proceed logically to the next?

·         Close appropriately, making sure to include your contact information. While this may seem not at all necessary.