IntroductionThetechnicalwritingprocesscanbethoughtofasaproblem-solvingtask—aseriesofquestionstobeconsideredandanswered.Writingatechnicaldocumentisnotanisolatedprocess.Experiencedwritersoftechnicaldocumentstypicallyusethefollowingelementsintheirwritingprocess:Exploringandinventing探索與構思Planningandorganizing計劃與組織Drafting打草稿Revising修改Editing編輯Exploringandinventingmeanssearchinginformationandcreatingideas.Thereareusuallyfourpossibleproblem-solvingstrategies:Brainstorming開動腦筋Synectics共同研討法FiveW’splusH：5W+H問題分析法Cause-and-effectanalysis因果分析法

I.ExploringandInventingBrainstormingisaproblem-solvingtechniquethatencouragesyoutosuggestasmanyideasaspossibleaboutagivenproblemwithoutmakinganyjudgmentsuntilafteranumberofideashavebeenproduced.Theprocessofbrainstormingfollowsthesesteps.:Writedownthegeneraltopicatthetopofyourpaper.Makealistofeveryideathatcomestomindandkeeptheideasflowing.Evenifyouwritedownsomeideaoffthetopic,don’tworryaboutitbecauseyoucancrossitoutlater.Rewritethelist,groupsimilarideastogetherandcrossoutitemsthatdon’tbelongorthatareduplications.

1.BrainstormingSynectics

meansbringingtogetherdifferentpeopleanddifferentideas,whichencouragesprofessionalsofdifferentexpertisetoworktogetherandcombineunrelatedideasasameansofanalyzingaparticularproblem.Synecticsencouragesanalogiesofthefollowingkinds.

Fantasyanalogies:searchingfortheidealsolutionPersonalanalogies:imaginingyouarethesubjectDirectanalogies:comparingthesubjecttosomethingconcreteSymbolicanalogies:comparingthesubjecttosomethingabstract

2.SynecticsSynectics

meansbringingtogetherdifferentpeopleanddifferentideas,whichencouragesprofessionalsofdifferentexpertisetoworktogetherandcombineunrelatedideasasameansofanalyzingaparticularproblem.Synecticsencouragesanalogiesofthefollowingkinds.

Fantasyanalogies:searchingfortheidealsolutionPersonalanalogies:imaginingyouarethesubjectDirectanalogies:comparingthesubjecttosomethingconcreteSymbolicanalogies:comparingthesubjecttosomethingabstract

2.SynecticsFiveW’splusHisaproblem-analysisstrategythatrequiresclearstatementsontheperson,thing,time,place,reason,andmethodinvolved.Itisaformulafrequentlyassociatedwithjournalism.Thestrategybeginsbyaskingandansweringthefollowingquestions:?WHO:Whoisinvolved?Whoshouldbeinvolved??WHAT:Whatisinvolved?Whatistobechanged?Whatshouldremainthesame??WHEN:Whenshoulditbedone?Whenisthemostappropriatetime??WHERE:Whereshoulditbedone?Whereisthemostconvenientplace??WHY:Whyshoulditbedone??HOW:Howshoulditbedone?

3.FiveW’splusH4.Cause-and-EffectAnalysisCause-and-EffectAnalysisisastrategycommonlyusedbyqualitycontrolcircles—smallgroupsofpeoplemeetingregularlytoidentify,analyze,andsolveproblemsconnectedtotheworktheydo.Itfocusesonthecausesofaparticularproblem.Theinitialcausesareseparatedintofourcategories:machine,employee,material,andmethod.Anyofthesefourpossiblecausescanbefurtheranalyzedthroughdeepercauses.II.DocumentPlanningWhenyouplanadocument,youneedtomakedecisionsaboutavarietyofelements:context,purpose,audience,content,organization,anddesign.

PlanningElementsandReviewingQuestionsImportantNotesTheprocessofdocumentplanningisnotlinearbecauseeachelementaffectstheothers.Whileyouareworkingonadocument,youcanchangeyourplans,butyouneedtobeginwithasenseofwhatyou’redoingandwhereyou’regoing,becausechangesinoneelementinfluencetheotherelements.Althoughwritersoftenreplanastheirworkprogresses,carefulplanningcanminimizethenumberofchangesthatareneededlater.Collaborationisaproductivewayindocumentplanning,evenifyouaregoingtodraftthedocumentindependently.Workingwithsomeoneelseoftengeneratesideasandapproachesthatyoumightnotcomeupwithalone.III.DraftingDrafting

meansdrawingupapreliminaryversionofthedocument.Thefollowingmethodsarecommonlyusedbymanyprofessionalwriters.?Composethedraftfrombeginningtoendwithoutinterruption.?Processslowly,thinkingandpolishingeveryphrase,sentenceandparagraph.?Prepareanoutlineastheframeworkofyourdraftandthensticktothisoutline.?Createbitsandpiecesofthedraftduringtheplanningstage,writingdownkeysentences.Whenyourplanningisdone,taketheseideas,developthem,andfillinthespaces.IV.Revising1.Arrangement2.Content3.Logic4.Style5.Graphics6.DocumentDesign7.SeekingAdviceIncheckingthearrangement,youshouldtrytoputyourselfinyourreader’spositionandmakesureyourarrangementiseasilyaccessibleandcomprehensible.Thefollowingquestionsmayhelpyoucheckforthatpurpose.?Arethereanylinksofthoughtmissing??Arethereanyquestionsleftunansweredthatthereaderwillwantananswer??Haveyouprovidedsmoothtransitionsfromsectiontosection,paragraphtoparagraph??Arethereanyparagraphsthatneedtobedivided,whileothersshouldbecombined??Doesyourdiscussiontaketoomuchforgranted??Haveyouavoidedirrelevantmaterialorunwantedrepetitions??Isthereanyvitalthoughtburiedinthediscussionwhenitshouldbeputintoaprominentposition?1.Arrangement2.ContentIncheckingyourcontent,youshouldmakesurethatyouhavebeenspecificenoughandyourinformationisaccurate.Youshouldnotsimplyrelyonagoodmemoryforfactsandfiguresthatyouarenottotallysureof.Checkanddouble-checkyourdataandequations.Takethefollowingquestionsintoconsideration.?Isyourinformationaccurate??Haveyouquantifiedwhennecessary??Haveyouadaptedyourmaterialtoyouraudience??Haveyoureplacedthevagueandnonspecificexpressionswithclear,accurateandspecificexpressions??Haveyougivenenoughexamples,facts,andnumberstosupportyourargumentorconclusion?3.LogicTrytobestrictinlogicofyourargumentandbecarefulnottoletyourselffallintoalogicalfallacy.Examineyourdiscussionforeveryconceivableweaknessofarrangementandcontent,andbereadytocriticizeit.Youmayfinditdifficulttobecriticalofyourownwork,butacriticaleyeisimportantintechnicalwriting.Styleisacustomarymannerinwriting,whichiscomposedofaseriesofspeciallychosenrhetoricalskills.Thefollowinggeneralprinciplesofstyleandrhetoricfortechnicalcommunicationcanbeofhelp.?Rewriteclumsysentencesintosimplerandclearerones.?Changeunneededpassivevoicesentencesintoactiveones.?Cutoutwordsthataddnothingtoyourthought.?Crossoutthepretentiouswordsandsubstitutesimplerones.?Besurethedictionandsentencestructuresaresuitabletotheoccasionandtheaudience.

4.Style5.GraphicsMuchtechnicalinformationispresentedintables,graphs,anddiagrams.Whenyouhavenumerousstatistics,particularlythoseusedforcomparison,youshoulddisplaythemintablesorgraphs.Whendealingwithcontentthathasvisualcomponents,youshouldpresentthecontentindiagrams.Fordetailsaboutsuchmatters,seeChapter8:Graphics.6.DocumentDesignDocumentdesignreferstotheeffectiveuseoftablesofcontents,headings,therighttypeface,properspacing,andsoforth,whichisintegraltogoodtechnicalwriting.DetailedguidancefordocumentdesignisofferedinChapter9:DocumentDesign.Technicalwritersoftensharetheirdraftswithcolleaguesandaskfortheiropinions.Often,someonewhoisnotasfamiliarwiththematerialasthewriterspotsflawsfarmorequicklythanthewriterdoes.Whenyouarewritinginstructions,forexample,youshouldshareanearlydraftwithasampleaudience,peoplewhoaresimilarinknowledgeandintelligencetothoseforwhomtheinstructionsareintended.Seehowwelltheycanfollowtheinstructions.Theycantellyouwheretheyhavetroublecarryingoutyourinstructionsorwherepoorvocabularychoiceorinsufficientcontentcauseanydifficulties,whichcanbeinvaluabletoyourrevision.

7.SeekingAdviceV.EditingEditingisthefinalstepinwriting.Youbeginyoureditingonlyafteryouaresatisfiedwithyourdraft.Intheeditingstage,youshouldmakesurethatyourreportismechanicallyperfect,thatitmeetstherequirementsofStandardEnglishandtheexpectedformat.Beginyoureditingbycheckingmechanics.Makesurethateverywordisspelledcorrectly.Developahealthysenseofdoubtanduseagooddictionaryorthespellingcheckerofyourwordprocessingprogram.Alsocheckyourgrammar,suchassubject-verbagreement,tenses,voicesandmood.1.CheckingMechanics2.CheckingDocumentationBesurethatallin-textcitationsmatchnumbersofyourreferencelist.Makecertainthatyouhaveusedthesamestylethroughoutyourdocumentforcitations.Forhelpindocumentation,seeChapter7:EthicsandDocumentation.Checkyourgraphicsforaccuracyandappropriateness.Takecarethatyourgraphicsarewellplacedandcorrectlynumbered.Andalsomakesurethatthenumberofeachgraphicmatchest