February 22, 2012

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How To Become A Good Technical Writer?

Technical Writing for Teams: The STREAM Tools ...

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Importance of technical writing skills has increased after the rapid rise of popularity of the internet. An individual skill in technical writing can offer his or her services to people from all over the world. Apart from being a lucrative career, technical writing is important to explore the various scientific and technical advancements that civilization is making.

There is a popular misconception that only a technical expert can be a good technical writer. To simply be a technical expert will not suffice. An expert who cannot convey technical literature in an easy to understand way will obviously turn out as a very bad writer. Does this mean that one must focus on writing skills alone when trying to progress in the field of technical writing?

Simply writing fluff or converting technical concepts into overtly simple content will not work with the target audience. One has to strike the right balance between technical expertise and writing skills. The two are not necessarily complementary to each other. This is a reason a completely different set of skills are required to become a good technical writer.

Another important need is the ability to do good research on the internet. Technical content, unlike content designed for general use, is expected to withstand the rigors of intellectual and critical analysis. Solid research backed with references to reliable sources of information is a must to enhance quality of technical writing. A person who fulfills all these requirements will automatically enjoy high demand for his or her skills.

 

 

 

 

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Finding a Topic to Write About

365-2011-045: The Stacks (featuring Fancy Froglin)

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When looking into a research topic, you should choose a topic that you are able to research and enjoy. Wondering what your topic should be? It should be all of the following:

Something you know. You do not want to begin with a subject that you have little knowledge about, as you will not know what work will be required in order to get an excellent grade on the research paper. Understanding the topic at the beginning means that you will know that you have a viable topic that you will be able to research, and that your topic is just narrow enough to not be overwhelming.

Something you enjoy. You should choose a topic, if you can, on something that you would gladly keep reading and learning about. If the topic is interesting to you, you are more likely to be zealous in your research and faster in your comprehension. If it is a long term project, you should find something that will keep your interest for more than a few days, as this will not only keep you excited about the paper longer, but will make your time more pleasant. Also, if you enjoy a topic, you are more likely to be able to make connections and fuller arguments because you will have a fuller background to pull from. This is because your mind is more fully engaged in a project when you are interested in it.

Something to challenge you. If you are working on a long-term project, it is best to create a topic that, while still familiar to you, breaks into new ground, requiring fresh analysis and research. Finding this balance between familiar and new can be difficult to learn, but makes a project so much more fulfilling when it is reached. While you should be able to pull from the large background of what you already know, you should also be required to encounter new ideas and theories. Connecting these new theories to each other and to what you already know is the core and beauty of your paper.

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Sources: Your Best Friend in Research

If are writing a research paper and are trying to create the strongest foundation for your argument, as well as solid back up for your points, sources must become your best friend. Here are three things to consider when bringing together a list of sources.

Date. When you are writing a research paper, you want a wide range of publication dates in your bibliography. This will help prove that you did your homework and researched all major sources, not just recent ones or the nobodies that agreed with you. You must be sure that you include at least some recent publications, even if they are not your main source, so that your readers know that you were keeping up with any new research on your topic.

Form. You should also have a variety of types of publications, from articles to pamphlets to full-fledge books. It is important to note that a master’s thesis or doctorate dissertation should not be considered a worthy source, as this is a piece of work produced before an author has really even become an qualified writer to be taken seriously. Plenty of writers go on to take their thesis or dissertation and turn it into a fuller work later in their career. This newer version is perfectly acceptable to use, as it was created as a scholar has more knowledge and experience.

Author. Even if you find a perfect source that says everything you hoped it would say, you should not consider it your savior until you have researched its author. What education and position does the author hold? How well-researched was she in her studies, as demonstrated in the size of the bibliography? Another important thing to consider is if you have heard of the author before, either discussed in other sources, or as holding her own with a long list of publications in respected magazines and publishers. If this is the case, you have found a wonderful piece and you can feel free to rely on it, but do not forget to address the questions raised by other scholars.

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Four Style Guides to Know

If you are an academic, a journalist, or a writer, you may be wondering who has the final say in what grammar is correct and what is not. The following style guides are reliable guides that are generally applicable to specific fields. While not exclusive, they may give you a good idea of what guide applies the best to you.

The MLA style guide. Standing for the Modern Language Association, this is the style that is predominantly used by English departments of colleges and universities. Some significant changes were made in this form, particularly regarding how to cite internet sources, so be sure to study a 2010 edition of the book. The MLA has several specific abbreviations for cities and institutions as well, so you may also want to become familiar with these in order to write an updated bibliography in MLA.

The APA style guide.  The APA style guide is put out by the American Psychological Association, and is primarily used by the sciences. Studying this guide would be helpful if you are looking into obtaining a science degree, or if you are interested in researching scientific research.

The Associated Press style guide. This is a guide primarily used for journalism. What makes this form of writing different from others is that the point of journalism is to say as much as possible in as small of a space. Therefore, the rules listed in the Associated Press can significantly differ from the other style guides.

The Chicago Manual of Style. The Chicago Manual of Style is a style guide put out by the University of Chicago, and lays the base rules for how to punctuate your writing. If you are looking for the most basic and broad style guide, this is the guide to go with. When not tied to journalism or to a specific academic field, most publications will go by this guide for novels and even magazines (although some magazines may use the Associated Press).

Understanding who you are writing for is an important part of research for editing and writing, as demonstrated with these four guides.

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The importance of dialogue

Strong dialogue is the foundation of a successful story. Properly, and well thought out dialogue can help make each individual character more dimensional beings that the reader can relate to, and join them on their journey that the story takes them on.
Here are some reasons that the dynamic of dialogue serves the purpose of making the story stand out.

Defining characters. Take a moment to listen to those around you interacting and talking. This will help you to get an ear for the variances of different peoples speech patterns. How the character is described with speech (accents, stutter), and their posturing will help individually define them. Thus, giving them specific and distinct traits that will allow the reader to visualize and understand each different personality.

Progressing the story plot. Dialogue is intertwined throughout the story plot, and it keeps the story from stalling, and helps move it forward. You want the dialogue to be as realistic as possible. The focus is to keep it the way everyday speaking occurs, which will pull them the reader in and keep them there. Let the flow of words come as naturally as possible without giving the reader so much information it overwhelms them.

Motivations revealed. Through dialogue it helps to reveal each characters motivations, and can also foreshadow whats to come. This will assist in keeping the reader intrigued to see how the scene will turn out.

Stereotyping and Slang. An important tip to keep in mind is to keep the stereotyping and slang to a minimum unless it is an important facet of the story being told.

Be careful to not stray away with the many ideas you want to share. This is where an outline is a good idea to have handy while working on your story. It will help keep you on task, and help to not forget all those details you want to include.

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Poetry Prompts

Exploring the depth of poetry has a different look to it depending on the reader, but the important part is getting the reader to read it. Here are some templates that will hopefully help get the process going.

• Formulation. Using this technique limits the use of extra language (fluff) keeping it at a bare minimum, while maximizing a set of directives. This style writes from the imperative mood angle, which is basically expressing direct commands or requests. The sporadic and straightforward nature of this method changes what is a normally complicated topic into a simplistic idea.

• Suggestion. This technique has no typical guideline, which gives the author the ability to use a subject and voice that they can really dig into. This type of poem has the potential to become a friendly suggestion from a friend or complete stranger, but it comes across as familial advice. However, it can also act as a provocation to an enemy or adversary. The writer has the autonomy to direct the writing however they feel at that moment.

• Objective method. This method allows the writer to maintain a distance from the topic that influences both the speaker’s outlook and the reader’s response of the poem. With this technique the writer uses more academia language than the use of layman wording.

Take the time to test out each method to see which one of them fits the style of writing, and one that meets the writer’s comfort level. As time goes on, and the writer becomes more confident with their work, they can begin to challenge themselves on other techniques.

When writing poetry it helps to look deep down into the soul. It is imperative, when doing “real” topics to list feelings and views with a passion. These topics are difficult to teach, so try to focus on the more technical aspects of writing poetry when starting out.

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Writing inspiration

Writers find inspiration in many different places. Sitting quietly outside taking in a sunset, at the park watching the laughter and play of young children, even observing at a funeral.

These locations evoke some form of emotion, whether it is positive or sadness, they get a writer to contemplate, analyze and feel. This is one of prime times to write all thoughts and emotions down on paper.

Find different locations to write. Don’t always stay in the usual spots. Venture out to places like a coffee shop, a library, or a secluded garden area. The best way to write in these instances is to just write, don’t over think, just write. Don’t worry if it is going to be a publishable work, just write until there is nothing left.

Another option is to try a completely different writing genre. For example, if the norm of your writings is fiction, do some research, and try out writing a fascinating non-fiction topic. It will help to stretch your writing “muscles” to keep it challenging, but also to keep it interesting.

Another idea is to take a writing of your past work and change the viewpoint. Basically if you originally wrote the piece in first person, switch it up, and re-write it in second or third person. Furthermore, go so far as changing the tense from past to present or the other way around.

The technology that is available in this day and age, gives writers the option to join other writers groups that are online to brainstorm through ideas and issues. The groups are other writers who understand the business, and will understand your struggles specifically.

If you are in a writers slump, the best bet is to change it all up and walk away for a time. This will give you the ability to come back with a fresh mind and perspective, and hopefully many ideas!

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Writing tips

French writer and journalist Ernest Daudet (18...
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It has been said many times over, but it never hurts to repeat; successful writers read, a lot.

Here are a few writing tips to help improve the quality of the work.

I. Many mistakes are made when a writer waits until the last minute to do the work. One word; procrastination. There are countless steps that go into a quality piece of work. If too many of these steps are skipped it will affect the quality of the writing. The best advice is, be prepared, have a plan, and get started.

II. Each individual writer has their own pre-writing methods that help them to organize their thoughts and ideas. Some writers use basic outlines, while others use what is called a writers mind map. Whichever one is chosen, it is important to get a plan on paper so specific aspects don’t get forgotten or lost in translation. These tools will also help to keep the writer on task.

III. Audiences thrive on being able to relate to an authors story. It helps to validate their thoughts and feelings as well. That being said, it is imperative not to get lost in an overload of facts and numbers, and not enough life examples and stories. Readers have to be able to relate or stay interested to keep them reading.

IV. Leave the editing for the end. If a writer tries to edit as they write, they lose focus, become frustrated, and the work suffers. Another piece of advice is to write without regard of the comma splices and spelling etc, because most writers edit at least 3-4 times before it is all said and done.

V. Unless the writer is writing a scholarly work, keep words that require a dictionary to a bare minimum. If the writer uses language that is overly sophisticated, they will lose readers due to confusion because of the inability to translate and understand the writing.

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Becoming a writer

Can anyone become a writer? Writing potential is in all of us, but what that branches into becomes very diverse. If it is an aspiration to write as a career, than dedication and practice will help meet that goal.

A few recommendations to those novices just starting out, below are some tips that will hopefully help kick start your writing.

One of the first things to do is to absorb all the activity around you going on. (Potential topics) Try to stop participating, and turn the focus on observing. It is recommending to somewhat detach yourself from the current surroundings. Take in first hand account on how people act and interact with each other in social situations.

Make a conscious effort to take in things you normally take for granted such as buildings, street shops and so on. Notice what is in front of you, beside you, underneath, and document it.

Write what you are thinking in that moment. If you are in a discussion with someone, take the first moment available and dictate it. Be vivid in describing everything from environment, to colors, textures, objects and so on.

Another idea is to take one of your most embarrassing moments and write it down. Don’t leave anything out. Once you are finished, put it out of sight for a few weeks, and than come back to it and see if your perspective has changed.

Don’t put restrictions on what you write. Try to write every form such as poems, fiction, dialogue, and even take a stab at writing songs. You never know when that practice in different arenas will benefit you in other writings.

The main point is to set goals you can achieve. We tend to set goals to a standard most normal people cannot attain. Start out small and move up.

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Getting published

Getting published can be a stressful time, but the sense of accomplishment at the end is well worth it. It cant be stressed enough about the importance of reading. If you are writing for a specific genre, it is crucial to read other books in the same arena. These books are your competition; by checking them out you are able to see what is succeeding and what is not.

Also read other genres for ideas. It may be helpful to read plays that will help with forming dialogue, thrillers for developing plots, and short stories for articulateness.

Another aspect is staying teachable. There are workshops, readings, and seminars available for longtime writers as well as those just starting out. This will help give you the opportunity to share writing struggles, ideas and so on with other writers who may be able to help guide you. This is also a good networking tool that is always a key thing to do in any business.

Enter your work into as many competitions as you can. There are numerous contests available via the web, and this not only gives you practice, but also give you the opportunity to see if your writing has the potential that you think it does.

Developing your voice as a writer is also a crucial piece to becoming a successful author. If you choose to go with a mainstream publishing house you will want to obtain the services of an agent. Most publishers wont even look at an authors work without going through an agent. This can be expensive, and most publishers, if they choose to publish your work, will likely own the rights to your book. It is important to have good representation so as not to lose your rights to the work you have spent so much time and energy on.

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