How to (Technically) Write Well:

Advice for Better Technical Writing

-Allison Van Nest

Whether its a missing apostrophe or a misplaced comma, youre probably aware of the
subtleand sometimes hilariouschanges in meaning that a single overlooked grammar error
can create. Grammar, alone, has the ability to reduce serious public warnings or heartfelt
company statements to a laughing stock.
Its likely that no one has actually been hurt as a result of the admonition Elephants
Please Stay in Your Car outside the gate of an Animal Safari Park. But there are many cases
where an erroreven a small onehas led to a million-dollar lawsuit. Lawsuit-level grammar
errors seldom result from misleading marketing content or a small spelling mistake; instead, they
are often a result of confusing technical documentation that is intended to provide accurate
information or instruction.
So how can writers avoid some of the common grammatical errors in technical writing?
Grammar, Spelling and Technical Writing
Grammar and spelling mistakes can strike anywhere and embarrass a writer. In technical
writing, the consequences can be more severe, because the primary purpose of technical writing
is to provide instruction and guidelines. Therefore, technical writers are under more pressure
than most to be concise in their written communication.
The Cost of Ambiguity
Grammar is meant to provide clarity. In speech, additional factors such as the tone of
voice, facial expression, and limb movements help convey specific meaning. These factors
naturally eliminate the ambiguity in our sentences. The same cannot be said for written
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communication, however. Without proper and thoughtful use of grammar and spelling, your
writing may be unclear.
A recent Accenture study, for example, reported that American consumers returned $13.8
billion in electronics in 2007. Between 60 percent and 85 percent of this equipment was perfectly
functional, but the purchasers returned it because of confusing interfaces, features that were
difficult to access, a lack of customer education and weak documentation. These were all
factors that excellent written communication could have solvedyet in its absence, many
electronics companies found that they were frustrating customers to the point of initiating a
product return, and their credibility was taking a hit.
Caution Pays
Avoiding grammar and spelling mistakes is one of the most important skills you can cultivate
as a technical writer. It is important for many reasons. First, any mistake you overlook in your
text will most likely be caught by someone else. If that someone else is your senior manager or
employer, it will reflect badly on your professional capabilities. Poor writing often predicts poor
attention to detail, inadequate critical-thinking skills and a lack of motivation among
employees. Grammarly recently conducted a survey on grammar in the workplace and learned
the following:

Professionals with fewer grammar errors in their profiles achieved higher

positions. Those who failed to progress to a director-level position within the first 10
years of their careers made 2.5 times as many grammar mistakes as their director-level
colleagues.

Fewer grammar errors correlate with more promotions. Professionals with one to
four promotions over their 10-year careers made 45 percent more grammar errors than
those with six to nine promotions in the same time frame.

Simply put, an erroneous technical document will compromise the credibility of the product as
well as the company and the writer.
Common Mistakes Technical Writers Must Avoid
If you are a professional technical writer, there is a good chance that a majority of your
spelling mistakes are due to a lack of proofreading. For instance, writing right instead of write,
there instead of their, or than instead of then. Depending on the context and sentence structure,
such mistakes may or may not have a significant impact on your intended meaning. On the other
hand, some mistakes are more severe in nature. These mistakes either compromise the clarity of
your intended meaning or degrade the overall quality of your writing. Maintaining quality is
important, so lets discuss some of the common grammar mistakes that technical writers must
avoid to maintain a high writing standard.
1. Present vs. Future Tense
Technical writers should use the present tense as much as possible. Present tense indicates
established facts and knowledge, which all writers should have available when creating publicfacing information about a product. Future tense is rarely acceptable in technical writing because
customers expect that companies are certain about what happens, and that they are not simply
predicting what will happen. Here is an example:
A broken antenna distorts signals.
is better than writing
A broken antenna will distort signals.

2. Using Too Many Nouns

Technical writing is very different from creative writing. In the latter, use of modifiers such as
strong adjectives or abstract nouns is acceptable, if not desirable. In the case of technical writing,
using too many nouns can create confusion. Take a look at this example:
Pushing the button causes the termination of the program.
Instead of using the abstract noun termination, it is better to write
Pushing the button terminates the program.
3. Passive Voice
Active voice is always preferable for technical writing because it sounds more natural than
passive voice. Passive voice usually leads to longer sentences with confusing structures. More
importantly, it stresses the object rather than the subject, so unless that is your intention, avoid
using passive voice and stick to a natural active style.
For example,
The report was presented by Prof. Howard.
This statement should read
Prof. Howard presented the report.
4. Punctuation
As a technical writer, it is important for you to be aware of the common use cases for the
comma, period, hyphen and other punctuation marks. But even more important than knowing
how to use these symbols correctly is that you must also pay close attention to detail.
In 2006, Rogers Communications was expected to lose $2.13 million because of a misplaced
comma in a contract. It may be little, but punctuation can sure pack a punch.