General Guidelines for Technical Writing
Objectives:
Content: designed to accomplish writer's purpose: complete and appropriate for intended audience
Tone: neutral to positive, desirable reflection of writer and writer's opinion of reader
Style: clear, concise, precise, interesting enough to keep reader's attention but undistracting
Appearance: attractive; professional; appropriate to audience, situation, and purpose
Method:
Concentrate on content; design the document to fit reader's concerns and level of understanding.
Emphasize important ideas by working with position, heads, space, phrasing, sentence structure, etc.
Write completely but concisely.
Write correctly; errors are distracting.
Set a useful pace by spacing the frequency of key ideas; balance claims, support ideas, and information.
Use active voice when you have no reason to use passive.
Take care with the use and meaning of words.
Vary sentence patterns and length.
Use concise, well-organized paragraphs.
Itemize key points and tabulate significant figures.
Be willing to do several drafts.