The Top Five Writing Mistakes in White Papers

A compelling topic and an attractive design will initially draw readers to a white paper. But those readers may lose interest if the paper contains any of five common writing mistakes.

King, Janice M. WhitePaperSource (2006). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric>White Papers

Transferable and Local Writing Skills  

One indication of the state of our profession is the discriminations that we are just getting around to making: useful, even essential, 'sortings out' that, when then, are made, seem embarrassingly obvious. One such 'sorting out' or discrimination is essential for an understanding of what any composition class can do, whether advanced composition, technical writing, feature writing, or whatever. In the writer’s repertoire, there are local and transferable skills. Local skills have to do with a given genre and involve such matters as special forms (e. g., the scientific report), footnoting, vocabularies, special styles, and even the 'tones' that particular fields demand. Transferable skills are the 'basics' of writing: syntactic fluency, control of diction, sense of audience, organizational ability, 'mechanics' such as punctuation and spelling.

Winterowd, W. Ross. JAC (1980). Articles>TC>Writing>Rhetoric

Tune Your Voice

What is voice, and how does the writer tune it?

Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric

Twelve Exercises for Improving Dialogue

Dialogue is one of the most difficult aspects of writing to master. There are many pitfalls you must try to avoid, such as: Stilted language Dialogue that does not sound like natural speech. Filler Dialogue that does not further the scene and does not deepen your understanding of the characters. Exposition Dialogue that has the character explain the plot or repeat information for the benefit of the audience. Naming Having one character use another character’s name to establish identity. People almost never say other people’s names back to them, and if they do it is a character trait typical of a used car salesman. Overuse of Modifiers Too many dialogue modifiers such as shouted, exclaimed, cried, whispered, stammered, opined, insinuated, hedged and a million others. Modifiers such as this can sometimes be useful, but are often annoying and used as a crutch for poorly designed dialogue.

Hewitt, John. Writer's Resource Center (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric>Screenwriting

Understand Film Language: An Introduction for Technical Communicators  

The techniques of film language areas important to video and multimedia presentations as the techniques of written language are to technical documentation. Film language consists of such components as shot content, frame composition, camera movement, color (or shade), lighting, and film transitions. Film transitions are the way in which shots and sequences are connected and carry specific semantic weight for the viewer. However for many technical video-makers, the meanings of film transitions are overlooked in favor of flashy presentations or are abused to cover a problem. In developing videos for training or informational purposes, we should respect and understand the significance of film transitions and other aspects of film language.

Tillman, Michael A. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Multimedia>Visual Rhetoric>Technical Writing

Understanding and Reducing the Knowledge Effect: Implications for Writers    

To be effective, writers must understand what knowledge they share with the audience and what they do not. Achieving this understanding is made difficult by the knowledge effect--a tendency of individuals to assume that their own knowledge is shared by others. Understanding the knowledge effect and methods for reducing it is potentially useful for understanding and teaching writing. In Study 1, we explored the impact of an individual's knowledge of technical terms on that person's ability to estimate other people's understanding of those terms. We assessed how individuals' familiarity with technical terms influenced their predictions that college freshmen and college graduates would understand those terms. Results indicate that familiarity with the meaning of technical terms leads to substantial overestimation of others' knowledge. In Study 2, we evaluated an online tutor designed to improve writers' predictions of other's word knowledge by providing them with feedback on the accuracy of their judgments.

Hayes, John R. and Diana Bajzek. Written Communication (2008). Articles>Education>Rhetoric>Writing

Understanding Visual Rhetoric in Digital Writing Environments      

This essay illustrates key features of visual rhetoric as they operate in two professional academic hypertexts and student work designed for the World Wide Web. By looking at features like audience stance, transparency, and hybridity, writing teachers can teach visual rhetoric as a transformative process of design. Critiquing and producing writing in digital environments offers a welcome return to rhetorical principles and an important pedagogy of writing as design.

Hocks, Mary E. CCC (2003). Articles>Rhetoric>Visual Rhetoric>Writing

The Untapped Potential of Voice

Think back a few years, to a time when most enewsletters were text-only, packed with useful information and carrying the unmistakable voice of the writer.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric

Use Metaphors to Communicate, Not Decorate

Good metaphors emerge from the writer's experience and observation. They connect the readers' knowledge to new ideas or information through concrete images.

Writing that Works (2003). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric>Tropes

Use Strong Verbs

Use verbs in their strongest form, the simple present or past. Strong verbs create action, save words, and reveal the players.

Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Diction>Rhetoric

Using a Writing Method to Design Applications  

Arguing that technical writers have the skills to do more than write documentation, Van Mansom demonstrates how technical writers can apply writing methods to the creation of software.

Van Mansom, Kees. Intercom (2001). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric

Using the Enthymeme as a Heuristic in Professional Writing Courses  

In the following pages, I will offer a methodology for letter and memoranda writing which exchanges an emphasis on forms for one on rhetorical analysis. Ultimately, training in rhetorical analysis helps students exercise and refine the analytical and analogical thinking needed for any discipline; that is, a professional writing course can serve, as Carolyn Miller says, to 'present mechanical rules and skills against a broad understanding of why and how to adjust or violate the rules, of the social implications of the roles a writer casts for himself or herself, and for the reader, and of the ethical repercussions of one’s words—effects which emphasize the fundamental nature of the humanities' (617). But before addressing how a professional writing course advances a liberal education, or even why to adopt a new methodology, it would be instructive to look at the causes for a letter such as the one which opens this article. Certainly, cost is a consideration, it being cheaper to mail form letters than have secretaries research and write personalized letters; for a mail order business, though, especially one whose clientele pay substantial prices, this strategy may be penny-wise and pound-foolish. However, the two causes I want to discuss pertain more to the concerns of a writing class: the writer’s reliance on forms, and the lack of analysis of context and audience.

Jacobi, Martin. JAC (1987). Articles>Rhetoric>Writing>Business Communication

What Good Writers and Editors Know About Design  

Words seldom exist in a visual vacuum. With the exception of audio tapes and speeches, words are designed to be read-on book and magazine pages, on computer screens, even on product boxes. And how well those words are designed can greatly influence how often and closely they are read. To communicate effectively, good writers and editors must combine their words with good designs.

Gustafson, Jolene. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Writing>Visual Rhetoric

What Historical Rhetoric Concepts Can Tell Us about Contemporary Professional and Technical Writing Practices  

A study of how three historical rhetorical concepts (kairos, memoria, and mestiza consciousness) are relevant to professional communication practices today, and productive historical concepts for contemporary practitioners.

Haas, Angela. Michigan State University (2004). Articles>Rhetoric>History>Technical Writing

What is Plain English?

Over the last two decades, a ‘culture of clarity’ has been gaining ground in many large organisations around the English-speaking world. In the United Kingdom, government departments, banks, insurance companies, local councils and others have come to realise that clear communication is actually a good idea. Instead of writing to impress or confuse, they are now writing to inform and explain. They are using plain English to do this.

Word Centre. Articles>Writing>Rhetoric>Minimalism

Whose Ideas?: The Technical Writer's Expertise In Inventio      

Compelling arguments from researchers studying the rhetoric of science have convinced both scientists and humanists that technical writing involves invention, or discovery of the available means of argument. If we agree that inventio is crucial to technical writing, however, we encounter a problem: namely, that the rhetor engaged in invention as part of a technical writing process does not necessarily have expertise in the subject matter of the composition. What, then, is the expertise that the technical writer contributes to the invention process? Working from the notion that knowledge is an activity rather than a commodity, I argue that a technical writer's expertise in invention lies in an ability to adapt rhetorical heuristics to situations of interdisciplinary collaboration. This focus expands our understanding of how invention works when the goal of communication is producing knowledge across disciplinary boundaries, rather than winning an argument with persuasive techniques.

Harkness Regli, Susan. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Rhetoric

Why a Good Title Makes a White Paper

The title is your white paper's absolute first impression. In it rests success or failure for the words that lie beyond, waiting for a reader. If the title does not encourage someone to read further, the ink that coats your white paper will never be seen.

Stelzner, Michael A. WhitePaperSource (2006). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric>White Papers

Why Write Instructions That No One is Going to Read?

I know that a lot of people never read instruction manuals or online help. But you know what? Some people do.

HelpScribe (2008). Articles>Documentation>Rhetoric>Technical Writing

Winning Content Persuades, Not Manipulates

Elements of persuasion are important to creating winning content. To help safeguard content from becoming manipulation, we need to understand its distinction from persuasion. As a step toward that understanding, this article: provides basic definitions of persuasion and manipulation; explores the key differences between them; and describes some consequences for UX content.

Jones, Colleen. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Rhetoric

The Wonder of Writing Across the Curriculum    

The main reason I got involved with writing across the curriculum fifteen years ago was administrative and related to campus politics. The main reason I have stayed actively involved in writing across the curriculum for fifteen years is personal and related to my teaching. Quite simply, I am a better teacher because of writing across the curriculum. So while motivations and intentions are messy things to characterize, for me the combination of administrative and teaching responsibilities and personal and public desires have led to most of my professorial life being engaged in writing across the curriculum — in my own classroom and on my college campuses — first at Michigan Tech, and now for six years at Clemson University.

Young, Art. LLAD (1994). Articles>Rhetoric>Writing Across the Curriculum

Write Endings to Lock the Box

All writers have a license to end, and there are many ways to do so.

Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric

Writers Who Love Words Too Much  

Cautions writers against a variety of linguistic sins.

Belding, Janet R. Intercom (2002). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric

Writing Cinematically

Authors have long understood how to shift their focus to capture both landscape and character.

Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric

Writing for Decisionmakers: Using Evidence and Structure to Persuade  

In approaching a writing task, we often write from the standpoint of writers, which is, of course, what we are. But if we want our writing to result in some kind of action on the part of our readers, we need to remember that how we present and structure the evidence that we have has a great deal to do with how persuasive our argument is— and what action, if any, results from it. The more oriented toward the reader our writing is, the more powerful it will be.

Fruitman, Michael P. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Writing>Proposals>Rhetoric

Writing for Results  

All writing elicits some action or reaction—some result—from the reader. These results need not be arbitrary. You, as author, can greatly influence how your reader acts. Effective writing achieves your desired results. You can increase your chances of success by following the ten steps outlined in Writing for Results. Through these steps, you tailor your message so that it appeals to your reader’s needs and interests, thus enabling action that helps you get exactly what you want. This process works for both long and short communiqués.

Maggiani, Rich and Allison Brochu. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric