Writing for the Technical Professions

This book has become an indispensable reference guide when I write. It is written in a manual/workbook format with tabs for quick reference. It is clearly organized and endlessly useful; each chapter has: - a brief overview of the topic/writing project - strategies for execution (including rhetorical context and device) - steps and process tips - checklists and conceptually illustrative charts - excellent examples - classroom exercises The book is organized into two sections, Basic Tools (featuring format, style, and editing issues) and Professional Applications (featuring specific kinds of technical writing like reports, proposals, executive summaries, etc). The book includes a useful glossary and additional online resources. The formatting is excellent: attractive, "scannable", with clear visual hierarchies. The pages look more like a website than a reference guide. My copy is battered from over-use, highlighted, tagged, and cross-referenced. Use it, you will love it. I'm buying another copy so that I can have one at home and one at work.

This is a excellent resource for actual professionals or those just getting started in tech writing. Contents include everyday documentation like emails, reports, and RFP responses as well as sections on international communication. It also covers style and rhetorical strategy (pathos anyone?). I used this book for a college course then kept it for my work in the real world, writing user guides for technology classrooms at my University. It is designed as a handbook and not a textbook so some chapters may be repetitive if you a reading from cover to cover. Those of you looking for long drowned out chapters of text with no meat should look elsewhere. I hear there is a 4th edition floating around somewhere.