Technical writing M P Gururajan guru.mp@iitb.ac.in
If you have clarity in thoughts, there will be clarity in your words. --Subramanya Bharati, A Tamil poet
In fact, writing clarifies your thinking. Writing is not recording — you don't just take a photocopy of what is in your head and put it on the page. It is a far more creative and interactive process. As you write, you develop your thoughts. Writing is, in fact, rigorous thinking. --M Gardiner and H Kearns, Nature 475 , 129- 130 (2011)
Technical writing More of second type (clarifies thought) than first type (clarity of thoughts come through), in my opinion!
Rule No. 1 Write everyday, at least five sentences: on your own – without looking at any other document.
Rule No. 1 Write everyday, at least five sentences: on your own – without looking at any other document. Write what you did -- in your lab notebook!
Rule No. 1 Write everyday, at least five sentences: on your own – without looking at any other document. Write what you did -- in your lab notebook! Write what you think!
Rule No. 1 Write everyday, at least five sentences: on your own – without looking at any other document. Write what you did -- in your lab notebook! Write what you think! Write what you do not understand!
Rule No. 1 Write everyday, at least five sentences: on your own – without looking at any other document. Write what you did -- in your lab notebook! Write what you think! Write what you do not understand! Write something!
Rule No. 2 Read at least five good sentences everyday!
Rule No. 2 Read at least five good sentences everyday! To write well, you should have read good writing.
Rule No. 2 Read at least five good sentences everyday! To write well, you should have read good writing. How to identify good reading material in your area of interest? Backtracking method.
What makes good writing, good? Content
What makes good writing, good? Content Clarity
What makes good writing, good? Content Clarity Style and voice
Raman effect If we assume that the X-ray scattering of the 'unmodified' type observed by Prof. Compton corresponds to the normal or average state of the atoms and molecules, while the 'modified' scattering of altered wave-length corresponds to their fluctuations from that state,
Raman effect it would follow that we should expect also in the case of ordinary light two types of scattering, one determined by the normal optical properties of the atoms or molecules, and another representing the effect of their fluctuations from their normal state.
Raman effect It accordingly becomes necessary to test whether this is actually the case. The experiments we have made have confirmed this anticipation, and shown that in every case in which light is scattered by the molecules in dust- free liquids or gases, the diffuse radiation of the ordinary kind, having the same wave-length as the incident beam, is accompanied by a modified scattered radiation of degraded frequency.
Raman effect The new type of light scattering discovered by us naturally requires very powerful illumination for its observation
Einstein: photoelectric effect Indeed, it seems to me that the observations of “blackbody radiation,” photoluminescence, production of cathode rays by ultraviolet light, and other related phenomena associated with the emission or transformation of light appear more readily understood if one assumes that the energy of light is discontinuously distributed in space.
Einstein: photoelectric effect According to the assumption considered here, in the propagation of a light ray emitted from a point source, the energy is not distributed continuously over ever-increasing volumes of space, but consists of a finite number of energy quanta localized at points of space that move without dividing, and can be absorbed or generated only as complete units.
Einstein: photoelectric effect In this paper I wish to present the train of thought and cite the facts that led me onto this path, in the hope that the approach to be presented will prove of use to some researchers in their investigations.
Personal pronouns and passive Not always necessary. See that last sentence from Einstein.
Rule No. 3 Never take sentences from elsewhere – with or without modification -- and pass it off as your own. When you quote somebody, make sure that you quote verbatim and let the reader know that it is a quote
Rule No. 4 Technical writing: meant to communicate concepts, show your scholarship, and help others take off from where you leave
Rule No. 4 Technical writing: meant to communicate concepts, show your scholarship, and help others take off from where you leave References are important. Spend the five to six hours needed for sprucing up the references every time you write your report
Some tricks of the trade Top down and bottoms-up writing!
Some tricks of the trade Top down and bottoms-up writing! Write the section titles, sub-section titles, sub- sub-section titles, paragraphs – a line for each; build on this
Some tricks of the trade Top down and bottoms-up writing! Write the section titles, sub-section titles, sub- sub-section titles, paragraphs – a line for each; build on this Write everything that comes to your mind indiscriminately. Edit, move around passages and modify – never delete till the end
Some tricks of the trade Top down and bottoms-up writing! Write the section titles, sub-section titles, sub- sub-section titles, paragraphs – a line for each; build on this Write everything that comes to your mind indiscriminately. Edit, move around passages and modify – never delete till the end I usually use the second approach
Some tricks of the trade Write experimental details / simulation part first i
Some tricks of the trade Write experimental details / simulation part first Write results next i
Some tricks of the trade Write experimental details / simulation part first Write results next Write the conclusions i
Some tricks of the trade Write experimental details / simulation part first Write results next Write the conclusions Write the introduction after the conclusions: tune introduction depending on your conclusions i
Some tricks of the trade Write experimental details / simulation part first Write results next Write the conclusions Write the introduction after the conclusions: tune introduction depending on your conclusions Write the abstract last! i
Some tricks of the trade Tell a story!
Some tricks of the trade Tell a story! Tell what is expected and why
Some tricks of the trade Tell a story! Tell what is expected and why Tell what you get and what is its significance
Some tricks of the trade Tell a story! Tell what is expected and why Tell what you get and what is its significance Go back to Raman and Krishnan's way of announcing their discovery or Einstein's way of setting his hypothesis / thesis out
Some tricks of the trade Don' tell; show (Replace text by figures, plots, tables, ...)
Some tricks of the trade Don' tell; show (Replace text by figures, plots, tables, ...) Be quantitative; prose without numbers sounds fluffy and without substance
Some tricks of the trade Don' tell; show (Replace text by figures, plots, tables, ...) Be quantitative; prose without numbers sounds fluffy and without substance Careful with numbers: put error bars; know their limitations; do not report beyond the allowed accuracy
Some tricks of the trade Know your audience: what you write in your annual progress seminar report is different from your conference proceedings paper is different from your journal paper is different from popular writing in a newspaper about your work
Some norms for good writing Abbreviations: first time in expanded form with abbreviation in brackets
Some norms for good writing Abbreviations: first time in expanded form with abbreviation in brackets Equations: neatly labelled; every term should be explicitly explained
Some norms for good writing Abbreviations: first time in expanded form with abbreviation in brackets Equations: neatly labelled; every term should be explicitly explained Figures: clean, with axes labeled, proper title
Some norms for good writing Abbreviations: first time in expanded form with abbreviation in brackets Equations: neatly labelled; every term should be explicitly explained Figures: clean, with axes labeled, proper title Any claim – support with references to the literature
Some norms for good writing Do not use informal words/expressions (OK, don't, can't, ...) or informal spelling (density&temperature, ...) in technical writing
Tools of the trade: be skilled Buy a good dictionary Subscribe to a good technical journal: wired, economist, resonance, ... Learn LaTeX / gnuplot / R/ ... Use lab note book extensively Learn to use a spell checker
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