Congratulations! You've completed the pre-class portion of Technical Writing One, which covered the following fundamental principles of technical writing:
| Section | Lesson |
|---|---|
| Words | |
| Define new or unfamiliar terms. | |
| Use terms consistently. | |
| Avoid ambiguous pronouns. | |
| Active voice | |
| Prefer active voice to passive voice. | |
| Clear sentences | |
| Pick specific verbs over vague ones. | |
| Reduce there is and there are. | |
| Short sentences | |
| Focus each sentence on a single idea. | |
| Convert some long sentences to lists. | |
| Eliminate unneeded words. | |
| Lists and tables | |
| Use a numbered list when ordering is important and a bulleted list when ordering is irrelevant. | |
| Keep list items parallel. | |
| Start numbered list items with imperative words. | |
| Paragraphs | |
| Establish a paragraph's central point in the first sentence. | |
| Focus each paragraph on a single topic. | |
| Audience | |
| Determine what your audience needs to learn. | |
| Fit documentation to your audience. | |
| Documents | |
| Begin a document by stating its scope, audience, and key points. | |
| Aim the document at your audience. | |
| Punctuation | |
| Use commas to force short pauses within a sentence or to separate items in a list. | |
| Use a period to separate distinct thoughts; use a semicolon to unite highly related thoughts. | |
| Use a colon instead of a period in a sentence that introduces a list. |
If your organization offers the instructor-led portion of Technical Writing One, you're now ready for that class. If your organization doesn't offer the instructor-led portion of Technical Writing One, note that Google occasionally offers the course. See the Announcements page for details.