Technical Writing

Lec 6
Report Writing Aids

Dr. Arwa Hussein

 SOME OF WRITING AIDS

Charts

Tables

Equations and Symbols

Drawings, Diagrams and

Photographs

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 When to Use Charts
• Charts help readers understand quantitative information by illustrating
changes or trends over time, patterns in numerical data, and relationships
among various factors.

• Use charts to
– Interest readers in the data and convince them to read the text;
– Help readers extrapolate from given values to predict future values;
– Present large amounts of complex data without overwhelming readers;

– Emphasize data trends, relationships, and patterns to make a convincing point; and
– Add credibility.

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 When not to Use Charts

Do not use charts when

– Make boring numerical data more palatable. Find an interesting aspect of the data,
put it in an appendix, or eliminate it.
– Break up text. Charts are too expensive to use as decoration. Use charts to emphasize
ideas in the text.
– Show precise numbers. Use a table to allow detailed comparisons.
– Communicate to an audience unfamiliar with charts. Engineers and scientists
sometimes forget that charts may confuse a lay audience.
– Interpret, explain, evaluate, and review data. Use text instead .

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 Chart General Layout

Chart Caption

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 Figures
• Use figure title

• Use label for X-axe and Y-axe

• Avoid symbols, instead label lines with text.

• Organize data to clearly relate dependent and

independent variables.
 Types of Charts

• Line Chart

• Bar or Column Chart

• Pie Chart

• Area or Contour Charts

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 Appropriate choice of graph
• a. Scatter plots with best-fit lines are used for data that varies continuously
and is linear (best represented by a straight line) or described by a simple
function (exponential). This chart shows correlation.

• b. Line graphs are used for data that varies continuously but the relationship
between the two variables is more complex (roughly cyclical, episodic …).

• c. Bar graphs can be used to plot categorical data that does not vary
continuously. Types of fruits are an example (fruit types do not vary
continuously; there is nothing halfway between and apple and a banana).

• d. Pie charts are used to represent cyclical data, percentages or parts of a

whole

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 Line Charts

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 Column Chart

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 Characteristics of Good Chart

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 Figures
100

90
90

• Minor gridlines are unnecessary 80

• Font is too small 70

60

• Colors are illogical 50

Blue Balls
Red Balls

40 38.6

• Title is missing
34.6
30.6 31.6
30 27.4

20.4 20.4

• Shading is distracting
20

10

0
January February March April
 Figures
25
25
20
20
15
15

10 10

5 5

0 0
Cairo Alex Port Said Ismaillia Suez Tanta Cairo Port Said Alex Suez Tanta Ismaillia

Organize data to relate dependent and independent variables

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 Pie Chart

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 Avoid unnecessary graphic features

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 Selecting the Right Chart

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20
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 Tables

Tables are a convenient method of presenting a large body of precise quantities

data in an easily understood form.

Table Caption
Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Case4
Level 1 10 9 20 3
Level 2 12 8 12 4
Level 3 4 7 4 5
Level 4 2 1 1 6

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 Table or graph

January February March April

Blue Balls 20.4 27.4 90 20.4
Red Balls 30.6 38.6 34.6 31.6
 Figures
Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002

100
90
80
70
60
Blue Balls
50
Red Balls
40
30
20
10
0
January February March April

Figure legends are very important

 Equations and Symbols
T f T f  rf Di
uf  (Tr  T f )
t x A f  f c pf

Tr  2Tr Dro CFr cov er abr cpc  I o

 ar 
t x 2
 Dro2  Dri2 
   r c pr
 4 
 
 rf Dri (Tr  T f )   rg Dro (Tr  Tg )

 Dro2  Dri2 
   r c pr
 4 
 

Where D is the diameter XX D is the diameter 

T is the thickness………. T is the thickness……….

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Tips on Technical Report Writing
 Tips on Technical Report Writing
• Don’t waste words. Don’t say obvious things. (“Pollution is a
serious problem.”) Don’t say things your audience doesn’t
need to know (long irrelevant explanations, detailed math).
• Eliminate fluff (e.g. “Back in the year of 1973…”, “A man by
the name of John Smith…”, “Basically…” (this is the written
equivalent of “like”)
• Avoid vague generalizations. (e.g. “very expensive”, “very
difficult”, “very high temperature”)

• Use spell-check and grammar-check!

• Include proper citations of others’ work.

Common mistakes in technical writing

•   Avoid needless words – e.g 

– “red in colour”,

– “worst-case maximum possible error”

• Understand the importance of the article in English, (THE.)

• See how odd the sentence reads –

– “Main objective of paper is to develop a reduced model of …”

– “Main objective of THE paper is to develop a reduced THE model of …”

 Tips on Technical Report Writing
• Always clarify abbreviations, the first time you use in
the main body of the paper. Avoid using abbreviations in
the abstract section.  

• Use the full term, then put the acronym in parentheses.

Acronym = Abbreviation
Common mistakes in technical writing
• Avoid using the word “I” or “We” throughout the document. The
entire document should be written in third person. Remember you
are reporting, not advertising or advocating.

• The entire document should be in past tense. Do not shift tense in the
middle of the document – a common mistake.

•    Consider using a Nomenclature section at the start of the document.

Common mistakes in technical writing

• Do not start a sentence with ‘So’.

• Do not start a sentence with ‘But’. Try ‘However’.

• Do not start or end a sentence with ‘To’.

•   Understand the difference between “its” and “it’s”.

• “the turbine’s colour was blue” is incorrect. It should be “the turbine

colour was blue” or “the colour of the turbine was blue”.

• Possession of inanimate object should not be indicated by an apostrophe

followed by ‘s’. the resistance…” is unacceptable.
Common mistakes in technical writing
•   Try to avoid beginning a sentence with a word that has a –
ing suffix. For example, “Assuming a sentence is long, it can be
shortened…” sounds long winded.

• ‘a force of five Newtons was applied’ is wrong. It should be ‘a

force of five newtons was applied’.
• Similarly, ‘ten Amperes’ is wrong; ‘ten amperes’ is correct.
Common mistakes in technical writing

• All equations must be numbered.

• Be careful of self-contradiction – “the mileage from an old vehicle is less

than that of a new vehicle, but not much”.

• Avoid dangling superlatives – Replace “The voltage obtained was much

smaller.” with “A smaller voltage was obtained.”

 Common mistakes in technical writing
• Do not be judgmental of your own work or other’s work. Let the reader
make up his/her own mind.

– For instance, here is a stupid sentence – “a very simple technique to

calculate the resistance of the line is presented”. Maybe to you it seems
simple, but others may disagree.

– Similarly, “Ref [XX] presents a difficult technique to measure

– As far as possible avoid the use of phrases like “an innovative…” in the
title of your manuscript or paper. Do not use it anywhere in the paper.
It’s judgmental.

– Avoid using the word ‘obvious’. For instance, “it is obvious that such a
high resistance will lead to losses” sounds arrogant. If it is so obvious,
what is the need to state it? In case, your reader does not find it obvious,
you are insulting his/her intelligence by stating that it is obvious
Common mistakes in technical writing

•  Semi-colons and colons are powerful devices. Be careful how

you use them.

• Replace “can’t” with “cannot” and “won’t” with “will not”.

• Bracket: Consider replacing with a comma, unless you are

defining acronyms. For instance, “Only one rotor winding (d-axis)
is assumed” sounds better as “Only one rotor winding, d-axis, is
assumed”.

• Never use exclamation marks in technical writing.

Common mistakes in technical writing

• Try to avoid using numbers to describe something, unless you are

extremely sure of those numbers. Wherever you put numbers,
provide references from which you got that number.

• As far as possible write numbers in words in sentences – “Close

to fifty thousand people benefited from the installation of the
transformers.” However, it is “a factor of 2” not “a factor of two”.

• Replace “bus had a 10 MW load” with “bus had a load of 10 MW”

• The word “data” is plural. “All the data were…” 

Common mistakes in technical writing
• When do you use ‘that’ and ‘which’? It’s not always clear – however

• Use ‘that’ whenever you know whom you are replacing with ‘that’.

• Use ‘which’, whenever you are not sure who is being replaced by ‘which’.
• For instance:
“She applied the same pressure to the pipe that she had been applying to other pipes”

“These machines require mature technologies, which are difficult to obtain.”

End of lecture