Helpful Hints for Technical Writing
SimpleThingsCanAffectClarity
An authormustwriteclearlyso the readeris alwayscomfortablereadingwhathasbeenwritten.Clarityassuresthatthereader
will neverhaveto stop,backup, andre-readanythingto determinethe meaning.
Articlesin scientificjournalsarealmostalwaysfree of grammaticalerrors.However,sentencescan
be grammatically
in a waythatretardssmoothandeasyreading.Wewill consider
correct,butbe structured
/,
some simplethingsthatcan createroughstructureandimpedeeasy reading.
Modifierstoo far from the wordsmodified.Becausemodifiersareclosely tiedin meaningto thewords
/
they modify,it is logicalthattheybe close togetherin space.
Example:Controlof field bindweedmaybe improvedwithglyphosateby usinglow sprayvolumes.
Improved:Controlof field bindweedwithglyphosatemaybe improvedby usinglow sprayvolumes.
Rationale:The prepositionalphrase"withglyphosate"modifies"control,"butbecauseof its positionin the originalsentence,it
A simplerearranging
of the wordordermakesthe meaningclear.
appearsto modify"improved."
Confusing modifiers. Sentencesmustbe constructedso thatthe worda modifiermodifiesis alwaysclear.Situationsmay be
confusingwhenmorethanone modifyingphraseor clausemodifiesone word.
Example:The cropfrequentlyprovidescash incomesafterproductioncosts thatfall below the povertylevel.
Changedbut not improved:Cashincomesafterproductioncosts fromproducingthe cropmayfall belowthe povertylevel.
Improved:Producingthecropmayprovidecashincomesthatfallbelowthepovertylevelafterproduction
costshavebeendeducted.
Rationale:"Afterproductioncosts"and"thatfall below the povertylevel"bothmodify"incomes."In the originalsentence,and
in the unimprovedchangedversion,"thatfall belowthepovertylevel"couldbe modifying"costs."Inthissituation,additional
wordswereneededto writethe sentenceclearly.
Confusingcommas. Commashave manyimportantfunctions.The presenceor absenceof a commacan completelychangethe
meaningof a sentence.Becausecommasfill so manydifferentrolesin Englishgrammar,
caremustbe exercisedto usethemclearly.
Sometimesa commacan appearto havea functionotherthanthatintended.
Example:Forconsistentinfection,temperature,
free moisture,andprotectionfromlightoftenarecritical.
Improved:Temperature,
free moisture,andprotectionfromlightoftenarecriticalfor consistentinfection.
Rationale:The commafollowingthe introductory
prepositionalphraseblendswiththoseof the subjectso thatthe readerhas to
pauseto sortthemout. Placingthe prepositionalphraseat the end of the sentenceeliminatesthe problem.
Confusingpresent participles.The presentparticipleis most commonlyused with "tobe"to formthe progressivetenses(e.g.
"theboys areplayingfootball").Itcanalso be usedas a nounoran adjective.If theintendedformis notperfectlyclear,a sentence
maybe confusing.
Example:The fish werefeedingactively,andcatchingthe biggerones was fairlyeasy.
Improved:Catchingthe biggerfish was fairlyeasy,becausethey werefeedingactively.
Rationale:The wordingcould suggestthatthe fish were "feedingandcatching,"even thoughthe commais intendedto prevent
suchinterpretation.
Wordsthat can be more than one part of speech. ManyEnglishwordscan be two or threepartsof speech.The contextof the
sentenceusuallymakesthe meaningclear.However,sometimesa secondmeaningcould fit. Caremustbe takento be surethat
suchambiguitydoes not distractthe reader.
Example:Crabgrassrootsat the nodes.
Thisis a completesentencewith"crabgrass"
as thesubjectand"roots"as theverb.However,addingthreewordsto thesentence
completelychangesthe meaning.
Example:Crabgrassrootsat the nodescomplicatethe problem.
In this case, "roots"is the subject,and the noun "crabgrass"
is used as an adjectiveto modify "roots."Each sentenceis
grammatically
correct,butwouldhave to be changedto eliminatethe ambiguousbeginning.
Remember:
If the readercan read
Whatyou've writtenwithease,
Thenyourstyle of writing
The readerwill please.
J. H. Dawson,WeedScientist,Prosser,WA99350
978
WeedTechnology.1996. Volume 10:978