Writing for Your Audience

Tell your readers only what they need to know.

• How much information you give, and how you express it, depends on who will use your writing. For example, to teach non-technical people how to use software or assemble a tool, you must write more simply and give more background than you would when reporting research findings to peers in your field.
• Whoever your readers are, don’t waste their time. What are they trying to do? What do they need to know? Tell them how to do or get what they want, as simply and directly as you can. They don’t need to know everything about the product or everything you know about your sub

Know and follow the publisher’s style requirements.

• Style guides specifically for technical and scientific writing include MIT’s Mayfield Handbook, the American Medical Association’s style guide, the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s style guide, Microsoft’s style guide, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society’s style guide, to name only a few. Many are available online. Most journals, book publishers, and companies also have their own style or prefer one style guide over the others.

Use everyday language when possible and avoid unnecessary jargon.

• Jargon can be difficult to define. Whether a technical term is considered jargon depends on your audience. Every technical specialty uses words that have specific meanings in that field. When you write for experts, you can use more of those words than when you write for a general audience. For example, if your readers are computer system administrators, you don’t have to explain what a JPEG or a macro is.
  • Even when writing for specialists, don’t overuse jargon. If a simpler word will do, use it. If you are not sure about your readers’ background knowledge, explain technical terms the first time you use them.
  • Some clues that you may be using jargon: too many abbreviations and acronyms, words that you can’t find in a dictionary, abstract words and phrases such as amenities, elements, structures, systems, and so on.

Avoid vague, ornate, indirect, and biased language.

• Technical scientific writing is not the same as literary writing or daily speech. They serve different purposes. Technical writing must be precise and unambiguous. It must also be neutral:
  • Avoid wording that indicates race, ethnicity, or gender unless those qualities are important to your study design or findings.
  • Avoid wording that non-native speakers of English could find puzzling or offensive. Consult a good style guide for specific guidance.
  • Avoid idioms; make all your statements literal and true.
• Avoid being too cautious: overuse of perhaps, might be, potentially, possible, probably, likely to and similar wording make you sound as though you don’t understand your subject.

Use abbreviations sparingly.

• For a general audience, some abbreviations can be used without explanation, because everybody knows what they mean: Dr., IBM, PhD. Most must be explained. If you abbreviate terms, define them first: write out the entire word or expression, followed by its abbreviation in parentheses, the first time you use it. Thereafter, except in very long documents, use the abbreviation.
• For a specialist audience, standard abbreviations for elements, chemicals, quantities, operations, relations, statistical terms, and units of measure don’t have to be spelled out unless they might confuse readers. Abbreviations used when writing about computers must be spelled out the first time used unless they are very common. If you aren’t sure, consult a style guide.
• For all audiences, avoid any abbreviation that is commonly understood to mean one thing if you are using it to mean something else. Also avoid abbreviations that have many different meanings. Try not to use abbreviations in titles.

Write short, straightforward sentences.

• Short sentences help you to explain complex ideas simply. Sentences of 10 to 20 words are easiest to write and understand. If a sentence is longer, or contains several dependent clauses, beak it into two or more shorter sentences. Use examples or analogies to clarify difficult concepts.
• Say what you mean simply and directly. Use affirmatives rather than double negatives (common, not not uncommon).

Use the active voice whenever possible.

• Use first person, active voice in most cases. The active voice is less wordy and more direct than the passive voice. For example, instead of writing The algorithm was designed to answer this question, use We designed the algorithm to answer this question.
• For instructions, use directive language; for example, Turn the spigot to the left.
• Passive language turns verbs into other parts of speech. For example, She was unable to hear the ringing of the bell is passive. She couldn’t hear the bell ring is active. Avoid using such ‘buried’ verbs.