Technical writing should produce clear and concise documentation – yet, everyone has seen examples of documentation that is imprecise and ambiguous. Here are some easy-to-follow writing tips.
The complexity of the systems and procedures technical writers describe can get in the way of clear and concise writing. A consistent choice of words can contribute to clarity.
Adjectives can cause ambiguity
Imagine your developer supplies you with a text titled "program-based utilities". The developer certainly knows what is meant, but will the reader? So, the utilities are based on something, but what? There are several possible interpretations of the text and it is up to the writer (you) to work out which of them is correct and phrase the documentation accordingly.
Here are the questions you might need to ask your developer, who has supplied you with the hyphenated double adjective.
(1) Singular or plural: Are the utilities based on one program or on more than one?
(2) "A/an" or "the": Are the utilities based on a program or programs in general or are they based on a specific ...
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