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Who should read this?Last updated: 13 July, 2000 These pages are written primarily for students and research assistants, but obviously I feel that anybody could benefit from them. The emphasis is on written reports, rather than on web pages, although some of the principles are just as relevant for the latter. I do not expect everybody to agree with all the ideas. The principles of good writing, both syntactic and semantic, are a matter of taste. However, I do have quite strong feelings and I certainly expect my own students and research staff to abide by the principles described here when presenting their work to me. One of the good things about technical writing is that you really can learn to improve. I do not agree with those people who believe that being a good writer is a natural ability that you either have or don't have. We are talking here about presenting basic technical reports and not about writing novels, although I feel even the best novel writers could improve by adopting the principles described here. I speak from some experience in this respect, because in the last ten years I have learned these ideas myself and applied them to become a better writer. When I was writing my first book in 1988 an outstanding technical editor highlighted the many problems with my writing. Specifically, I was guilty of many of the examples of bad practice highlighted here. You can improve your writing significantly if you are aware of what these bad practices are and how to avoid them.
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