Chapter3TechnicalWritingProcessThetechnicalwritingprocesscanbethoughtofasaproblem-solvingtask—aseriesofquestionstobeconsideredandanswered.Writingatechnicaldocumentisnotanisolatedprocess.Youneedtoworkwithotherpeopleformanyreasons:togetthenecessaryinformation,toverifyyourapproach,toconfirmtechnicalaccuracy,andtocheckreaders9reactions.Initially,youcantalkwithotherstoevaluatewhatyouknowaboutthesubjectandidentifyyourpurposeandaudience.Youcanthenselectcontentandbegintoorganizethematerial.Atvariousstagesintheprocess,youcanusefeedbackfromothers—reviewersaswellasactualreaders-toconsidernecessarychanges.技術寫作過程可以看作是一個解決問題的任務，即一系列需要考慮和回答的問題。編寫技術文檔不是一個孤立的過程，而需要與他人合作，原因有很多：為了獲得必要的信息，為了驗證你的方法，為了確認技術的準確性，為了檢驗讀者的反應。起初，你可以通過與他人交談來評估你對這個主題的了解，并確定目的和受眾；然后可以選擇內容并組織材料；在這個過程中的不同階段，可以基于評論家和真實讀者的反饋進行必要的更改。Thefollowinglistprovidestheelementsofaprocessthatyoumightuse.Experiencedwritersoftechnicaldocumentstypicallyusetheseelementsintheirprocess,althoughtheymaychangethespecificelementstosuittheirindividualapproachandtherequirementsofaparticularproject.下面列表提供了技術寫作過程中可能使用到的元素。經驗豐富的技術文件作者通常在寫作過程中使用這些元素，盡管他們可能會更改某個元素以適應其個人方式和特定需求。Exploringandinventing探索與構思Planningandorganizing計劃與組織Drafting打草稿Revising修改Editing編輯LExploringandInventing探索與構思Exploringandinventingmeanssearchinginformationandcreatingideas.Insearchingrelevantinformation,youmayassessyourknowledge,readandreviewavailablebackgroundreferences,askquestionsanddiscussideas,makeobservations,conductexperiments,andtakenotes.Youmayalsoexplorewritingproblemsrelatedtoaparticulardocument.Afterrecognizinganddefiningaproblem,youneedwaystoformulatepossiblesolutions,thatis,tocreatenewideas.Thereareusuallyfourpossibleproblem-solvingstrategies.Brainstorming開動腦筋Synectics共同研討法FiveW^plusH：5W+H問題分析法(人、事、時間、地點、原因、方法)Cause-and-effectanalysis因果分析法1.Brainstorming頭腦風暴Brainstormingisaproblem-solvingtechniquethatencouragesyoutosuggestasmanyideasaspossibleaboutagivenproblemwithoutmakinganyjudgmentsuntilafteranumberofideashave8.Whatarethebenefitsandlimitationsofthespellingandgrammarcheckersinawordprocessingsoftware?參考答案：參見V.5Spelling,GrammarandStyleCheckers.Spelling,grammarandstylecheckersinthewordprocessingsoftwarecanmakeyoumoreawareofyourspellingandgrammarmistakesandofyourwritingstyle.Theywillflagsentencesinthepassivevoice,longsentences,wordyphrases,doublewords,unpairedquotationmarks,subject-verbagreementproblems,andotherproblems.However,suchtoolscannotguaranteethatadocumentwillbeerror-free.Youshouldneverdependonsoftwaretoolstoidentifyalltheerrorsinadocument.Chooseatopic,suchasairpollutioninbigcities,andbrainstormitbylistingideascomingintoyourmind.Followthefourstepsofbrainstormingoutlinedinthetext.Exampleforreference：Thefollowingisanexampleofthelistingtechniqueinthebrainstormingprocess.ThetopicisthecultureshockexperiencedbyinternationalstudentsintheUnitedStates.Writedownthegeneraltopicatthetopofyourpaper.CultureShock(GeneralTopic)Thenmakealistofeveryideathatcomesintoyourmindaboutthattopic.Keeptheideasflowing.Trytostayonthegeneraltopic;however,ifyouwritedowninformationthatiscompletelyoffthetopic,don'tworryaboutitbecauseyoucancrossitoutlater.Usewords,phrases,orsentences,anddon'tworryaboutspellingorgrammar,communicationhomelesspeopleshockingsightpoorverbalskillsAmericanstudentschildrendisrespectfulclassroomenvironmentnewlanguageunclearexpressionsAmericanfamilylifepublictransportationisnotgoodfamiliesseldomeattogetherneedacarlackvocabularyusefirstnameswithteachersshowaffectioninpubliccollegeprofessorswearjeansAmericanstalktoofaststudentsaskquestionstheyarefriendlynoformaldresscodepeoplearealwaysinahurrynoonetakestimetocookgoodmeals

useslangandidiomsprofessor5rolefamiliesdon'tspendtimetogetheronweekendsandholidayschildrenspendmoretimewithfriendsthanwithparentschildrenare“kings”useincompletesentenceslackconfidencepoorpronunciationAmericanfoodisunhealthyAmericansdifficulttounderstandeveryoneeatsfastfoodstudentscanchallengeprofessorsRewritethelist,groupsimilarideastogetherandcrossoutitemsthatdon'tbelongorthatareduplications.GroupAGroupBGroupCcommunicationproblemsGroupAGroupBGroupCcommunicationproblemspoorverbalskillsnewlanguagelackvocabularyshowaffectioninpublicAmericanstalktoofastthey-cnrHrirrrdlypeupte-are-a+waysTrra-hurryuseslangandidiomspoorpronunciationAmericandifficulttounderstandunclearexpressionscommunicationproblemspoorverbalskillsnewlanguagelackvocabularyshowacommunicationproblemspoorverbalskillsnewlanguagelackvocabularyshowaffectioninpublicAmericanstalktoofastthey-cnrHrirrrdlypeupte-are-a+waysTrra-hurryuseslangandidiomspoorpronunciationAmericandifficulttounderstandunclearexpressionshomelesspeopleshockingsightAmericanstudentsclassioomenvi】onmentpublictransportationis-notgoodneed-a-car-usefirstnameswithteacherscollegeprofessorswearjeansstudentsaskquestionsnoformaldresscodenoonetakestimetocookAmericanfamilylifefamiliesseldomeattogetherfamiliesdon'tspendtimetogetheronweekendsandholidayschildrenare"kings”childrendisrespectfulchildrenspendmoretimewithfriendsthanwithparentsAmericanfoodisunhealthyeveryonecutsfnstfood-goodmcnlsprofessor^rolestudentscanchallengeprofessorsNowtherearethreelists,eachofwhichhasafocus.Thefocusineachnewlistisunderlined:communicationproblems,classroomenvironment,andAmericanfamilylife.Thewritercanchooseonelisttobethebasisforaparagraph.Selectadocumentthatyouhavewrittenandthatstillneedscarefulediting.Thengotoyourschoolcomputerlabandselectoneofthesoftwarepackagesthatdothiskindofediting.Runthesoftwareprogramtoidentifyproblemsinstyle,mechanics,andusage.Makethecorrectionsthatyoubelievewillimproveyourdocument.Then,writeareviewtoevaluatetheeffectivenessofthesoftware.實驗題，答案略。Designacharttoshowthetypicalproportionoftimeyouspendoneachstageofyourwritingprocess.Explaininwhichstageyou'remosteffective,inwhichyou'retheweakest,andinwhatwayyoucanimproveyourprocess.實驗題，答案略。Chooseatechnicaltopicyoucanwriteaboutwithlittleresearch,suchasatopiconinstructinghighschoolstudentsinsomelaboratorytechnique,orexplainingsometechnicalconcepttosomeonewhodoesn'tunderstandit.Followthestepsbelow:Decideonapurposeandaudienceforwritingaboutthattopic.Analyzeyouraudience.Brainstormyourtopicwithyourpurposeandaudienceinmind.Afterthebrainstorming,examineandevaluatewhatyouhave.Reexamineyourtopicandpurposetoseewhetherinformationyouhavethoughtofduringthebrainstorminghaschangedthem.Keepingyourspecifictopic,purposeandaudienceinmind,arrangeyourbrainstormingnotesintoaroughoutline.Writearoughdraftofthereportbasedonyouroutline.Allowseveralclassmatestoreaditandcommentonit.Reviseandedittheroughdraftintoafinal,well-writtenandwell-typeddraft.Submitallyouroutlinesanddraftstoyourinstructor.ExampleWriting:Thefollowingisthefinalcopyfortheessay"CommunicationProblems^^basedontheresultsofthebrainstorminExercisesII.CommunicationProblemsOnekindofcultureshockfacedbyinternationalstudentsintheUnitedStatesisdifficultycommunicatingwithAmericans.TheyhaveproblemsbothinexpressingthemselvesandinunderstandtheAmericans.WheninternationalstudentsfirstamveintheUnitedStates,theysoonrealizethattheirverbalskillsarepoor.Firstofall,theylackvocabulary,andtheyhavepoorpronunciation,soAmericanpeopledon'tunderstandthem.AsanewlycomingChinesestudentintheUnitedStates,Ihavemypersonalexperienceasexamples.Afewdaysago,IaskedanAmericanstudenthowtogettothelibrary,butbecauseIhadtroublepronouncingr'sand1's,theAmericanstudentdidn'tunderstandme.Ifinallyhadtowriteitonapieceofpaper.Internationalstudentsalsospeaktoosoftlybecausetheyareshy.Furthermore,itisdifficultforforeignstudentstounderstandAmericans.Americansuseincompletesentences,suchas“Later“tomean'THseeyoulater,and“Coming?”tomean“Areyoucoming?^^also,Americanstalktoofast,soitisoftenimpossibletounderstandthem.Inaddition,Americansalsousealotofslangandidiomswhosemeaningsnonnativespeakersdonotknow.Forexample,theotherdaysomeonesaidtome,“Thatdrivesmeupthewall,“andIcouldnotimaginewhatthemeant.Ihadapictureinmymindofhimdrivinghiscarupawall.Itdidn'tmakesensetome.Inshort,communicationisprobablythefirstproblemthatinternationalstudentsfaceintheUnitedStates.Afterawhile,however,theirearsgetusedtotheAmericanwayofspeaking,andtheirownverbalabilitiesimprove.beenproduced.Inbrainstormingyouuncriticallywritedowneveryideaaboutasubjectthatcomestomindwithoutthoughtoforganization.Thekeytosuccessfulbrainstormingisthatyoudonotattempttoevaluateorarrangeyourideas.Evaluationorarrangementatthisstagemaycauseyoutodiscardanideathatcouldprovevaluablelateron.Theprocessofbrainstormingfollowsthesesteps.頭腦風暴是一種解決問題的技巧，鼓勵對給定的問題提出盡可能多的想法，不做判斷，直到產生許多想法。在頭腦風暴過程中，你只需不加批判地寫下進入腦海的關于該主題的每一個想法，無需考慮組織或布局問題。頭腦風暴的關鍵是不要試圖評估或整理你的想法，因為這可能會讓你放棄一個日后可能被證明有價值的想法。頭腦風暴的過程遵循以下步驟。Writedownthegeneraltopicatthetopofyourpaper.Thenmakealistofeveryideathatcomestomindaboutthattopicandkeeptheideasflowing.Evenifyouwritedownsomeideathatiscompletelyoffthetopic,don'tworryaboutitbecauseyoucancrossitoutlater.Usewords,phrases,orsentences,anddon'tworryaboutspellingorgrammar.Rewritethelist,groupsimilarideastogetherandcrossoutitemsthatdon'tbelongorthatareduplications.準備一張紙，在頂部寫下大致主題；然后把你能想到的關于該話題的每一個想法都列出來，讓想法保持流動。即便寫下了一些與主題完全無關的想法，也不要擔心，因為你可以在以后劃掉它；使用單詞、短語或句子，不用擔心拼寫或語法問題；重寫清單，把相似的想法放在一起，劃掉無關或重復的條目。Brainstormingisaneffectiveprocessinexploringandcreatingideas.Itcanhelpyoufindoutagooddealmoreinformationthanyoueverthoughtyoupossessed.Itcanquicklyrevealgapsinyourknowledge,whichcanbefilledwithinformationyougatherlater.Synectics共同研討法Synecticsmeansbringingtogetherdifferentpeopleanddifferentideas.Thismethodencouragesprofessionalsofdifferentexpertisetoworktogetherandcombineunrelatedideasasameansofanalyzingaparticularproblem,whichcanoftenprovokecreativethinkingandresultinnewideasandnewsolutions.Thisstrategyisoftenusedinbusinessandgovernmentthinktanks.共同研討是指把不同的人和不同的想法結合起來。這種方法鼓勵具有不同專業知識的專業人員一起工作，并將不相關的想法結合起來，作為分析特定問題的一種方法，這往往會激發創造性思維，產生新的想法和解決方案。這種策略經常在商業和政府智囊團中使用。Synecticsrequiresthatyoufirstdefineaparticularlydifficultproblem.Thenyouputyourselfintotheproblembycreatingametaphororananalogyorbyactingoutacomponentoftheproblem.Synecticsencouragesanalogiesofthefollowingkinds.共同研討要求首先定義一個特別困難的問題。然后，通過創造一個比喻或類比，或將問題的一個組成部分付諸行動，把自己置于問題之中。共同研討鼓勵進行以下類型的類比。Fantasyanalogies幻想類比：searchingfortheidealsolutionPersonalanalogies個人類比：imaginingyouarethesubjectDirectanalogies直接類比:comparingthesubjecttosomethingconcreteSymbolicanalogies象征類比：comparingthesubjecttosomethingabstractFiveW與plusH：5W+H問題分析法FiveW'splusHisaproblem-analysisstrategythatrequiresclearstatementsontheperson,thing,

time,place,reason,andmethodinvolved.Itisaformulafrequentlyassociatedwithjournalism.Thestrategybeginsbyaskingandansweringthefollowingquestions.5W+H問題分析法是一種問題分析策略，要求對所涉及的人、事、時間、地點、原因和方法作出清晰的陳述。這是一個經常與新聞工作聯系在一起的公式。WHO:Whoisinvolved?Whoshouldbeinvolved?WHAT:Whatisinvolved?Whatistobechanged?Whatshouldremainthesame?WHEN:Whenshoulditbedone?Whenisthemostappropriatetime?WHERE:Whereshoulditbedone?Whereisthemostconvenientplace?WHY:Whyshoulditbedone?HOW:Howshoulditbedone?Thesequestionsconcernthemajorfactorsinvolvedinalmostallkindsofproblems.Byexaminingthesequestionsyougetbetterunderstandingoftheproblemandthusmayproducethemostappropriatesolution.Cause-and-EffectAnalysis因果分析法Cause-and-EffectAnalysisisastrategycommonlyusedbyqualitycontrolcircles-smallgroupsofpeoplemeetingregularlytoidentify,analyze,andsolveproblemsconnectedtotheworktheydo.Itfocusesonthecausesofaparticularproblem.Theinitialcausesareseparatedintofourcategories:machine,employee,material,andmethod.Anyofthesefourpossiblecausescanbefurtheranalyzedthroughdeepercauses.因果分析是質量控制小組經常使用的一種策略，小組成員定期開會，以確定、分析和解決與他們所做工作相關的問題。它關注特定問題的原因，原因起初分為四類：機器、員工、材料和方法。這四個原因中的任何一個都可以通過更深層次的原因進一步分析。ILDocumentPlanning文件布局與組織Whenyouplanadocument,youneedtomakedecisionsaboutavarietyofelements:context,purpose,audience,content,organization,anddesign.Youshouldfirstidentifythecontext-thesituationorbackgroundforthedocument.Then,youshouldexaminethedocument'sobjectivesandanalyzetheintendedaudience.Thirdly,youshoulddefinethecontentanddeterminethedocument9sscope.Youshouldalsotestyourdecisionsinoutlinestodetermineiftheselectionandsequenceofmaterialarelogical,suitablefortheaudience,andfaithfultothepurposesofthedocument.Thefollowingquestionsreflectthemostimportantaspectsofeachelement.文件布局時，需要對各種元素做出決定：語境、目的、受眾、內容、組織和設計。首先需確定文件的語境即情況或背景。然后應該檢查文件的目標，并分析預期受眾。第三，應該定義文件內容并確定其范圍。此外，還應該在大綱中檢測這些決策，以確定材料的選擇和順序安排是否符合邏輯、是否適合讀者、是否忠實于文件目的。下面的問題反映了每個元素最重要的方面。Figure3-1PlanningElementsandReviewingQuestions計劃元素與審查問題PlanningElementsPlanningElementsPlanningElementsQuestionsPlanningElementsQuestionsContextPurposeWhatisthesituationthatmakesthedocumentnecessary?Howdoesthissituationinfluenceyourplanning?ContextPurposeDoyouwanttoinformorpersuade?Whatargumentsareyoumaking?Whatisthebestwaytoaccomplishyourpurpose?AudienceWhoarethereadersofyourdocument?Whatarethecharacteristicsandneedsofthesereaders?Howwillthereadersusethedocument?ContentandscopeWhatdoyoualreadyknow?Whatdoyouneedtolearntoproducethisdocument?Whatinformationdoyouwanttoinclude?Whafstherangeorextentofthedocument?OrganizationWhatisthemosteffectivewaytoorganizetheinformation?Whichinformationshouldbepresentedverbally?Whichinformationshouldbepresentedvisually?DesignHowcanthedesignreinforcethepurposeofthedocument?Whatdesignfeatureswillmakethedocumenteasilyaccessible,comprehensibleandusable?Theprocessofdocumentplanningisnotlinearbecauseeachelementaffectstheothers.Whileyouareworkingonadocument,youcanchangeyourplans,butyouneedtobeginwithasenseofwhatyou'redoingandwhereyou'regoing,becausechangesinoneelementinfluencetheotherelements.Althoughwritersoftenreplanastheirworkprogresses,carefulplanningcanminimizethenumberofchangesthatareneededlater.Collaborationisaproductivewayindocumentplanning,evenifyouaregoingtodraftthedocumentindependently.Workingwithsomeoneelseoftengeneratesideasandapproachesthatyoumightnotcomeupwithalone.文件計劃的過程不是線性的，因為每個元素都會影響其他元素。處理一個文檔時，可以更改計劃，但需首先了解你正在做的以及預期達到的目標，因為一個元素的更改會影響其他元素。盡管作者會經常隨著工作的開展而重新計劃，但是周密的計劃可以將以后的返工量降到最低。在文件計劃中，協作是一種有效方法。即便你打算獨立起草文檔，（但不可否認的是，）和別人一起工作常常會產生你自己可能無法想到的想法和方法。Drafting打草稿Draftingmeansdrawingupapreliminaryversionofthedocument.Atthisstage,youbegintowritethetextandpreparegraphics.Differentwritersmayhavedifferentwaysindraftingtheirdocuments.Thefollowingmethodsarecommonlyusedbymanyprofessionalwriters.Composethedraftfrombeginningtoendwithoutinterruption.Processslowly,thinkingandpolishingeveryphrase,sentenceandparagraph.Prepareanoutlineastheframeworkofyourdraftandthensticktothisoutline.Createbitsandpiecesofthedraftduringtheplanningstage,writingdownkeysentences.Whenyourplanningisdone,taketheseideas,developthem,andfillinthespaces.把草稿從頭到尾寫好，不要間斷。慢慢來，思考和潤色每個短語、句子和段落。準備一個大綱作為草稿框架，然后遵循這個大綱。在計劃階段，創建一些草稿片段，寫下關鍵句子。當計劃完成后，把這些想法發展延伸，并填補空白。Itisbettertotryseveralapproachesinordertofindoutwhichwayworksbestforyou.Draftingisnotanisolatedstage.Itoverlapswiththenextstage——revising,becausewritersalsoreplanwhentheirdraftsdevelopinadifferentdirectionfromtheiroriginalplan.Revising修改和潤色Manywritersdosomerevisingastheywrite,butmostoftheirrevisingoccurswhentheyhavefinishedtheirfirstdraft.Ifyouareatthisstage,youshouldconsiderarrangement,content,logic,style,graphics,anddocumentdesign.Insomesituationsyoushouldalsopresentyourworktoothersandseektheiradvice.很多作者在寫作時都會做一些修改，但是大部分的修改都是在他們完成第一稿之后進行的。如果你處于這個階段，應該考慮布局、內容、邏輯、樣式、圖形和文檔設計。在某些情況下,你還應該把作品呈現給他人，并征求他們的意見。X.Arrangement布局Incheckingthearrangement,youshouldtrytoputyourselfinyourreader'spositionandmakesureyourarrangementiseasilyaccessibleandcomprehensible.Thefollowingquestionsmayhelpyoucheckforthatpurpose,在檢查布局時，應該把自己放在讀者的位置，確保這樣的布局是容易理解的。下面的問題可以幫助你進行檢查：Arethereanylinksofthoughtmissing?Arethereanyquestionsleftunansweredthatthereaderwillwantananswer?Haveyouprovidedsmoothtransitionsfromsectiontosection,paragraphtoparagraph?Arethereanyparagraphsthatneedtobedivided,whileothersshouldbecombined?Doesyourdiscussiontaketoomuchforgranted?Haveyouavoidedirrelevantmaterialorunwantedrepetitions?Isthereanyvitalthoughtburiedinthediscussionwhenitshouldbeputintoaprominentposition?Content內容Incheckingyourcontent,youshouldmakesurethatyouhavebeenspecificenoughandyourinformationisaccurate.Youshouldnotsimplyrelyonagoodmemoryforfactsandfiguresthatyouarenottotallysureof.Checkanddouble-checkyourdataandequations.Takethefollowingquestionsintoconsideration.在檢查內容時，應該確保你已經足夠具體，而且你的信息是準確的。不應僅僅依靠一個好記性去記憶你并不完全確定的事實和數字。反復檢查你的數據和方程式。考慮以下問題：Isyourinformationaccurate?Haveyouquantifiedwhennecessary?Haveyouadaptedyourmaterialtoyouraudience?Haveyoureplacedthevagueandnonspecificexpressionswithclear,accurateandspecificexpressions?Haveyougivenenoughexamples,facts,andnumberstosupportyourargumentorconclusion?Logic邏輯Trytobestrictinlogicofyourargumentandbecarefulnottoletyourselffallintoalogicalfallacy(seePartIII,Chapter13:TechnicalArgumentation).Examineyourdiscussionforeveryconceivableweaknessofarrangementandcontent,andbereadytocriticizeit.Youmayfinditdifficulttobecriticalofyourownwork,butacriticaleyeisimportantintechnicalwriting.論證時要做到邏輯性強，注意不要陷入邏輯謬誤(見第三部分，第13章：技術論證)。仔細檢查你的論述，找出每一個你能想到的布局和內容上的弱點，并準備好批判。你可能會發現很難對自己的工作提出批評，但在技術寫作中，批判性的眼光是很重要的。Style文體Styleisacustomarymannerinwriting,whichiscomposedofaseriesofspeciallychosenrhetoricalskills.Thestyleoftechnicalwritingshouldfollowthecriteriaofcomprehensibility,usability,andaccessibility.Itisimportanttorememberthatyouaretryingtowriteunderstandably,notimpressively.Yourwritingshouldcarryyourideastothereader'sbrainbytheshortestandsimplestpath.Thefollowinggeneralprinciplesofstyleandrhetoricfortechnicalcommunicationcanbeofhelp.文體是一種約定俗成的寫作方式，它是由一系列特定的修辭技巧構成的。技術寫作的風格應該遵循易理解性、可用性和可訪問性的標準。重點在于，確保你寫的文件是可理解的，而不是令人印象深刻的。你的寫作應該通過最短、最簡單的途徑把想法傳達到讀者的大腦。Rewriteclumsysentencesintosimplerandclearerones.把冗余拙句改寫成簡單明了的句子。Changeunneededpassivevoicesentencesintoactiveones.把沒必要的被動句變成主動句。Cutoutwordsthataddnothingtoyourthought.刪去對你的想法毫無幫助的詞。Crossoutthepretentiouswordsandsubstitutesimplerones.劃掉浮夸的詞，代之以簡單的詞。Besurethedictionandsentencestructuresaresuitabletotheoccasionandtheaudience.確保用詞和句子結構適合場合及受眾。Graphics圖表Muchtechnicalinformationispresentedintables,graphs,anddiagrams.Whenyouhavenumerousstatistics,particularlythoseusedforcomparison,youshoulddisplaythemintablesorgraphs.Whendealingwithcontentthathasvisualcomponents,youshouldpresentthecontentindiagrams.Fordetailsaboutsuchmatters,seeChapter8:Graphics.DocumentDesign文件設計Documentdesignreferstotheeffectiveuseoftablesofcontents,headings,therighttypeface,properspacing,andsoforth,whichisintegraltogoodtechnicalwriting.DetailedguidancefordocumentdesignisofferedinChapter9:DocumentDesign.SeekingAdvice尋求建議Technicalwritersoftensharetheirdraftswithcolleaguesandaskfortheiropinions.Often,someonewhoisnotasfamiliarwiththematerialasthewriterspotsflawsfarmorequicklythanthewriterdoes.Whenyouarewritinginstructions,forexample,youshouldshareanearlydraftwithasampleaudience,peoplewhoaresimilarinknowledgeandintelligencetothoseforwhomtheinstructionsareintended.Seehowwelltheycanfollowtheinstructions.Theycantellyouwheretheyhavetroublecarryingoutyourinstructionsorwherepoorvocabularychoiceorinsufficientcontentcauseanydifficulties,whichcanbeinvaluabletoyourrevision.V.Editing編輯Editingisthefinalstepinwriting.Youbeginyoureditingonlyafteryouaresatisfiedwithyourdraft.Intheeditingstage,youshouldmakesurethatyourreportismechanicallyperfect,thatitmeetstherequirementsofStandardEnglishandtheexpectedformat.編輯是寫作的最后一步。只有在對草稿滿意之后，才能開始編輯工作。在編輯階段，應該確保你的報告在技術方面是完美的，即符合標準英語的要求和預期格式。CheckingMechanicsBeginyoureditingbycheckingmechanics.Makesurethateverywordisspelledcorrectly.Developahealthysenseofdoubtanduseagooddictionaryorthespellingcheckerofyourwordprocessingprogram.Alsocheckyourgrammar,suchassubject-verbagreement,tenses,voicesandmood.CheckingDocumentationBesurethatallin-textcitationsmatchnumbersofyourreferencelist.Makecertainthatyouhaveusedthesamestylethroughoutyourdocumentforcitations.Forhelpindocumentation,seeChapter7:EthicsandDocumentation.CheckingGraphicsCheckyourgraphicsforaccuracyandappropriateness.Takecarethatyourgraphicsarewellplacedandcorrectlynumbered.Andalsomakesurethatthenumberofeachgraphicmatchesthenumberyouuseinreferringtoit.CheckingDocumentDesignMakesurethatyourdesignmakesyourdocumentreadableandaccessibleforyourreaders.Checkwhetherthetableofcontentsiscompleteandaccurate,andmatchtheheadingsyouhaveusedinthedocument.Spelling,GrammarandStyleCheckers拼寫、語法與文體檢查程序Spelling,grammarandstylecheckersinthewordprocessingsoftwarecanmakeyoumoreawareofyourspellingandgrammarmistakesandofyourwritingstyle.Theywillflagsentencesinthepassivevoice,longsentences,wordyphrases,doublewords,unpairedquotationmarks,subject-verbagreementproblems,andotherproblems.However,suchtoolscannotguaranteethatadocumentwillbeerror-free.Youshouldneverdependonsoftwaretoolstoidentifyalltheerrorsinadocument.Thelistbelowpresentsboththebenefitsandlimitationsofsoftwaretoolsforediting.文字處理軟件中的拼寫、語法和文體檢查程序可以讓你更清楚自己的拼寫和語法錯誤及寫作風格。它們會標記被動語態的句子，長句，冗長短語，雙關語，單引號，主謂一致，及其他問題。但是，這些工具不能保證文檔沒有錯誤，永遠不要依賴軟件工具來識別文檔中的所有錯誤。下面的列表展示了用于編輯的軟件工具的優點和局限性。Figure3-2BenefitsandLimitationsofSpelling,GrammarandStyleCheckersSoftwarecanidentify軟件可識別的錯誤Softwarecannotidentify軟件不口J識別的錯誤Misspelledwords拼寫錯誤Correctlyspelledwordsusedincorrectly拼寫正確、使用錯誤的情況Sexistlanguage性別歧視語言Potentiallyoffensiveideas潛在的冒犯想法Passivevoice被動語態Inconsistentwritingstyles文體不致Negativewording否定措辭HowadocumentwillbeusedWrongpartofspeech詞性錯誤WhattheaudienceneedstoknowSlang/colloquialisms俚語或俗語Missingorfaultyinformation缺少或錯誤信息Redundancy贅述Poorlyorganizeddocuments文件布局不合理Potentiallydifficultwordingbasedonwordandsentencelengths基于單詞和句子k度的潛在困難措辭Confusingsentencestructures句子結構混亂Youshouldconsidertheadvicegrammarandstylecheckersgiveyouaccordingtothepurposeandaudienceforyourdocument.However,noteverypassivevoicesentenceshouldbechangedintoactivevoice;noriseverysentenceofmorethan22wordstoolong.Grammarandstylecheckersworkonlyatthelevelsofwordsandsentences,butthemostseriousproblemswithmanydocumentsareintheircontentandoverallorganization.Ifyouchangewordsandsentencessimplyaccordingtogrammarandstylecheckerswithoutconsideringthecontentandoverallorganization,youmayactuallybemakingyourdocumentlesscomprehensibleanduseful.應該根據文件的目的和受眾來考慮語法和文體檢查程序提供的建議。然而，并不是所有的被動語態都應該變成主動語態；每句超過22個單詞的句子也不是太長。語法和文體檢查程序只在單詞和句子的層次上有效，但是許多文件最嚴重的問題恰恰是內容和整體結構。如果只是根據語法和文體檢查程序來更改單詞和句子，而不考慮內容和整體結構，那么實際上你的文件在易理解和易使用方面可能會大打折扣。ExercisesI.Answerthefollowingquestionsaccordingtoyourexperiencesinwritingandwhatyouhavelearnedfromthischapter.Whatistechnicalwriting?Isitusuallyasolitaryorcollaborativeprocess?Why?參考答案：Thetechnicalwritingprocesscanbethoughtofasaproblem-solvingtask-aseriesofquestionstobeconsideredandanswered.Writingatechnicaldocumentisnotanisolatedprocess.Youneedtoworkwithotherpeopleformanyreasons:togetthenecessaryinformation,toverifyyourapproach,toconfirmtechnicalaccuracy,andtocheckreaders'reactions.Initially,youcantalkwithotherstoevaluatewhatyouknowaboutthesubjectandidentifyyourpurposeandaudience.Youcanthenselectcontentandbegintoorganizethematerial.Atvariousstagesintheprocess,youcanusefeedbackfromothers-reviewersaswellasactualreaders-toconsidernecessarychanges.Arethefivestagesofthewritingprocess-inventingandexploring;planningandorganizing;drafting;revising;editing-occurringconsecutively,oraretheyoverlapping?Supportyouranswerwithyourwritingexperience.參考答案：Theprocessofdocumentplanningisnotlinearbecauseeachelementaffectstheothers.Whileyouareworkingonadocument,youca