Table of Contents

*New.- .- A.- abbreviations.- abstract/concrete words.- Abstracts.- acceptance/refusal letters (for employment).- acknowledgment letters.- acronyms and initialisms.- active voice (see voice).- adapting to new technologies.- adjectives.- ESL Tip for Using Adjectives.- adjustment letters.- *Professionalism Note.- Adverbs.- affectation.- agreement.- allusions.- ambiguity.- ampersands.- and/or.- antonyms.- apostrophes.- appendixes.- application cover letters.- *Figure A-8. Application Cover Letter (Graduate Applying for a Graphic Design Job).- Opening.- *Proofreading and Follow-up.- appositives.- articles.- audience.- awkwardness.- .- B.- biased language.- bibliographies.- blogs and forums.- *Figure B-1. Corporate Blog.- brackets.- brainstorming.- brochures.- bulleted lists (see lists).- buzzwords.- .- C.- capitalization.- case?.- cause-and-effect method of development.- chronological method of development.- clarity.- clauses.- clichés.- coherence.- collaborative writing.- Digital Tip: Using Collaborative Software.- colons.- comma splice.- commas.- comparison.- comparison method of development.- complaint letters.- complements.- compound words.- conciseness.- conclusions.- conjunctions.- connotation/denotation.- content management.- context.- contractions.- copyrights, patents, and trademarks.- Patents.- Trademarks.- Figure C-8. Sample Trademarks.- correspondence.- Indirect Pattern.- cover letters (or transmittals).- .- D.- dangling modifiers.- dashes.- dates.- definition method of development.- description.- design (see layout and design).- dictionaries.- direct address.- division-and-classification method of development.- *document management.- *Writer's Checklist: Naming Files.- documenting sources.- double negatives.- drawings?.- .- E.- editing (see both revision and proofreading).- ellipses.- e-mail.- *Ethics Note.- emphasis.- English as a second language .- English, varieties of.- environmental impact statements.- *Resources and Examples.- ethics in writing.- euphemisms.- exclamation marks.- executive summaries.- expletives.- exposition.- .- F.- FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).- feasibility reports.- figures of speech.- flowcharts.- footnotes (see documenting sources).- formal reports.- *Digital Tip: Creating an Index.- Sample Formal Report.- *Digital Tip: Creating Styles and Templates.- format.- forms.- *Sequencing Entries.- *forums (see blogs and forums).- fragments (see sentence fragments).- functional shift.- .- G.- garbled sentences.- gender.- general and specific methods of development.- global communication.- global graphics.- glossaries.- gobbledygook.- grammar.- grant proposals.- graphs.- .- H.- headers and footers.- headings.- hyphens.- .- I.- idioms.- illustrations (see visuals).- *incident reports.- indexing.- *infographics.- inquiries and responses.- instant messaging.- instructions.- intensifiers.- interjections.- international correspondence.- interviewing for information.- interviewing for a job.- introductions.- investigative reports.- italics.- .- J.- jargon.- job descriptions.- job search.- Job or Internship Applications.- *journal articles (see trade journal articles).- .- K.- ?.- L.- .- laboratory reports.- layout and design.- letters.- listening.- lists.- literature reviews.- logic errors.- .- M.- malapropisms.- manuals.- maps.- mathematical equations.- meetings.- memos.- methods of development.- minutes of meetings.- mixed constructions.- modifiers.- mood.- .- N.- narration.- newsletter articles.- newsletters.- nominalizations.- note-taking.- nouns.- number (grammar).- numbers.- .- O.- objects.- order-of-importance method of development.- organization.- organizational charts.- outlining.- P.- pace.- paragraphs.- parallel structure.- paraphrasing.- parentheses.- parts of speech.- periods.- person.- persuasion.- photographs.- phrases.- plagiarism.- plain language.- point of view.- positive writing.- possessive case.- prefixes.- preparation .- prepositions.- presentations.- *Professionalism Note? .- process explanation.- progress and activity reports .- pronoun reference.- pronouns.- proofreading.- *Professionalism Note.- proposals.- punctuation.- purpose.- .- Q.- question marks.- questionnaires .- quotation marks.- quotations.- .- R.- readers.- reference letters.- refusal letters.- Figure R-3. Refusal with High Stakes.- regarding / with regard to.- repetition.- reports.- repurposing.- requests for proposals.- research.- resignation letters.- restrictive and nonrestrictive elements.- résumés.- revision.- rhetorical questions.- run-on sentences.- .- S.- salary negotiations.- scope.- selecting the medium.- semicolons.- sentence construction.- sentence faults.- sentence fragments.- sentence variety.- sequential method of development.- slashes.- *social media.- spatial method of development.- specifications.- spelling.- style? .- subordination.- suffixes.- surveys (see questionnaires).- synonyms.- syntax.- .- T.- tables of contents.- tables.- technical manuals (see manuals).- technical writing style.- telegraphic style.- tense .- test reports.- text messaging.- thesaurus.- titles.- to / too / two.- tone.- trade journal articles.- transition.- trip reports.- trouble reports (see incident reports).- .- U.- unity.- usability testing.- usage.- .- V.- vague words.- verbals.- verbs.- visuals.- voice.- .- W.- Web design (see writing for the Web).- white papers.- word choice.- writing a draft? .- writing for the Web.- Writing for a Global Audience.- .- Y.- "you" viewpoint.

About the Author

Gerald J. Alred is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA, where he teaches courses in the Professional Writing Program. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and several standard bibliographies on business and technical communication, and is a founding member of the editorial board of the Journal of Business and Technical Communication. He is co-author of The Business Writer's Handbook and Handbook of Technical Writing. He is a recipient of the prestigious Jay R. Gould Award for "profound scholarly and textbook contributions to the teaching of business and technical writing."

Charles T. Brusaw was a faculty member at NCR Corporation's Management College, where he developed and taught courses in professional writing, editing, and presentation skills for the corporation worldwide. Previously, he worked in advertising, technical writing, public relations, and curriculum development. He has been a communications consultant, an invited speaker at academic conferences, and a teacher of business writing at Sinclair Community College, USA.

Walter E. Oliu served as chief of the Publishing Services Branch at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where he managed the agency's printing, graphics, editing, and publishing programs. He also developed the public-access standards for and managed daily operations of the agency's public Web site. He has taught at Miami University of Ohio, Slippery Rock State University, and as an adjunct faculty member at Montgomery College and George Mason University, USA. His books include Writing That Works, Tenth Edition (reprinted chapters appear in Kevin J. Harty's Strategies for Business and Technical Writing, Fifth Edition, and Brenda D. Smith and Laura C. Headley's The Lifelong Reader, Second Edition); The Handbook of Technical Writing, Ninth Edition; The Business Writer's Handbook, Ninth eEdition (Fortune and Book-of-the-Month Club selections); The Business Writer's Companion, Sixth Edition; The Technical Writer's Companion, Third Edition; Writing from A-Z, Fifth Edition; and The Professional Writer.