Describes two software routines developed for authors of Navy training materials. SCAT (Systems for Computer Automated Typesetting) automatically composes and formats text, merging it with stored graphics, while CRES (Computer Readability Editing System) aids in writing readable text at the desired level. A six-item bibliography and eight…

Suggests that editors resist the common urge to squeeze paragraphs together to save space. Discusses the difference between writing and editing paragraphs, topic sentences, connectives, levels of discourse, what paragraphs do for the writer, how long paragraphs should be, and the flexibility of paragraph structure. (RS)

Gives a case history of how one writing group devised a way to deal with the problem of author-created noun strings and long, indecipherable unit modifiers, satisfying both internal and external clients. Describes the development of an in-house usage guide. (PRA)

The author explores problems in technical writing, the editor's role, and the author-editor relationship. He presents a list of basic writing rules to help the technical writer achieve success. These involve subject matter, deadlines, purpose, topic sentences, arrangement, clarity, idea development, examples, vocabulary, reading level, and…

To assess the context in which information is presented to readers and to know what demands information being presented makes of an audience, IBM designed three procedures to help gather such material. First, customer sites are visited to interview representatives from the intended audience and see the environments in which the information will be…

Drawn from the experience of various ministries and departments in governments across Canada, this guide is meant to be a practical guide in implementing plain language for managers in the Ontario (Canada) government. The guide describes how to use plain language in planning, writing, designing, and editing forms and documents, and how to set up…

A useful device in revising technical reports is the metaphor of entropy, which refers to the amount of disorder that is present in a system. Applied to communication theory, high entropy would correspond to increased amounts of unfamiliar or useless information in a text. Since entropy in rhetorical systems increases with the unfamiliarity of…

Written as an aid for writers of Army narrative training literature, this guidebook emphasizes performance-oriented writing (preparation of literature intended to help someone learn and perform job related tasks). The eight chapters contain extensive examples and illustrations. An introductory chapter discusses why and how the guidebook was…