Handbook of Technical Writing

by Gerald J. Alred, Charles T. Brusaw, Walter E. Oliu

Book Overview

Now in its eighth edition, this classic book remains the complete technical-writing reference for students and professionals alike. Alphabetically organized and easy to use, its nearly 400 entries provide guidance for the most common types of professional documents and correspondence, including reports, proposals, manuals, memos, and white papers. Abundant sample documents and visuals throughout the book demonstrate effective technical communication,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312575122
• ISBN13: 9780312575120
• Release Date: November 2008
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 628 Pages
• Weight: 1.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.2" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Handbook

As the title implies this is a handbook to be used to supplement another text or for reference when writing. While it is slanted towards technical/business writing, it is an excellent reference for any writer's shelf.

Handbook of Technical Writing

This volume contains sample letters, sentence structure and grammatical presentations. The singular, plural, subject, objective and possessive forms are set forth simply with ample examples. Even proofreader's markings are set forth. The presentation would be extremely valuable for students, writers, teachers, businesspeople and a wide constituency of the general public. It is a good value for the price charged.

Indispensable

As a technical writer, I've found this book to be just that. While it definitely is not a "how to write technical manuals" type of book, the topics and material covered make it well worth having on any writer's bookshelf. And in this latest edition, not only have the editors done another great job, the book's page layout is wonderful. In previous editions, all text and type was in black. In this edition, headings, paragraph titles and diagrams are framed in blue. This seemingly minor change makes the book's material easier to read and refer to.The book continues to have extensive information about writing-related topics. Everything from proper grammar, to writing reports, to interviewing subject matter experts, how to do Internet research for a writing project, writing newsletters and/or abstracts, interviewing for a job and interviewing a subject matter expert for more information about a subject, writing proposals, and so forth is covered in this book. There's even a companion web site to the book that provides links to online resources for further information.The book's preface contains what the editors consider their "Five Steps to Successful Writing," and also a "Checklist of the Writing Process," complete with subsections containing listings for (in order) Preparation, Research, Organization, Writing a Draft, and Revision. In fact, a few of the book's numerous entries contain their own "writer's checklist" of things to do. Some subjects have not only a heading, but cross-references to other pages of related topics. For example, if I was interested in learning how to write a proposal, I could go to that listing, and also find reference information on internal and external proposals. There seems to be at times an endless wealth of information about whatever writing topic you are looking for. This book's main strength obviously is how all the book's material is organized. This is one book every writer should have. Even though it isn't a "how-to-write" book, it's still a "tools for writing" book. I find myself referring to it often when I'm working on any kind of writing project.As with past editions, the book's editors have done a wonderful job with this handbook.

A Very Good Handbook for Technical Writing

I have the 5th edition of this handbook. It is a very good reference book to keep at your desk. Although I would not recommend this as a text book for technical communication, it is a great reference book for anyone that has to write or create documents at work. It is arranged alphabetically by topic, and has a detailed index. This book makes a good supplement to a text book for a college level technical communication class.

A valuable resource for writers of any ilk.

This book has been a constant companion and valuableresource for me over the years. It gives excellent advice on usage,clear examples which can be used as models, and is well-organized and simple to use. Any writer can benefit from a browse through its pages.As a senior technical writer, it has sustained and edified me (in its various editions) for the past eight years. I recommend it highly.