Lovina Anand is currently working as an Associate Information Developer in the IDCC at Alcatel-Lucent Technologies.

She joined Alcatel-Lucent Technologies about 1.7 years back as an Associate Information Developer. She completed her Masters in E-Commerce. She is also an IBM Certified Software Engineer. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computers. She completed the TWB Fundamental Certification Program in October 2008. Prior to joining the course she was a Software Trainer. Read on to know more about Lovina…

What are the barriers for a technical writer?

-          Understanding the product (technology) and writing simple, unambiguous documents.

-          Meeting the deadlines in a project.

-          Constantly upgrade our technical and product knowledge.

How do you communicate with developers?

The SMEs for our project are generally based in the US, Netherlands or China. Hence all our communication takes place via e-mail, net meetings or calls.

What are the important sources to gather information?

Existing documents and the SMEs are the vital sources of information for technical writers.

How important is to follow Standards and Guidelines in technical documentation? Why?

It is very important to follow Standards and Guidelines in technical documentation since you are writing for a particular audience and need to maintain the consistency and clarity in writing. To be consistent in writing you need to follow certain guidelines in terms of grammar, word usage, GUI and so on. These guidelines help you in designing your document in a concise and user-friendly manner.

Do you follow any Style Guide? If so which?
Yes. We follow the Alcatel-Lucent Corporate Writing Style Guide and the Chicago Manual of Style.

How vital are the editing skills in technical documentation?
Yes. Editing skills are vital in technical documentation.
For instance, while authoring we might miss some step or the flow in a procedure. This can be fixed while editing. We might tend to use a mix of present and future tense while authoring and editing can bring in consistency in tense structure and parallelism. We need to maintain consistency in word usage.

How do you explain a complex technical issue to someone who has less technical knowledge than you?
Since I work on the telecom domain, I take day-to-day examples from an end user perspective and explain it to the person with less technical knowledge.

What are the things you do to improve your writing?
I read books.

How do you get inspired and what keeps you motivated to write?
As a technical writer, every document or project that I work on requires me to do constant research on the subject. This improves my domain knowledge and everyday is a new learning experience in terms of learning and implementing new tools. This keeps me going.

What are the books and materials do you suggest to improve writing?
The Elements of Style (Strunk & White), The Grammar Bible (Michael Strumpf and Auriel Douglas) and the Microsoft Manual of Style are a few good books that I refer to improve writing.

Terminology – Search Engine. This is a program that searches one or more documents on the World Wide Web.

A covering letter is typically the first sample of documentation that hiring managers receive.  A covering letter often determines the impression that an employer forms of the job applicant. A well written covering letter can create a lasting good impression, while a poorly written covering letter can easily create a lasting bad impression.

For tips on creating an effective covering letter, visit the link below:

My favorite quote;  ” A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.”;  by William Strunk Jr.  , The Elements of Style.  pg xv.  Fourth Edition.

JavaScript is a WWW scripting language developed by Netscape Communications and Sun Microsystems Inc. JavaScript is not compiled.

“Many attempts to communicate are nullified by saying too much.” – Robert Greenleaf

The key for an effective writing is to be clear, concise, and simple. A good writing has clear ideas and simple expressions. A good writing informs and involves your readers.

Here are some tips for effective writing:
• Keep sentences short. A sentence should contain only one thought. Avoid compound and complex sentences wherever possible.

BAD: The application of external sources of heat to ice results in a change of phase with subsequent increase in liquidity.
GOOD: Heat melts ice.

BAD: The floor covering was utilized for feline occupation.
GOOD: The cat sat on the mat.

• Write clear and concise sentences. Wordy phrases can make documents excessively long and frustrate a reader. Never use a difficult word or phrase when there is a simple alternative. Always choose words or phrases that are simple and straight forward.

Here are some examples of commonly used words that have better alternatives:

WORDY – CONCISE
a majority of – most
a number of – few, many
at this time – now
assist – help
due to the fact that - because
during the course of - while
for the purpose of - for
facilitate – help
have the capability to - can
utilize – use
terminate – end, stop

• Use verbs instead of nouns. Strong or action verbs give life to a sentence. Active verbs are more direct and usually require fewer words.
The following examples show the major improvements you can achieve by avoiding noun constructions:

BAD: He used to help in the specification of new software.
GOOD: He used to help specify new software.

BAD: We did a calculation of the total.
GOOD: We calculated the total.

• Use active voice. Sentences that are written in active voice will flow better and are easier to understand. Active voice will engage the reader and keep his attention.

PASSIVE: The software was tested by Jane.
ACTIVE: Jane tested the software.

PASSIVE: The analysis of the software was performed by David.
ACTIVE: David analyzed the software.

In summary, effective writing helps the reader to understand information more quickly and more easily.

References:
• www.textengineer.com
• www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk
• www.gryphonmountain.net
• www.techcommunicators.com
• http://awarenessmusings.com/eight-tips-for-concise-writing

FAQ expands to Frequently Asked Questions. This is a useful set of information that is normally provided when introducing a product, concept or process. It helps users/readers get a quick idea of what is being communicated.