English 322: Technical Writing
Technical Writing Project
Dr. Gian Pagnucci
Major Course
Project
In the work place, many of you will
be called on to take part in large writing projects. You might have to
write an entire company manual or you might have to write just a few
pages for someone else's project.
I believe the best way to really
learn the in's and out's of technical writing is for you to undertake
your own major Technical Writing Project.
We'll be working from a broad
definition of technical writing, so that means you may propose any type of Technical
Writing Project
you like. Occasionally proposals do not get approved, but for the most
part, that's a rare occurrence. Your Technical Writing Project may be:
- one that will be used for real
(for example, you could create a web site for a club to which you
belong)
- a project for a fictional
audience (for example, you could write the manual for a video game
you might want to create or you might create a new web site for )
- something you do for fun
(you might want to create a Guide to Spider-man if you really
enjoyed the movie)
You can propose:
- a document for any place where you
work
- a document for your major
department, a professor you know, or a class at IUP
- a document for an organization you
belong to (for example a club, a fraternity or sorority, or a
church group to which you belong
Your Technical Writing Project should definitely:
- Be something you have a strong
interest in writing
- Involve a fair amount of writing
- Let you make use of some graphics
and other design elements
- Be worth your time (if the project
feels like a waste of time, you've proposed the wrong project!)
- Belong to you, not to your
instructor (do a project that matters to you, that way, you'll do
a much better job on it)
Technical Writing
Project
Materials
Technical Writing
Project Required Materials
To successfully finish your Technical
Writing Project, you must complete all of these materials and hand them
in or post them online by the appropriate deadline:
-
Project Cover Page or Web
Front/Splash/Home Page (what you see first, including the
Project Title)
-
Table of Contents/Menu
-
Project Introduction
(explains
the purpose of the project and what audience the project is
intended for; might be on the first page of a web site)
-
Project Document
Body (10-20 pages of document content with some substantive
writing; the heart of the project)
-
Technical Writing Project Style
Sheet (outlining basic project design decisions; this can be
linked to web projects or included as an appendix in printed
projects)
-
Project Delivery Letter (used for delivering your project)
-
Project Evaluation Form (used as one means of evaluating your
project)
|
