Technical Writing Guidelines

Language

1. Active vs passive voice

• Use active voice to achieve fewer words, livelier reading and improved communication.
• Maintain a 2:1 ratio of active voice (subject acts on object) to passive voice (subject acted upon).

2. Verbs

• Use simple tenses when possible:
  • Simple tenses are present and past, e.g., I go, she went.
  • Avoid future or progressive tenses such as: is going, will be going, they will go, was going.
• Use present tense when possible:
  • Staying in the present is important when describing the operation of modern electronics or software. It’s normal to expect to move into the future tense when describing two successive events. However, the present tense effectively implies the instantaneous nature of sequential computing operations.
  • Exceptions to the present tense are past actions and future plans.
• Verbs usage (reference BC Campus Tech Writing Essentials):
  • Avoid separating the subject and verb with words or phrases that could create confusion.
  • Place the verb near the beginning of the sentence (and close to the subject).
  • Maintain a high verb/word ratio.
  • Avoid “to be” verbs (am, is, are, was, were, being, been, be) in favor of verbs describing the action.
  • Convert nouns and abstract nouns into verbs (i.e., recommendation --> recommend) for an active voice.