Teresa Said:

books/tips on technical writing?

We Answered:

It's not free, but "A Pocket Style Manual" by hacker is an excellent resource.

Colleen Said:

Technical tips and advice for writing?

We Answered:

Sci Fi is part of a larger genre of literature, called utopian fiction/literature. One of the main elements of good utopian fiction is the author's use of estrangement. This goal of this writer's tool is to make the reader/audience feel s/he is entering an environment that is alien as far as what the reader is used to in his/her ordinary life. So, for instance, on opening a utopian fiction, often you might notice the setting is unusual, or somewhere exotic or strange in your own life experience. The tool may be felt in how the author creates an alien mood in the writing, eerie, or at the least odd, to the reader. The goal beyond that, is to force the reader to open his/her mind to the concept of difference which is another element of the utopian literature. The focus of this kind of literature is "difference".

Utopian literature dates back to Plato's REPUBLIC, and ancient Greek writing. The concept of utopia, the perfect place begins with Plato, literarily speaking. It has evolved to the utopian space, as opposed to the utopian place, because we know there is no such thing as the perfect place, the perfect society, which is how and where the dialectical discussion began, in terms of society. Mankind has been trying to create a perfect society since his early beginnings.

Now, in post post-modern times we know that it is an impossible task, but we are not left without alternatives. The sticky part is that it is no longer relegated to the physical world but rather the space or our imaginations, the utopian space of our imaginations which is, of course, endless, infinite.

On top of that discussion, there is also the matter of our not being able to literarily describe utopia in the first place, as we have no firsthand knowledge of such perfection in our reality, the reality of life, existentially speaking. Things get a little abstract here. But, the result for utopian writers is that since we cannot describe utopia because nobody knows what it might look like we can imagine it, yet in so many cases you will find authors are much more likely to describe utopia by describing its opposite, called dystopia, in literary terms. Kinda like Heaven and Hell. What do we humans really know of either one. We get our images of them from human writers' imaginations, as far as we can prove. But, to prove my point, just look at all the great utopian science fiction, like 1984, Animal House, etal. And, you might want to recognize that some of the world's greatest writers' novels are utopian without being "Fantasy" or "Science Fiction" as such. Herman Melville's Moby Dick could be seen as a utopian novel if you consider it contains these elements I have been speaking of here. Perhaps you can begin to see a lot of literature has these elements and thus have utopian aspects to them. But, when these elements drive the narrative, then it becomes a piece of the genre.

I studied, and am still studying this genre, in my Master's Degree in English at Louisiana State University. You have but to do a Google Scholarly search to find these terms. I hope it helps you understand your task better.

CC Ryder

Janet Said:

could you please suggest a few best sites on technical writing ?

We Answered:

This site includes links to *everything* a technical writer needs:
http://www.angelfire.com/stars/techwrite…
It includes links to tools you will need, style guides, flow charts for a tech writer's work, how to find a job, etc.

It also includes the following link, which is an excellent place to start learning the trade: http://www.blm.gov/nhp/NPR/pe_toc.html

Good luck!

Dawn Said:

Need technical writing help!!!!?

We Answered:

I think your idea is good. However, you might also simply write out the times when the video needs to be paused. Usually, whan a video is playing (at least on a computer) it displays the time (e.g., 2:34). If I am not mistaken, most vcr, dvd or blueray players have such a display too.

Heather Said:

tips on technical and scientific writing?

We Answered:

Be completley unambiguous in your writing. I mean say exactly what you mean in such a way that it can not be misinterpreted.

Katie Said:

Can anyone help me with technical writing?

We Answered:

There is a vast amount of information to be gained from the search feature of Y! Answers. Here is an example:

A carefully thought out topic sentence will serve two important functions. First, it will provide you, the author, the means to stay focused on your objective. It's a lot easier to write if you know what you are going to write about! Second, a clearly stated topic sentence will provide readers with the tools they need to clearly understand what you have to say. These are important reasons to carefully consider topic sentences before beginning writing. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…