Can you take ownership of your technical translations? Turn a verbose, unclear wall of听block text into an effective document? Here鈥檚 how to pull in some key technical writing听techniques to make your documents clean and concise.
Superb writing skills are not the first听thing that comes to mind when talking about a technical translator鈥檚 skill set. We usually focus on subject-matter expertise or terminology research methods. Although those are crucial, good technical writing is a听third听skill that makes a substantial difference to translation quality.
I hope to persuade you that technical writing is a skill that can be learned and a fundamental part of the technical translator鈥檚 skill set. Though many of the principles here apply to texts in any language, my native language is English, so all the examples I听give are for effective English technical writing. For the purposes of this article, let鈥檚 assume that my premise is to discuss documents translated for information or publication, where our customer wants us to produce as effective a text as possible.
Definition
Technical writing conveys information with an objective tone. The author鈥檚 opinion is unimportant; the focus remains on the technical content. This writing style can be used in any technical field. Technical writers explain technology and related ideas to听either a technical or a non-technical audience. Knowing the intended audience is important for maintaining the appropriate register as we translate.
Technical writing transmits technical information accurately. Accuracy is so important that (Shock! Horror! Watch translators鈥 eyes pop out!) numbers may be more critical than words. I鈥檇 even go so far as to say that the data is often much more听important to people reading these documents than the words. That鈥檚 obvious when we consider how poorly written many technical texts are. Authors may not think much about telling a great story. Readers focus on measurable results and predictions. For听the same reason, random web searches rarely provide reliable answers to technical style queries. Too much scientific and technical writing is not written by native English speakers, and a great deal is written by people who seemingly don鈥檛 know or care听much about the written word. We need to use a style guide as our reference, not the Internet.
I am emphasizing writing precise, concise, and clear texts. That鈥檚 what effective technical writing takes. 鈥淧recise鈥 is usually covered by the terms we choose, so this article focuses on how to produce clear and concise writing. Concise and brief are often听used interchangably in this context. By 鈥渃oncise鈥 I mean keeping it as short as possible while including all the important information鈥攖he point is not brevity for brevity鈥檚 sake. The following concepts, even when applied in part, will improve technical听writing.
Plain Language and Structure
Use plain, everyday words, not fancy words or jargon. Avoid long sentences (anything with more than 21 words in English). Split up, recast, and reorder thoughts for logical coherence. Take ownership where you can. Can you turn a paragraph into six听bullet points? None of us read a wall of block text as effectively as a well-designed document.
Active Voice
As a general rule, use the active voice in English, even when the source is passive. The exceptions are rare: when the subject is unknown, or you would prefer not to specify the subject. In the past, scientific writing required the use of the passive voice, but听there is a movement among scientific writing authorities to reduce this, so the passive is now preferred only in a methods section.
Active voice requires the use of strong action verbs. English users like to know what the item听does. That means they are looking for a verb, ideally a punchy one. This style choice helps with clarity. Here are a few very simple examples, with the least听preferable English crossed out.
Tras la aprobaci贸n de este informe
After approval of this report- After this report is approved
Pr茅paration de la solution A
Preparation of solution A- Preparing solution A
- To prepare solution A
Example from editing a r茅sum茅
Maintenance and restocking of inventory- Maintained and restocked inventory
Verbs that convey passive voice include: are, is, was, were, be, being, been. Try searching target texts for 鈥渨as done鈥 and see how many you have to remove.
This next sentence will probably make you wince: 鈥淭he addition of lemon juice was done after 15 minutes.鈥 But replace 鈥渓emon juice鈥 with a chemical name, and I see this kind of sentence all the time. In fact, I edited this exact sentence once, except with听a solvent as a subject noun.
My experience as an editor shows that when people are outside of their comfort zones, they sometimes slip into mindless translation. They focus on the terminology because they know they have to get that right, and the writing goes downhill. There may听be other reasons for a literal translation that produces clunky English, but that鈥檚 an obvious one. I would have written 鈥淭he lemon juice was added after 15 minutes.鈥 If the context allowed, it would be even better to write 鈥淲ait 15 minutes and then add the听lemon juice.鈥
鈥淥mit Needless Words鈥
Strunk and White鈥檚 famous phrase says it all; you should be as brief as possible. But sometimes the translator says, 鈥淚鈥檓 paid by the target word!鈥 If you struggle with this principle, remember 鈥渦ser focus.鈥 Who wants a user manual or an operating听procedure to be longer than necessary? Wordiness obscures meaning and annoys readers.
Many have written books on techniques for writing English more economically and concisely. (I鈥檝e included some at the end of this article.) If your subconscious (or your conscious) can鈥檛 handle this, then you should negotiate hourly rates or charge by听the source word at all times. A useful practical tip for English is to review your texts for 鈥渙f鈥 and recast to remove as many as possible (e.g., replace with possessives or noun pairs). Of course, when we have set phrases such as 鈥淒epartment of Motor听Vehicles,鈥 we鈥檙e not going to turn it into 鈥淢otor Vehicles Department,鈥 but for many other instances we can rephrase.
If you still need convincing, just take a听look at this very wordy sentence taken from a human resources procedural manual:
Original French:听La pr茅sente proc茅dure s鈥檃pplique 脿 tous les membres du personnel et 脿 toutes les formations.
Before (pretty literal translation):听This procedure applies to all members of personnel and to all training.
After (much better):听This procedure applies to all personnel and training.
Here鈥檚 a great example from www.plainlanguage.gov that combines several principles of effective technical writing to improve clarity dramatically.
Before:听When the process of freeing a听vehicle that has been stuck results in ruts or holes, the operator will fill the rut or hole created by such activity before removing the vehicle from the immediate area.
After:听If you make a hole while freeing a stuck vehicle, you must fill the hole before you drive away.
Source-Language Interference
Less than optimal technical writing is听hardly rare, and source-language interference makes it even worse. When editing French>English translations, I often see noun-heavy texts and too many definite articles. That may work fine or even be optimal in some languages, but in English it makes for听a turgid read. What should you watch for? Does your source language omit the subject, use participles differently, or have a prepositional case? Make sure your texts aren鈥檛 filled with clues that they are translations.
Order of Events
Reorder for chronology. When steps in a procedure are not listed in the order in which they are completed, the procedure is less clear.
Original French:听Un lavage 脿 l鈥檈thanol a 茅t茅 r茅alis茅 脿 0掳C apr猫s filtration du g芒teau afin de d茅terminer l’impact de ce solvant en terme de purification du principe actif.
Fairly literal translation:听A wash with ethanol was done at 0掳C after filtration of the cake to determine the impact of this solvent in terms of purification of the active ingredient.
Much better:听The cake was filtered and then washed with ethanol at 0掳C to determine this solvent鈥檚 impact on active ingredient purity.
Style Guides
Using a suitable style guide aids consistency and answers many questions. From how to format units of measure to whether to hyphenate a term of the art, we all need an up-to-date, authoritative reference. Preferred style changes from decade to decade鈥攅ven faster in new fields鈥攕o we must keep up with changes in the areas in which we work. For all those jobs where the customer lets you set the style, pick a guide that you like and use it. It becomes second nature very quickly. The 鈥淚nstructions for听Authors鈥 sections of publishers鈥 websites are sometimes helpful for academic writing, but more often than not all they say is 鈥淯se either U.S. English or U.K. English consistently鈥 and go no further. Again, this is where we return to our preferred guide.听Many technical fields have an authority that produces a guide. (See the references at the end of this article.)
Style Sheets
For all but very short jobs, consider creating a document-specific style sheet. Skim the source text, spotting oddities or pet peeves. Enter them into a template and post the sheet within eyesight or keep it in a prominent place on the screen.听(See the basic example provided in the table below.)
This is particularly useful when a customer requires a style that doesn鈥檛 match my preference or normal style guide (e.g., 鈥淎nnex鈥 versus 鈥淎ppendix鈥). I also flag my personal quirks in style sheets. For example, I have to watch out for U.K./U.S.听punctuation style differences since I work in both dialects. I won鈥檛 necessarily get them right automatically.
Small Changes, Big Results
With only small changes in attitude and style, technical translators can improve their texts dramatically. Efforts to train ourselves, such as taking writing and editing courses, produce results. One of my favorite compliments came about six months after I听made substantial efforts in this area. I had returned a set of pharmaceutical laboratory procedures to a new customer. 鈥淵our writing is so clear I can understand these documents,鈥 he said. What great confirmation!
We should invest in ourselves. Let鈥檚 not leave great writing to literary translators and those who work in marketing communications. Let鈥檚 stand up for good writing in technical translation. We鈥檒l all thank each other the next time we read an effective user听manual.
*I鈥檇 like to acknowledge input from Joan Wallace in preparing this article.
General Writing Sources
Blake, Gary, and Robert W. Bly.听The Elements of Technical Writing听(Longman, 2000).
(U.S. English; short and helpful)
Strunk, William Jr., and E. B. White.听The Elements of Style听(Longman, 1999).听(U.S. English; short, dry, and prescriptive)
Kohl, John R.听The Global English Style Guide: Writing Clear, Translatable Documentation for a Global Market听(SAS Publishing, 2008).
(Useful source for how to write English for translation)
Subject-Specific Style Guides
Microsoft Manual of Style, 4th Edition听(Microsoft Corporation, 2012).
Read Me First, A Style Guide for the听Computer Industry, 3rd Edition听(Sun Technical Publications, 2009).
American Medical Association Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors, 10th Edition听(Oxford University Press, 2007).
(This is also available by online subscription )
IEEE Computer Society Style Guide听(IEEE Computer Society, 2014), .
Society of Petroleum Engineers Style Guide: 2014鈥2015, .
Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 8th Edition听(Council of Science Editors, 2014), .
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition听(American Psychological Association, 2009).
American Chemical Society Style Guide, 3rd听Edition听(Edited by Anne Coghill and Lorrin Garison).听(My personal preference for a style guide)
European Union Pharmaceutical Style Guide,听.听(Download it as a pdf called 鈥淐ompilation of QRD decisions on stylistic matters in product information.鈥 The 鈥淐ompilation of QRD decisions on the use of terms鈥 is at the same place.)
Style Guide for NASA History Authors and Editors,听.听(NASA has a strong body of reference material for technical writers)
Karen Tkaczyk听is the administrator of ATA鈥檚 Science and Technology Division and the chair of the Association鈥檚 Divisions Committee. She is an ATA-certified French>English freelance translator. Her translation work is entirely focused on chemistry and its听industrial applications. She has an MChem in chemistry with French from the University of Manchester, a diploma in French, and a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Cambridge. Initially, she worked in the pharmaceutical industry in Europe. After听relocating to the U.S. in 1999,听she worked in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.听She established her translation practice in 2005.听Contact: karen@mcmillantranslation.com.