Preparation of the Written Report

When carrying out a design, the design team normally maintains a project notebook, mos likely a loose-leaf binder, in which important sources of information are placed. These in elude articles from the literature, data from the laboratory or the literature, design calcula 

The advent of the word processor has had a major impact on the preparation of the design report. Because sections of text can be cut and pasted with ease, it is possible to write drafts of many sections, as discussed previously. As the base-case design is modified, new sections can be composed and added easily to the previously prepared sections, which can usually be included with minor modifications. For technical writing, Word, WordPerfect, PageMaker, and LaTeX are the most commonly used word processors. Except for highly mathematical manuscripts, the former two word processors are preferred. 

Many design reports have on the order of 100 pages that include the 18 sections discussed earher. Since there are many cross-references between the sections, it can be very helpful to add headers to the pages that identify the section numbers and titles. Furthermore, in addition to the table of contents, an index can be very helpful when the reader is searching for coverage of a specific topic. 

No matter how careful an author is, it is difficult to compose concise text without redundant terms and the use of words that add little, if any, meaning. Most novice designers and writers, examine their manuscripts carefiilly for spelling errors, with the help of the spelling checkers in their word processors. They also seek to confirm that their statements are technically correct. However, many are inexperienced in the art of editing. 

Use of passive voice when active voice would give more punch. Improper use of who, whom, which, and that. 

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