Outerwear Edit from Shopbop
To share your reaction on this item, open the Amazon app from the App Store or Google Play on your phone.
Add Prime to get Fast, Free delivery
Amazon prime logo
Buy new:
$19.98
FREE delivery Tuesday, January 28 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon
Sold by: FindAnyBook
$19.98
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Tuesday, January 28 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or Prime members get FREE delivery Sunday, January 26. Order within 6 hrs 43 mins.
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$19.98 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$19.98
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon
Amazon
Ships from
Amazon
Returns
30-day refund/replacement
30-day refund/replacement
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$6.64
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
This item shows wear including excessive highlighting or writing. This item shows wear including excessive highlighting or writing. See less
FREE delivery Tuesday, January 28 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or Prime members get FREE delivery Sunday, January 26. Order within 6 hrs 43 mins.
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$19.98 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$19.98
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Elements of Technical Writing First Edition

4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 79 ratings

off. Enter code INSTAPAY10 at checkout. Discount by Amazon. Terms  off. Promo code INSTAPAY10 is saved to your account. Discount by Amazon. Terms  
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$19.98","priceAmount":19.98,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"19","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"98","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"36WFiGwPcsiTwDVh7JxhTIW3wn8JTIuOBkeqsPb98hQWqyntimwwtJ0Yha73s6L%2F2GsCfretawEPVyppSvAU%2BU0KgTf58NLU%2B9kAnu7oL7JMBTHnyys6zwpboNH3K6EAFMdMiIVzXvbJdSpUuWhcTN4UgOp2n5XJhNR%2BY0eEbRB0OiD8i9mCwNajO3LjhJwo","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$6.64","priceAmount":6.64,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"6","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"64","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"36WFiGwPcsiTwDVh7JxhTIW3wn8JTIuOoB%2Ff1z6iv5t4eTCWHIKy4fyLe5rM0y1JQBp7jVcgjPU63ZiGehzj9btIez4BtTy9GxLo9Xb2xQmSRAB%2BzUJktsUF%2FR1Mg6f0KxS7nciGc99N3ozuMBu%2BqndKdW3QKHl1b0p8GT34n9nWCUPOB%2F12W97ERllXqY2w","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

  The essential guide to writing clear, concise proposals, reports, manuals, letters, memos, and other documents in every technical field.   Includes a section with examples and text that address the specialized writing problems of systems analysts and software engineers.

Frequently bought together

This item: The Elements of Technical Writing
$19.98
Get it as soon as Tuesday, Jan 28
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by FindAnyBook and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
+
$18.59
Get it as soon as Tuesday, Jan 28
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price: $00
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
spCSRF_Treatment
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Choose items to buy together.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pearson P T R; First Edition (December 19, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0020130856
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0020130857
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 79 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Gary Blake
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Gary Blake was born in Manhattan, grew up in Westchester County and took several degrees at The University of Wisconsin. He earned a doctorate from the City Universoity of New York. For thirty years, Blake has written books and has been the director of The Communication Workshop, which offers writing webinars and seminars across the US. His first book, The Status Book, was published by Doubleday in 1978. Blake has co-authored ten books with Robert W. Bly, inclding the best-selling The Elements of Business Writing (Pearson Education). His new book is titled: A Freudian Slip is When You Say One Thing But Mean Your Mother: 879 Funny, Funny, Hip, and Hilarious Puns (Skyhorse Publishing).

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
79 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2009
    This book manages to pack a lot of material in quite a small bundle!

    Chapters 1-4 outline 50 umbrella rules to good (technical and other) writing. This address issues as wide-ranging as avoiding jargon, using proper hyphenation, and formatting complex mathematical formulas within your writing. It's not just a list -- it spans 4 chapters and includes both explanation and examples! The remaining 5 chapters are dedicated to specific topics such as writing manuals and proposals.

    Throughout, Blake and Bly manage to be both concise and incredibly useful. They provide examples for everything: writing numbers and symbols, revising wordy sentences, and the overuse of "-ize" (with lists of false words, though I disagree with several which have become standard in the language, business, or industry). Showing good writing vs. poor speeds effective learning!

    There are 2 appendices: A) "Writing in the Systems Environment", a short 2-page guide about how systems departments work and how this affects writing, and B) "A Brief Guide to Software for Writers." I found the appendices less useful than the text.

    Personally, I think "The Elements of Technical Writing" is top-notch. However, someone who needs in-depth tutoring in English grammar would not be served well by this book. Some people need a slower intoduction to everything. This book is *not* wordy, but it covers a lot of ground quickly.

    This warning should not be necessary for a college class, but unfortunately, people graduate from high school unable to write as even an eighth-grader should! Professors may consider using this book as a supplement to another -- not because it's inadequate, but because too many students have such low skills. Let the slower book baby them along, and match chapters from this book as reference material.

    For the rest of us, this book reminds us of grammar rules that have gotten fuzzy over time. This is staying on my shelf!
    7 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2019
    I used this book years ago to hone my writing skills in my job. I passed it on to my daughter. I bought another copy to give to a coworker who wanted to improve his writing. It's laid out for easy reference. Best book I've had for technical writing.
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2014
    Great book. Easy to understand and follow. It is laid out in a user friendly manner. It has become my go-to-manual for all my technical writing needs. Even though some of the content is the basics, refreshing my skills has been an easy task with this book.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2005
    In order of size, but not importance, the four books Technical Writers need within easy rolling distance are:

    1. Strunk and White's powerful Elements of Style

    2. Michael Bremer's interesting and motivating Untechnical Writing - How to Write About Technical Subjects and Products So Anyone Can Understand (Untechnical Press Books for Writers Series)

    3. Blake and Bly's Elements of Technical Writing (MacMillan)

    4. Microsoft's Manual of Style for Technical Publications

    I found a number of items are useful for SDK online Help documentation. Blake and Bly state a number of golden rules for Technical Writers, a few of which are useful:

    #3) Numbers should appear in the same form they are familiar to readers

    #4) Hyphenate numbers and unit of measure, such as 32-bytes

    #5) Use singular when 1: .8-bit

    #9) Write out approximations: half a glass of water

    #11) Spell out numbers beginning a sentence

    Center equations (2+2=4) on the page

    #25) Hyphenate words compounded to form an adjective modifier. State-of-the-art technology, for example; the phrase state-of-the-art modifies the meaning of word, technology, following the phrase.

    Hyphenate two adjacent nouns if they express a single idea: air-craft.

    #29) Avoid dangling participles: verbs ending with "ing," when attached to the wrong subject.

    Wrong: Turning over our papers, the exam began.

    Correct: Turning over our papers, we began the exam.

    Omit internal punctuation in acronyms and abbreviations: R.S.V.P

    Acronyms for measurements are in lower case: cm for centimeter.

    Avoid symbols for words: " for inch.

    "that evaluates to" is a common enough phrase in program code documentation, but it is passive (not past tense).

    Use imperative voice: begin sentence with a verb.
    49 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2015
    Not a great book for use as a text book, however very well written and also very good read. If you are just looking to learn and aren't looking for something to do homework with this is a great book.
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2023
    Quality book for an affordable price
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2013
    This is a good desk reference for new technical writers.The content is also very useful to demonstrate better writing style for the benefit of insistently illiterate office colleagues. Affectation and clichés abound among the Philistines, who "utilize" "robust" "verbiage" in "key" "initiatives" in their TPS reports.
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2015
    Standard for anyone who needs to do any form of technical writing. The best thing is that you can refer to this book when people as why you wrote something a certain way. Everyone is a critic, so pointing to this book as a source of authority will help in business meetings

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
  • Noch ein Kunde
    5.0 out of 5 stars Basics
    Reviewed in Germany on December 17, 2019
    Für den Anfänger im technical writing wohl sehr gut geeignet, jedoch wird für den Profi nicht viel Neues dabei sein...
  • Francis Sullivan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2017
    Excellent as expected
  • Dinh Hong
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very concise and useful one
    Reviewed in Canada on October 24, 2013
    The book is concise but completely useful information about technical writing. It also generalise some mistakes as well as words recommended using in technical writing.
  • multitalent
    5.0 out of 5 stars Far better than some of the more expensive writing manuals.
    Reviewed in Japan on June 12, 2005
    I purchased this book because my job requires me to generate technical reports and I am glad that I bought it. Before this book, I was using a very expensive technical writing manual that was too thick to carry around with me, but The Element of Technical Writing is quite different. The book is less than 200 pages long and it is very light. Don’t underestimate this book simply because of its minuscule size. The book is far more useful than some of the other expensive manuals on the market.
  • ty
    5.0 out of 5 stars おすすめです。
    Reviewed in Japan on August 22, 2018
    共通ルールについての本なので、日本語で書かれているテクニカルライティングのルールについての本と、当然内容に大差はありませんが、興味深い記述がたくさんあり、読んでいて楽しいです。例えば、文の先頭の数字はスペルアウトしなければならない、というのはよく知られていることだと思いますが、ではそれが何故なのか、どういう感覚からなのか、と聞かれて答えられる人は少ないのではないでしょうか。使われている英語も平易なもので、スラスラ読めるので、おすすめです。