Revising Paragraphs for Clarity and Coherence

Engineers must at all costs avoid confusion and vagueness in their writing, because unclear writing can lead to costly, even disastrous, mistakes. Ultimately, writing clearly means paying attention to details like paragraphs and sentences. Paragraphs are the main organizational unit for writing, and readers tend to skim paragraphs to find main ideas. As a result, paragraphs need to be well structured so that main ideas appear early, in topic sentences, and all details in the paragraph support the key point. Similarly, sentences need to be well structured so that readers can easily find key points and act correctly on the information presented. In addition, engineers must write concisely, not only because readers are busy and want to get the information quickly, but because wordiness can obscure meaning and, as with vagueness, lead to mistakes. This kind of writing is like detailed design in the design process, getting down to a level of precision and accuracy that may not be present in earlier stages.