Good Style: Writing for Science and Technology (Paperback)

Unlike many style guides, Good Style is not a set of standards to follow when writing for a particular journal or paper, such as The Economist Style Guide or The ACS Style Guide (American Chemical Society). So the book does not contain lists of conventional writing procedures for set publications, but gives advice to authors about the styles of writing they can employ, depending on the purpose of their communication. The book is concerned with the style that readers of technical text prefer, as opposed to what has been traditionally imposed on many authors.

Preferences that readers have for one style over another are based on the results of four surveys John Kirkman conducted: the first three on text from technical reports or papers and the fourth on text from a technical manual.

Participants in the surveys were asked to read samples of the same text written in six different styles, and then to evaluate which style they preferred. The first three appendices contain the text used from the technical reports and papers, and the fifth contains the text from a technical manual. The fourth and sixth appendices include the results of the surveys, feedback from the readers, and an assessment by John Kirkman of readers' preferences. The surveys are integral to the book and are referred to by John Kirkman to emphasise points, especially if the points contradict traditional editorial policies.

Chapter 7 is aimed at those who write for an international audience, and highlights the difficulties of writing for a reader not sharing the writer's native tongue. Kirkman's main message is the importance of considering the level of understanding your audience may have of your native language and then writing with an emphatic awareness of their particular wants or needs. He also considers the need for accepting restrictions on language and using controlled English.

For those who are writing text to accompany computer products, this book will be particularly useful because a lot of the material specifically aimed at them.
Good Style is a comprehensive book that effectively explains what style is, and contains lots of examples throughout to illustrate exactly what constitutes a good or bad style of writing.

Following his own advice, John Kirkman has written a book containing plain language and using sentence structures that assist the explanations of his various concerns making them easier to follow. The book is aimed at a wide audience, from experienced writers with specialist knowledge of a subject, to those who may just be starting a career in technical writing.

In a world where language and technology are always changing, everyone will find this book has a purpose: to guide the inexperienced, to refresh those familiar with what style is (but who have not given much thought to their own for some time), or to inform both about new attitudes to style. For the full review, see the ISTC website.