These hints are taken from a variety of sources on the internet, and
represent my opinion and advice about how to go about writing a short
technical report. Please adhere to them when writing your report for
Network Security.
How to write your report
First write an outline
Sketch out the major sections of the paper, and what points you
want to make in each. Use short bullet points. If you write any
complete sentences during this phase, you're getting mired in detail
already.
Refine your outline to include subsections, and possibly further
structure within subsections. Keep to bullet points.
You will probably have a first section called "Introduction", and
a last one called "Conclusions". It is best to put in the bullet points
representing
what you think you will say in the introduction after you have done the
other sections. It should explain in
high level terms the issue that your paper addresses. If your paper
represents original research, the introduction will also summarise
other work which addresses the issue, and how your contribution
compares with that. The introduction will also explain your ideas in
abstract terms. You can ignore the conclusions for now.
Writing the paper
Start from the outline.
Make the outline reflect the level of subsections: for each
subsection, write no more than two lines describing the
purpose/goal of that subsection. This text will not be part of the
final paper - it is only there to remind you what you are trying to
accomplish. It is essentialto be able to capture the purpose
of a subsection in one or two lines. If you cannot do this, then you
probably don't understand what the subsection is really about, and when
you try to write the text, it will be jumbled.
Then, for each subsection, map out specific paragraphs: for each
paragraph, write one sentence that explains the topic or main
goal of just that paragraph. Again, this sentence probably will
not make it into the actual text. It's important to keep it to one
sentence. (Every well-formed paragraph does indeed have one
sentence that explains the point of the paragraph, with the other
sentences merely supporting or expanding on it.)
Read through everything you have written and see if it has a
logical flow, ie if you believe it represents your work adequately.
Give what you have written to a technical colleague completely
unfamiliar with your work (but able to understand the computer
science part), have them read it, then have them tell you (without
looking at it) what s/he thinks the main point and contributions are.
If all goes well, replace the topic sentences with complete
paragraphs.
Write the introduction and the conclusions last.
The conclusions section should recap on the main points made in the
paper, ideally in bullet form. It can also summarise any open issues.
This is an iterative process. Your section organisation is likely to
change several times. This is fine; it means you're understanding what
presentation order works best. If you don't go through at least three
or four major revisions (where you move around or chop entire
sections), there is probably something wrong.
Writing Style
Write clearly and concisely. Question each word -- is that the
right word to use here? Is it needed? Omit needless words. Can I make
that sentence more precise, and less ambiguous, by re-ordering the
words, or using different words?
Use correct spelling and grammar. It shows you care. If you do
not care, why should anyone read your work?
Avoid slang, humour, and a chatty style. Don't address the
reader (with words like "you").
Spend time tersifying. Every sentence should say exactly what it
means to say.