If you can’t explain it simply, You don’t understand it well enough

- Albert Einstein

Technical writing is used to inform, instruct, or direct a specific audience through maximum
clarity and precision with a specific tangible goal in mind.

Purposes/Objectives of Technical Writing

1. Inform
2. Instruct
3. Direct
And sometimes,
4. Persuade (newsletter about a charity)

Technical writing is often used in a technology-centered field, but not always.

It is sometimes referred to as business writing because it is used in a variety of businesses and

disciplines.

Types of Technical Writing

 Lab reports: Lab reports are written to describe and analyse a laboratory experiment that
explores a scientific concept.
 Manuals: A user guide, also commonly called a technical communication document
or manual, is intended to give assistance to people using a particular system. User guides
are most commonly associated with electronic goods, computer hardware and software,
although they can be written for any product.
 Handbooks/training materials: A handbook is a type of reference work, or other
collection of instructions, that is intended to provide ready reference.
 Forms and surveys
 Government laws/enactments
 Proposals: As a form of persuasive writing, a proposal attempts to convince the recipient
to act in accordance with the writer's intent and at the same time, it outlines the writer's
goals and methods.
 Contracts or guidelines: A guideline is a statement by which to determine a course of
action. A guideline aims to streamline particular processes according to a set routine or
sound practice.[1] Guidelines may be issued by and used by any organization
(governmental or private) to make the actions of its employees or divisions more
predictable, and presumably of higher quality. A guideline is similar to a rule.
  Job application materials
 Instruction: One of the most common and one of the most important uses of technical
writing is instructions—those step-by-step explanations of how to do things: assemble
something, operate something, repair something, or do routine maintenance on
something.

 How to tutorial
 Training manuals
 Job descriptions
 Webpages
 White paper: A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a
complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to
help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision.
 Addendum: An addendum is an attachment to a contract that modifies the terms and
conditions of the original contract. Addendums are used to efficiently update the terms or
conditions of many types of contracts. The function of an addendum is to modify, clarify,
or nullify a portion of the original document, which could be as simple as extending the
dates for which the contract is valid or as complex as redefining the payment schedules
and deliverables.

Similarities Between Technical Writing and other Writing

 Writing process: prewriting- writing- rewriting

 Time and effort
 Strong language skills
 Research
 Rules (strong knowledge on the topic, writing conventions, style guides)

Grammar and punctuation are more important in technical writing than other writing. For
example if we don’t use a comma, or a word or if we place it in the wrong slot, there is high
chance for reader to be confused.

Differences Between Technical Writing and other Writing

 Audience: Highly specific. Usually professionals in a field with a specific role or

users of a product or service. Often only accessible to those intended.
 Presentation: simple and clear organization. Favors visual accessibility and clarity
over flow and transitions.
 Visuals: graphics are encouraged and commonly used to better explain the
information.
  Knowledge: you are the expert and do not need to prove your reliability or
knowledge.
 Information: objective. 100% factual, true and accurate. Never ambiguous. Emotion
or opinion is strongly discouraged.
 Language: language is based on who is the audience.
 Tone: formal, specific, precise, direct, clear, straightforward. Void of opinion and
originality.
 Examples: not common, but may be included (concisely) when necessary for better
understanding.

Rules for Effective Technical Writing

 Remember the purpose of writing (informing, instructing, proposing, or

persuading?). We need to organize the writing according to the purpose.
 Understand the audience: concerns, background, and attitude toward your
purpose. Existing , experienced, or novice users. Will the content be online or
printed? Technical writing is more audience specific than anything.
 Know the topic or product and its particular requirements: Deep understanding on
what are we writing about. All data must be accurate, relevant and up-to-date.
 Be consistent: use a style sheet, same words, same punctuations, etc.
inconsistency in writing can confuse readers.
 Write precisely: concise writing enhances understanding by avoiding information
that does not directly further the intended goal. Keep sentences short.
 Write clearly: information is as clear as possible with no ambiguities, potential
misinterpretations or questions.
 Visuals: use visuals effectively, to support what we are writing, not just to have a
visual. Content design and page design are important. These have to be carefully
crafted.

What to Avoid in Technical Writing?

 Passive voice: not generally used. But sometimes it’s needed.

 Figurative language: use it only when it facilitated understanding of the
concept or instruction. When using figurative language, make sure it’s
familiar to all of the audience.

What else Makes a Good Technical Document

 Comprehensiveness: No important information is left out and the product can be used
without any other resources.
 Emphasize important points.
 Facility: make it easy to locate the information (signposts, headings, etc)
  Quality: grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, word choice, jargon and
field-specific conventions are used correctly.
 Confidence: decisiveness and assertion put the reader at ease and increase their trust and
productivity.

Content Design

 Italics
 Bold
 Underlining
 Bullets/numbering
 Colors
 Definitions

Page Design

 Margins
 Spacing
 Font size
 Font style
 Alignment
 Boxes/lines
 Footnotes/endnotes
 Placement of graphics
 White space.

Stages of Technical Writing

1. Pre-writing
2. Drafting
3. Revision and editing

Pre-writing

Prewriting is the process of gathering information on a subject and planning out what our
communication will say and look like. Prewriting is the roadmap for our documents. We must
establish our purpose, identify our audience, and plan out our message.

Laying out a plan will help ensure that we effectively communicate our message and that our
target audience is able to easily understand and apply the information. During the prewriting
phase, consider following these steps to help map out a plan for your communication:

1. Establish your purpose

 2. Identify your audience
3. Gather your information
4. Plan your message

Drafting/writing

As we finished the pre-writing stage, we have a clear idea of what to write in the document. In
this stage we have to mind the rules/guidelines we have mentioned before. Word choice is
important in this stage.

Rewriting/Revision and Editing

In this stage we need to revise what we have written. Make changes according to the rules,
guidelines and style sheets. Give thorough look for grammatical, factual and other kinds of
errors.

Publication

If the content is ready to go after the revision and editing, we can move to the publishing stage.
In this stage, we have to decide the format of publishing (online or print?) content design and
page design.

References

Writing centre

Investopedia

Study.com