Traditional Definition of Technical Writing

The traditional definition of technical writing is:

Technical writing is the practice of documenting processes, such as software manuals or

instructional materials. Traditionally, it was limited to user manuals of some sort.

Frankly, this definition has become outdated. Technology moves quickly, and lexicographers are
often left playing catch up.

New Definition of Technical Writing

Today technical writing encompasses all documentation of complex technical processes. It includes
reports, executive summary statements, briefs. Any time technical information is conveyed in writing
at work, it is, by definition, technical writing.

This can include high-tech manufacturing, engineering, biotech, energy, aerospace, finance, IT, and
global supply chain.

The format is no longer bound to lengthy user manuals. Technical information must be distilled and
presented unambiguously. This can come in the form of technical reports, emails, policy, briefs, and
press releases.

The bottom line is if you work in a technical field you are most likely performing technical writing.

https://www.instructionalsolutions.com/blog/what-is-technical-writing

https://prezi.com/av2361enmyfw/the-purpose-and-uses-of-technical-writing/

Characteristics of Technical Writing

Technical writing, just as any other form of writing, has certain characteristics which
distinguish it from other types of writing. It is very different from writing opinion pieces,
essays, prose, non-fiction or fiction.
 It is clear and straight forward. If you are interested in technical writing for professional
purposes, it is very important to know that this type of writing requires that the writer
stick to the subject matter and relay information in a clear and concise manner.
 The language is very direct and straight to the point. The writing will avoid words that
people do not understand and will avoid an eloquent writing style.
 It is very detailed and informative. The perfect example of technical writing is a
textbook. The written content of most textbooks is geared to providing information by
describing the subject matter as fully as possible.
 It is very structured. This type of writing has a very obvious composition that makes it
easy for the reader to follow along. Solid structure is needed with technical writing as it
allows the audience to easily access the information as needed.
https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/characteristics-of-technical-writing.html
The Principles of Technical Writing

Well-written and accurate documentation plays a major role in any company’s customer support
strategy because it helps to reduce support costs. Technical writing plays a big part in the support
equation.

Technical writing is much more than just technical jargon, and structured, concise instructions. As the
intended audience for the technical writing could be for both technical and not-technical people it must
to convey its message so that both sets of people understand it.

The main purpose of a technical writer when approaching

a new technical writing project is to ensure that they maintain focused on what they are writing about.
The information they are producing has to be organized and structured within the laid down style that
is appropriate for the intended audience. By sticking to the basic principles of technical writing the
technical writer is ensuring that the documentation is clearly understood by the reader.

The following is the six basic principles of technical writing that a technical writer has to take in to
consideration.

Content
There are five basic questions a technical writer has to ask themselves when starting a new project –
who, why, what, how and when. Answering these questions will allow the technical writer to be able to
develop the content for any type of technical documentation. For example, let’s say the technical
writer has to create a user guide for a new video recorder. Before creating the user guide, they will
have to plan the content of the user guide by applying following key questions to the situation:

1. Who will read the user guide?

2. Why do need to create the user guide?
3. What is this user guide going to offer its intended audience?
4. How is the user guide going to be delivered?
5. When does the user guide have to be ready (publishing date)?

The audience and purpose of the documentation

Before beginning any new writing project, the technical writer has to analyze the intended audience
and identify the purpose for the document. The technical writer will need to ask the following
questions about the audience:

1. Who will read the documentation?

2. What are their biases?
3. What responsibilities does the technical writer have when communicating the information to
the audience?

With regard to the purpose of the documentation, technical writer will need to know what the
documentation will accomplish and also what should it do.

Styleguide
Technical writers will more than likely use a company styleguide (if there is one) to ensure that their
documentation has a structured and organized pattern so that it gives consistency to their writing. A
styleguide will provide the document with continuity so that the audience can comprehend the
information. For example, technical writers need to organise their ideas in a specific chronological
format because without a specific layout and structure to the documentation it will be very confusing
for the reader to understand.

Writing Style
Technical writers will need to change their writing style depending on the audience and situation they
are writing about. If they are writing technical documentation then it needs to be formal and devoid of
any emotion as you get with creative writing. Whereas, if say they were an email to one of the senior
managers involved in the project then their approach would more casual than formal.

Accessing the information

Accessibility applies to the ease at which the intended audience can gain access to the information
they need from the technical documentation. A technical document must at least contain a table of
contents, headers and footers, list of illustrations/tables, page numbers, etc.

Also a technical document must adhere to a specific heading and sub heading structure to break down
the information into relevant areas that the reader can access easily.

Grammar
A technical writer must adhere to all the rules of conventional grammar. Also it is the technical writer’s
responsibility to proofread and edit their documentation to detect and correct any errors in the writing,
graphics, typography and layout.

In summarising, a technical writer must ensure that they incorporate the above mentioned principles
into their everyday writing style. This will go a long to make them not only a better writer but
their technical documentation will be appreciated by both their peers and readers alike.

http://mooreti.com/the-principles-of-technical-writing.html
Properties of Technical Writing
Accuracy
One of the essential characteristics of technical writing is maintaining accuracy. If you are writing a
review of a newly launched Nokia mobile phone and you miss on one important detail, this will
convey the customers that there is nothing special about this product and they would buy another
mobile phone instead. Technical writing requires that the information you provide is based on
accuracy and quality content.

Clarity
Write the technical document in a layman’s tone so that the customers who are not really techie fans
are also able to understand what the product is all about. Try cutting down on the use of jargons
because again, this is going to confuse the customers. Keep your language and expression simple
and meaningful. Use of complicated words may put the readers in a quandary.

Descriptiveness
Be as descriptive in distinguishing the technical product as you can. More than half of the customers
come from a non technical background and they need to have sufficient details otherwise they will
not be able to picture the product correctly. If you are creating a manual for an electronic product
which explains how to operate it, make sure you cover every aspect of its functioning.

Correctness
Technical writing requires that you use correct grammar and sentence structure. Write down the key
features in the form of headings, sub headings or bullet points as this will make the manual easy for
the customers to read.

https://www.sotechworks.com/2017/04/23/what-are-the-properties-of-technical-writing/

4 Techniques of Technical Writing

FOUR TECHNIQUES IN TECHNICAL WRITING

Four techniques are of special importance in technical writing: DEFINITION, DESCRIPTION OF

MECHANISM, DESCRIPTION OF A PROCESS, and CLASSIFICATION. These techniques are not types of
reports and it is important to remember that these techniques usually appear in a single report. It would
be exceptional to find an entire report, even a short one, only one of these techniques. For example,
two containing or more techniques might be closely interwoven as a writer described the design,
construction, and operation of a mechanism. The intermingling of these techniques, however, does not
alter the basic principles of their use. These techniques can be studied most effectively by taking one
technique at a time.

1.Definition
In technology, words have precise, specific meanings; therefore there is a need for defining a technical
term clearly. The extent to which a term should be defined or the length of a definition depends on the
writer's purpose and the knowledge level of the reader.

Before going to the problem of "how to define", it is better to "think about what should be defined
first." It is not possible of course, to set up an absolute list of terms and ideas that would require
definition, not even for a specific body of readers, but it is possible and desirable to clarify the point of
view from which the problem of definition should be attacked.

The relationships of words to the ideas and things for which they stand can become very complex.
However, there is a simple and helpful way of classifying words, as they will appear to your reader. The
words will fall into one of the following categories:

1. Familiar words for familiar things

2. Familiar words for unfamiliar things

3. Unfamiliar words for familiar things

4. Unfamiliar words for unfamiliar things

2.Description of a Mechanism

A mechanism is generally defined as any object or system that has a working part or parts. Most often
the term suggests tools, instruments, and machines. But other examples of mechanisms could be the
human body and systems like the universe or a city, which is composed of parts that work together like
parts of a machine. A technical man constantly works with mechanisms and always needs to understand
them; what they do, what they look like, what parts they have, and how these parts work together.

There are three fundamental divisions of the description and these are the introduction, the part-by-
part description, and the conclusion.

Because the description of a mechanism seldom constitutes an article or report by itself, the
introduction required is usually rather simple. The two elements that need most careful attention are:

1. the initial presentation of the mechanism

2. the organization of the description

3.Description of a Process

A process is a series of actions, and fundamentally the description of a process is the description of
action. The action may be either one of two types. One type is that in which attention is focused on the
performance of a human being, or possibly a group of human beings. A simple example is filing a
workpiece by hand; in a description of this process, emphasis would fall naturally upon the human skills
required. The other type involves action in which a human operator either is not directly concerned at
all, or inconspicuous. An instance is the functioning of a contactor.

In describing almost any process, regardless of types there are problems that usually arises and these
are:

1. adaptation of the description to the reader

2. overall organization

3. use of illustrations

4.Classification - Classification is the orderly, systematic arrangement of related things in accordance

with a governing principle or basis. The classifier notes the structural and functional relationships among
things that constitute a class. In recording this relationships, the classifier employs certain conventional
terms. Acquaintance with these convenient terms will make the rest easy to follow

http://ramskytechnique.blogspot.com/

Qualities a Technical Writer Needs To Have

Writing style can vary on the basis of requirements. Usually, form of writing can be categorized into
different sections business writing, creative writing, technical writing and many more. In this article we
will discuss about some of the aspects regarding technical writing. Though objective of most of the
writers is almost similar, the approach differs with need.

image: https://cdn.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/qualities-a-technical-
writer-needs-to-have.jpg

Technical writing is basically a specialized form of writing, which is more popular in the field of software,
computer hardware, engineering, consumer electronics, chemistry, robotics, aerospace, finance and
biotechnology. Most of the time, technical contents are exclusively written targeting the technical
people. This is why; a technical writer needs to be expert in the domain, on which he is writing on. Or
else, a little carelessness may hamper your image as a writer.

Some of the skills that you need to brush up before starting your career as a technical writer are
mentioned below:

Solid Writing Capability

If you really want to succeed as a technical writer you should be skilled in information architecture and
design, typography, training material development, illustration etc. A good writer should always show
his expertise in writing technical documents and reports.

Training

Usually to become a content writer you need to have a Technical Writing Certification or at least
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree on Computer Science, Creative Writing, English, Journalism, Chemistry or
Engineering.

Language Skills

You should be able to convey your message in short. The more precise your content the more people
will consider it to be an effective one. Sometimes, technical contents are meant for non-technical
people. In that case the writer must try to understand what the people are looking for and which
approach will best suit their purpose.

Teaching Skills

A good writer must have the ability to teach and lead the readers. Thus, through their write-up they
should make them understand what you are trying to say.

Concentration Ability

While writing you should always concentrate or else, the writing flow may get disturbed.

Interpersonal Skills

Technical writers need to interact with different people like, editors, project managers, web designers,
graphic designers, clients, subject matter experts, engineers, photographers, accountants, programmers
as well as marketers. This is why; they should have good communicating skill.
Take Criticism Lightly

Never react rudely if someone criticizes you. Sometimes, clients and editors may give negative feedback
but take it lightly. Often they may ask you to rewrite and force you to write according to their
instructions. But try to avoid opposing them.

Professionalism

While working they should maintain professionalism and should handle the occupational hazards with
dignity.

Experienced

The more you will work, the more you will acquire knowledge from the relevant domain and you will get
accustomed with different terminologies.

So, scan through all those points and try to become a good technical writer.

https://www.business2community.com/strategy/qualities-a-technical-writer-needs-to-have-074395

Qualities of a Good Technical Report

Technical writing is an important part of everyone's career. Writing well is difficult and time
consuming and writing in a technical way about technical subjects even makes it more
difficult. People write to propose projects, to document their own actions, to help other
understand the research, to analyze and solve problems, to describe procedures and objects.
If done well, technical writing is an exciting, fulfilling experience but if done poorly, it is
frustrating, even harmful to career development. Technicality in writing is based upon the
following points

There are six basic properties of Technical writing:

1. Clarity
2. Accuracy
 3. Comprehensiveness
4. Accessibility
5. Conciseness
6. Correctness

1. Clarity
Technical document must convey a single meaning that the reader can understand. Unclear
Technical writing is expensive. They vital communication link among the various employees
is usually the report, if this link is weak, the entire project may be jeopardized.
Unclear technical writing can be dangerous e.g. unclear instruction on how to operate
machinery.

2. Accuracy
Unclear writing can cause many problems and even inaccuracy in the report. If you mean to
write 40,000 don’t write 400,000. If you mean to refer to fig 3.1 don’t refer to fig 3.2. Slightest
error can confuse or even annoy the reader of the report. If the reader suspects that you are
slanting information they have the right to doubt the entire document.

3. Comprehensiveness:
When writing technically, all the information should be provided, its background must be
described and clear description of any process, or method of carrying out a specific work,
should also be given. It also includes results, conclusions and recommendations.

4. Accessibility:
It means the ease with which the readers can locate the information they seek. To increase
Accessibility, include headings and lists in the report. A table of contents, list of illustrations
glossary and index are preferred.

5. Conciseness:
Technical writing is meant to be useful. The longer a document is, the more difficult it gets
to use it. Even it takes more of the user's time. Conciseness works against clarity and
comprehensiveness. Solution to this conflict is to create a balance between the
requirements of clarity, conciseness and comprehensiveness. In short, in T.W every aspect
of the subject is discussed in optimized detail. Document must be long enough to be clear. It
must give the audience purpose and object but no extra details. Technical writing can be
shortened 10-20% by eliminating unnecessary phrases and choosing short words and
sentences.
6. Correctness
Qualities of technical report writing also includes correctnes. Good technical report must
also be correct. It. Must be free from grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, and should
have appropriate format standard. If a report contains grammatical errors, the reader will
doubt the accuracy of the information in the report. Technical writing is meant to convey
information and to persuade the audience. To accomplish these goals it must be clear
auccurate, easy to access and must be economical and correct. If you mean to write "the three
persons: person 1, person 2 and person 3 attended a session" but you use commas instead
of the colon, your readers might think 6 people attended the session, not 3.

https://www.aboutcivil.org/characteristics-of-technical-report-writing.html