Technical writing is a special form of text communication: that is, written communication in the workplace, especially in areas with specialized vocabulary such as science, engineering, technology, and health sciences. In this article, you are going to learn:
- What makes technical writing unique?
- How do you approach technical writing?
- What are examples of technical writing?
- What are the tips to help you succeed?
Let’s begin with the basics.
What is technical writing?
The Society for Technical Communication (STC) offers this definition of technical writing: “The process of gathering information from experts and presenting it to an audience in a clear, easy-to-understand form.”
This can take the form of operating instructions for software users or detailed specifications for an engineering project – and in the form of countless other spellings in the fields of technology, medicine, and science.
In an influential article published in 1965, Webster Earl Britton concluded that the essential characteristic of technical writing “is the author’s effort to convey one meaning and only one meaning in what he says”.
Mike Markel notes in Technical Communication, “The biggest difference between technical communication and the other types of writing you’ve done is that technical communication has a slightly different focus on audience and purpose.”
The “Handbook of Technical Writing” describes the goal of the craft in this way: “The goal of technical writing. Is to enable readers to use technology, or understand a process or concept. Because matter is a subject matter more important than the writer’s voice, technical writing style uses an objective, not a subjective, tone. The writing style is direct and functional, emphasizing accuracy and clarity rather than elegance or allusion. A technical writer uses imagery only when a phrase would make it easier to understand. ”
Features of technical writing
- Purpose: Get something done in an organization (complete a project, convince a client, please your boss, etc.)
- Your knowledge of the subject: Usually greater than that of the reader.
- Target group: Often several people with different technical backgrounds.
- Evaluation criteria: Clear and simple organization of ideas in a format that meets the needs of busy readers.
- Statistical and graphical support: Often used to explain existing conditions and to present alternative approaches.
Technical writing is very different from all other forms of writing. It is not enough to put your own thoughts on paper or on the keyboard to type. Instead, you need to present technical information in a factually correct manner and always strictly adhere to the external shape.
That makes the writing process extremely challenging. Nobody masters this intuitively and it is not something you can do on the side he learns. In any case, detailed instructions that cover all steps of the technical issue are required.
Technical Writing in Business
Technical writing is the art of writing instructions or process documentation. The material should not be creative or entertaining, but rather give the reader clear and concise information. Technical writing is an important skill for instructional designers (IDs) as a large part of their job is to convey information to learners in a way that is easy to understand and use.
Technical Writing Courses
People can study technical writing in a college or technical school, although a student does not need to obtain a full degree in the field for the skill to be useful for their job.
Technical employees who have good communication skills can learn on the job through feedback from their team members working on projects and supplement their work experience with occasional targeted courses to develop their skills.
Knowledge of the subject area and its specialist vocabulary is the most important piece for technical writers, just like in other niche writing areas, and can demand a paid premium over generalists.
Technical Writing Examples
So technical writing is much more than the drafting of a computer scientist. In almost all technical, scientific and academic fields, the tools to write good specialist texts are a basic requirement. And also in everyday working life, the handling of texts and documents of almost any kind is increasingly a prerequisite. Among the examples of technical writing are:
- Academic work: In academic training, you have to constantly create minor and make larger documents. The requirements for homework and seminar papers are already high. But at the latest for the master’s, diploma, bachelor’s, or master’s thesis, you have to work extremely correctly. In the case of a dissertation, the requirements are a whole lot higher.
- Documentation: Especially in research, development, and production, all processes must be precisely documented. Either the employees have to do this do it yourself or this task is entrusted to a professional writer – such as a technical writer. In addition to correct documentation, dealing with standards and guidelines are very important.
- User manuals: In order for a user to be able to use a device, machine, software, or any other product, he needs a user manual. Such operating instructions must be tailored precisely to the specific user group and introduced step by step into the product. There are also numerous attachments such as technical data, safety instructions, liability conditions, etc.
- Reference books: Reference books represent a special form of documentation. You go significantly further than a conventional operating manual, but still, have to be tight to stay with the topic and the product presented. The mixture must be between
helpful instructions, interesting textbooks, and easy-to-read text. The whole thing has to be technically correct and tailored precisely to the readership. - Technical articles: It doesn’t have to be a whole book. Specialist articles on a specific topic are published in newspapers and magazines. Here, too, very similar requirements apply as for all other technical and specialist documents. The only difference is that you write much shorter and more focused have to.
- Other documents: In everyday working life there are many other documents that are planned and need to be created. These can be presentations, minutes of a meeting, table templates for workshops, work documentation, and much more.
Technical Writing Tips
Each of us has already read a user manual, an assembly manual, or a product tutorial. Most likely, this was content created by an author who specializes in technical texts. Let’s take a look at a few handy tips you can use for your next technical writing project.
1. Focus on the tasks
To make sure that your text is easy to understand and action-oriented, focus on tasks. As a technical writer, you are probably familiar with task analysis – this type of analysis is a technical writer’s “best friend”.
2. Use an active and neutral language
Technical guides are usually neutral in tone and focus on active verbs rather than passive verbs. Active verbs are clearer and more precise and lead to shorter and more concise sentences.
Instead of writing:
Next, the comment field should be clicked and the comments should be inserted.
Write:
Click in the Comments field. Insert your comment.
See how much more straightforward the second example is? I’ve also broken it up into two shorter sentences, each starting with an instruction.
Another important point to keep your content-neutral is not to mention specific people in your copy.
Instead of writing:
Forward the email to John Doe from the marketing department.
You should write:
Forward the email to the marketing manager.
This ensures that your texts do not quickly become out of date if, for example, Ms. Meier leaves the company or changes departments within the organization.
3. Write clearly and get to the point
To make sure your technical content is easy to understand and use, write as clearly and concisely as possible.
Eliminate unnecessary, descriptive, or subjective words. For example, filler words such as actually, apparently, corresponding, etc. can be omitted. The writing laboratory has published a list of avoidable filler words and offers a filler word test in which you can enter your text and the filler words are marked in red.
Be just enough and detailed in your letter that there are no unanswered questions.
4. Use visual aids
We all know the saying: a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes it can be difficult to explain a concept or idea in words. In this case, a graph, photo, diagram, or another type of image can help convey the information.
Be careful about how many and which images you use as they could become out of date (especially screenshots of software systems or applications) and potentially require more maintenance.
5. Format your text
Formatting has a huge impact on the legibility of your written materials. Use headings, bullets, tables, and appropriate spacing to make it easier for learners to scan your materials and find what they need. Before you publish your content, you should therefore double-check how you can format your text so that it appears better organized and structured.
Conclusion
Remember: as a technical writing expert, the goal is to keep your instructions as clear and simple as possible. And these are just a few of the tips you can follow to improve your technical writing skills. Do you have any tips of your own to share? If so, please leave a comment!