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Technical Writing
Technical writing is a type of genre that you see on a daily basis, such as food labels, directions on the back of products, nutrition benefits, junk mail, etc.
The term technical refers to a specific subject, art, craft, or its techniques. It's the knowledge that is known by experts or specialists. Think about when you go to college or trade school; you will be specializing in a particular field. When you write about your field, you are engaging in technical writing.
The purpose of technical writing is to inform or to instruct. Technical writing helps others solve problems or provides additional information about a specific topic. Examples include instruction manuals, recipes, memos, letters, reports, how-to guides, resumes, web pages. Technical writing uses examples, anecdotes, testimony, data, and research. People read technical writing so they are able to accomplish a specific task, such as writing a grant or reformatting a computer.
The information is organized and formatted specifically to meet the product's needs. The writing provides information to help readers either solve a problem or gain a better understanding. The audience is different from any other kind of writing because it serves a specific purpose. Technical writing is intended to communicate to a specific audience about a specific topic. The audience does not have the time or the interest to read at length on the topic.
Traits
Traits of technical writing:
1. Technical writing must have clarity. For the reader to easily understand the material, the writer should avoid jargon vocabulary specific to a place of work or specialized trade . Your audience may not know all of the abbreviations to the specialized field, so it helps to define any unfamiliar terms.
Look at the set of directions for Windows XP.
What do you notice about the instructions?
2. Technical writing should be concise. The information is to educate others about a certain task. Effective technical writing uses short words and sentences with a clear meaning. Writers should avoid passive voice because the verbs are weak and the sentences tend to be wordier than active voice. Review active and passive voice . Use transitions to connect one idea to the next.
Read a sample business correspondence. What message did the author send to the readers?
3. Technical writing is geared to a specific audience. Your audience will be in one of three areas:
- knows as much as you do about the subject matter,
- knows little about the subject matter, or
- knows nothing about the subject matter. Before you begin writing, identify your audience and their expectations for the writing.
| You may be a doctor writing a medical record for other doctors. | You may be a doctor writing a medical record for a nurse to read. | You may be a doctor writing a medical record for a patient to read. |
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Vocabulary increases or decreases depending on your audience. For example, if you are writing to a group of peers who know the same as you, you may use acronyms and / or abbreviations without having to define the words. However, if the audience is not on your level, you would not assume that they knew that AAA means abdominal aortic aneurysm or SOAP means Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan.
4. Technical writing must be 100% accurate. There is no room for errors in technical writing. Mistakes make the company, employee, etc. look bad. If you are writing a how-to manual, errors can also result in injuries as well as lawsuits. Make sure you use spell check and use peer editors. If you are writing about a process, complete the steps yourself to ensure all are there and correct.
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