An Overview of Technical Writing
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this chapter are to
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Explain how technical writing differs from academic writing.
Explain the key elements of technical writing.
Explain the role that communication plays within an organization.
Explain the importance of good communication skills.
Identify the foundations of technical writing.
Identify the qualities of good technical writing.
TEACHING STRATEGIES
The point of this initial chapter of Reporting Technical Information is to ensure that
students understand what technical writing is and to dispel any misapprehensions they
may have about it or the course. The chapter also establishes goals for the rest of the
textbook (See the section on issues for teaching technical writing in the introduction to
this instructor’s manual for further discussion of these global or first-day concerns.).
On the first full class meeting of your technical writing course, consider doing some
combination of the following:
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Define technical writing (for other resources on technical writing, see the
“Connecting with the Profession” section on page 17 of this instructor’s manual).
Show how technical writing is important to professionals in a wide range of
fields.
Show students some samples of technical writing.
Explore the meaning of the term technical to indicate the broad application of
technical writing.
Find out who your students are, what their majors are, and what special skills or
knowledge they have. (See page 2 in this instructor’s manual for an informal
review of the types of students whom you may encounter in your technical
writing class.)
Discuss the importance of good communication skills to the careers of collegeeducated professionals.
Present your course plan, objectives, schedule, and policies. Show how these
integrate with technical communication and with your students’ own majors and
careers.
Discuss the benefits of taking a technical writing course.
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WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES
Here are some ideas for things to do in class to help students learn about technical writing
and get ready for the semester.
Traditional Classroom
1. Discuss writing done by professionals. Get your class to describe the kinds of
writing they know that people in their professions do. This can be a risky enterprise if
your students are naive about what professionals do and how much writing is
involved in their regular work. (It can also be risky if they enter your course resistant
to the notion that professionals in their line of work do any writing at all.) If you plan
to conduct a discussion like this, you might ask students to be thinking about this
issue until a subsequent class meeting and even suggest that they make a few phone
calls.
2. Pass around samples of technical writing. It’s a good idea to hand out a sampling
of technical writing in the first week. This will give students a solid idea as to what
they are aiming for. Technical writing courses are typically writing-intensive courses;
it’s also a good idea to hand out complete portfolios of the typical writing
assignments that students do in this course.
3. Identify the characteristics of technical writing in those samples. Show the point
summary of the qualities of good technical writing found on page 9 of the textbook,
and have students identify those characteristics in the samples of technical writing
that you hand out. Encourage them to think of additional characteristics not listed in
the book.
4. Explore the range of “technical” knowledge your students already have. Some of
your students will assume that they know nothing—and in particular nothing
technical. It’s a good idea to explore the definition of “technical,” in the sense of
specialized knowledge within any field, not just electronics or computers.
Computer Classroom
1. Have students search the Internet for documents they think reflect technical
writing. Innumerable examples of actual technical writing, from proposals to
quarterly reports to feasibility and planning studies, are available online. Have student
pairs find an example of technical writing from their field(s) and prepare to discuss
two or three elements of the example that qualify it as “technical.” As the instructor,
be open-minded about what document types qualify as technical since the Web offers
such a wide variety of writing. Stick closely to the characteristics of technical writing
discussed in this chapter, and ask the opinions of others in the class if you’re
undecided.
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2. Select a series of Web sites or sample documents from the Companion Web Site
(www.oup.com/us/houp), and have students examine those and prepare to
discuss them as technical communication. This activity is a more controlled form
of the activity listed above.
3. Have students locate several online job postings in their fields and be prepared
to discuss how many of the postings list requirements about communication
skills. Students may go to job search sites like Monster.com, or they may choose to
search sites of specific employers. Encourage your students to note if a job listing
identifies broad communication skills as a requirement of the job or if it identifies
specific communication skills (presentation skills, grant proposal writing skills, etc.).
4. Have students develop a set of interview questions for a professional in their
field(s) about the types of writing he or she performs. Think in terms of broad
questions such as, “What are the various audiences you write for/to?” and in terms of
narrower items such as, “What percentage of your day or week do you spend
writing?” and “What is your biggest pet peeve about others’ writing?” Remember to
include questions about technology use on the job and the future of communication in
that field. Coach your students on how to avoid pious responses such as, “Oh yes,
writing is very important in my line of work.” Get your students to ask about
objective, quantifiable matters such as what types of documents, how many pages,
how many hours of preparation, how often, to whom, and what consequences result
from good or bad documents.
WRITING PROJECTS
Here are some ideas for writing projects related to Chapter 1.
Traditional Assignments
1. Survey the technical writing done by professionals. Have your students interview
professionals in their fields concerning the kinds and amount of writing those
professionals do. Have students write this information up as a memo, or have them
present it orally in class, showing actual examples of the writing if possible.
2. Analyze a sample of technical writing. Have your students select a sample of
technical writing that they can understand but that most nonspecialists would not.
Have them write a memo in which they discuss the characteristics they find in that
sample and then explain the meaning of the sample in nonspecialist terms (or have
your students present this information orally to the rest of the class).
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Distance Learning Assignments
1. Have students e-mail their interview questions to two professionals and write a
memo to you summarizing the results. Make sure to coach your students on using
netiquette and on framing the interview request in terms of deadlines, the reason for
the interview, etc. Review Chapter 7 for information on preparing for interviews, and
make sure that you and the students allow a reasonable amount of time for the
interviewee to respond. A thank-you note provides a courteous follow-up for the
interviewee and a great minor assignment for the student.
2. Have your students compare two online technical documents. Ask them to
compare audiences, purposes, authors’ roles, etc., and to make judgments on which
sample is the better one. Encourage them to find samples that are similar in some
aspects (technicality and/or purpose) and different in others (approach, design, etc.).
If you’re feeling brave, this can be assigned as an online pairs’ project. Each student
can write his or her own response and then compare it to a peer’s reaction, or the two
can collaborate online to produce one analysis.
RELEVANT LINKS
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Society for Technical Communication (http://www.stc.org)
Writers Write: Technical Writing (http://www.writerswrite.com/technical/)
Resources for Technical Writers (http://www.techpubs.com/resources.html)
Klariti.com: Technical Writing (http://www.klariti.com/technicalwriting/index.shtml)
Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters and Academic Discussion Lists
(http://www.arl.org/scomm/edir/archive.html)
RULES, Rules, and rules: How to tell them apart
(http://www.wilbers.com/part22.htm)
WORKSHEET
You may wish to reproduce the following worksheet and have students fill it out prior to
a class discussion of technical writing, or perhaps have students fill it out during class.
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Comparison Chart: Academic versus Technical Writing
Academic Writing
Audience
Purpose
Content
Document Life Span
Liability
Writing Style
Formats
Design Elements
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Technical Writing
OVERHEADS
The figures on the following pages may be reproduced as overhead transparencies or
simply shown on a computer. The following set of discussion questions associated with
each of the figures may be used to elicit student reflections on the concepts.
Discussion Questions for Figure 1-1
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What documents have you used or seen that contained these characteristics?
Have you developed any documents in your other courses, in a job, or in an
internship that used these characteristics?
Discussion Questions for Figure 1-2
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What jobs have you held or organizations have you been involved with that relied
heavily on communication to function?
Do the terms clarity, conciseness, organization, and correctness apply to your
writing?
Discussion Questions for Figure 1-3
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Have you, as a student, used these imperatives in your writing?
How significant are these imperatives in academic writing?
Discussion Questions for Figure 1-4
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In what ways has the writing you have done in the past exemplify these
characteristics?
How do you think that these characteristics further business goals?
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Writing at Work versus Writing at
School: Eight Basic Differences
 Writing at work achieves job goals
 Writing at work addresses a variety of readers
 Writing at work addresses readers with
different perspectives
 Writing at work creates excessive paperwork
and e-mail
 Writing at work may be read by readers
unknown to the writer
 Writing at work has an indefinite life span
 Writing at work creates legal liability for the
writer and the organization
 Writing at work uses a variety of written
documents
Figure 1-1: Writing at Work versus Writing at School
Writing and Communicating at Work
 Role of communication: to share information
and ideas and to show that work has been or
is being done
 Importance of communication:
 College-educated workers spend 20 percent
of their time at work writing
 The ability to communicate well is critical to
job performance
 Strong communication skills are required for
most positions requiring a college degree
 Manufacture of communication: an industry in its
own right
 Writing skills of importance to workers:
1. Clarity
2. Conciseness
3. Organization
4. Correctness—use of standard English
 Audience awareness: a necessity
Figure 1-2: Writing and Communicating at Work
The Foundations of Effective
Technical Writing
1. Know your reader
2. Know your objective
3. Be simple, direct, and concise
4. Know the context in which your
communication will be received and used
5. Design your communication with
imperatives 1–4 as guideposts
Figure 1-3: The Foundations of Technical Writing
The Qualities of Good Technical
Writing
 Exemplifies effective design; makes a good
impression
 Is designed so that it can be read selectively
 Has a rational and discernible plan
 Reads coherently and cumulatively throughout
 Answers readers’ questions as they arise in
the readers’ minds
 Has the necessary front matter to characterize
the report and disclose its purpose and scope
 Has a body that provides essential information
and that is written clearly without jargon or
padding
 When appropriate, uses tables and graphs to
present and clarify its content
Figure 1-4: The Qualities of Good Technical Writing
The Qualities of Good Technical
Writing
 Has, when needed, a summary or set of
conclusions to reveal the results obtained
 Conveys an impression of authority,
thoroughness, soundness, and honest work
 Can stand alone and be understood by
readers who are not part of the initial audience
 Makes a positive statement about the writer
and the organization
 Is free from typographical errors, grammatical
slips, and misspelled words
Figure 1-4: The Qualities of Good Technical Writing