Technical Writing
Definition
Goals
Writing Process
What is Technical Writing?

Technical writing introduces you to some of
the most important aspects of writing in the
world of science, technology, and business –
the kind of writing that scientists, nurses,
doctors, computer specialists, government
officials, engineers, and other people
do as a part of their regular work.
What is Technical Writing?

The term “technical” refers to knowledge
that is not widespread, that is more the
territory of experts and specialists.

Whatever your major is, you are
developing an expertise, and whenever
you try to write anything about your field,
you are engaged in technical writing.
What is Technical Writing?




Technical communication can be written, oral,
or visual.
Technical writing is composed in and for the
workplace.
Technical writing is a significant factor in work
experience for a variety of reasons.
Technical writing serves valuable purposes in
the workplace and often involves teamwork.
Importance of Teamwork

Business and industry have expectations about the
results of teamwork.

Business management philosophies depend upon
teamwork.

Total Quality Management (TQM) and Six Sigma
(continuous improvement) programs encourage
efficient teamwork.

Strategies for successful collaboration can improve
outcomes.
What is the purpose of technical
writing?

Technical writing is the delivery of
technical information to readers in a
manner that is adapted to their needs,
level of understanding, and background.

Technical writing is intended to
communicate to a specific audience, for a
specific purpose.
The Audience

The audience element is so important that it is
one of the cornerstones of technical writing.

You are challenged to write about highly
technical subjects but in a way that a
beginner—a non-specialist—could understand.
Translating Technical Information

In a world of rapid technological
development, people are constantly falling
behind and becoming technological
illiterates.

As a technical writer, you need to write
about the area of specialization you know
and plan to write about in such a way that
even Granddad can understand.
Goals of Effective Technical Writing

Clarity

Conciseness

Accuracy

Organization

Ethics
Effective Technical Writing: Clarity
Methods for developing ideas precisely
–
An expressive essay can clarify the writer’s intent
through emotional, impressionistic, connotative
words (soon, many, several, etc.).
–
An impressionistic word such as
“near” will mean different things
to different people which is okay
in an essay where the goal may
to convey a feeling.
in
be
Effective Technical Writing: Clarity

The ultimate goal of effective technical writing is to say
the same thing to every reader.

Let’s say I write instructional manuals for company
manufacturing space heaters. If I write,
“Place the space heater near an open window,”
what will this mean to thousands of customers who
purchase the machine?
Effective Technical Writing: Clarity



One person may place the heater 6 feet from
the window.
Another reader will place the heater 6 inches
from the window.
As the writer, I have failed to
communicate clearly.
Effective Technical Writing: Clarity

Specify
–
Provide specific detail
–
Avoid vague words (some,
recently)
–
Answer reporters’ questions
(who, what, where, when, why,
how)
Effective Technical Writing: Clarity

Avoid obscure words
–
–
–
–
Use easily understood words
Write to express, not to impress
Write to communicate, not to confuse
Write the way you speak
aforementioned
in lieu of
already discussed
instead of
Effective Technical Writing: Clarity

Limit and/or define your use of
abbreviations , acronyms, and jargon.

Define your terms parenthetically
 CIA (Cash
in Advance)
or

Supply a separate glossary
 Alphabetized
definitions
list of terms, followed by their
Effective Technical Writing: Clarity

Use the active versus the passive voice.

Passive voice:
It was decided all employees will take a ten percent cut in
pay.


Unclear: Who decided?
Active: The Board of Directors decided that all
employees . . .
Overtime is favored by hourly workers.


Wordy
Active: Hourly workers favor overtime.
Effective Technical Writing:
Conciseness

Limit paragraph, word, and sentence length.
–
–
A paragraph in a memo, letter, or short report should consist of

No more than four to six typed lines or

No more than fifty words.
Fog index (sixth to eighth grade level)

Strive for an average of 15 words per sentence

No more than 5 multisyllabic words per 100 words
Effective Technical Writing:
Conciseness
Fog Index

Count up to 100 words in successive sentences
– Divide words by number of sentences = average
number of words per sentence

Count number of long words (three or more syllables)
within sentences
– Don’t count proper names (Christopher Columbus),
long words created by combining shorter words
(chairperson), or three syllable words created by ed
or es endings (united).
Effective Technical Writing:
Conciseness
–
Use the meat cleaver theory of revision
 Cut
–
–
the sentence in half or thirds
Avoid shun words
 Avoid
words ending in –tion or –sion
 Came
to the conclusion
concluded
Avoid camouflaged words
 Make
an amendment to
amend
Effective Technical Writing:
Conciseness

Avoid the expletive pattern
–
–
–
–

There is, are, was, were, will be
It is, was
There are three people who will work for Acme.
Three people will work for Acme.
Omit redundancies
–
–
During the year of 1996
During 1996
Effective Technical Writing:
Conciseness

Avoid wordy phrases
–
In order to purchase

Proofread for accuracy

Consider ethics
to purchase
Effective Technical Writing:
Accuracy

The importance of correct
grammar and mechanics
–
Grammatical or mechanical
errors make writers look
unprofessional and
incompetent.
Effective Technical Writing:
Accuracy

Grammar is so important in technical
writing that in a one page assignment
–
–
–
–

4 major grammatical errors = F
3 major grammatical errors = D
2 major grammatical errors = C
1 major grammatical error = B
“A” means “excellent” which is defined as
“without flaw”
Effective Technical Writing:
Organization

Methods for organizing
–
Spatial
–
General to Specific
–
Chronological
–
Mechanism Description
–
Process Description
–
Classification
Effective Technical Writing:
Organization

Methods for organizing
–
Definition
–
Comparison/Contrast
–
More Important to Less Important
–
Situation-Problem-SolutionEvaluation
–
Cause-Effect
Effective Technical Writing: Ethics

Ethics – methods encouraging moral
standards in technical writing
–
Practical
–
Legal
–
Moral
Effective Technical Writing: Ethics

General categories of ethics in communication
–
Behavior towards colleagues, subordinates and
others (plagiarism, harassment, malicious actions)
–
Dealing with experimental subjects, interviewees,
etc. (informed consent)
–
Telling the “truth” (falsify data, misrepresent facts)
–
Rhetoric—choosing your words (loaded words, discriminatory
language, logical fallacies)
Effective Technical Writing:
Process

The writing process is effective . . . and
easy.

All that you need to do is three things:
–
Prewrite (about 25 percent of your time)
–
Write
(about 25 percent of your time)
–
Rewrite
(about 50 percent of your time)
Effective Technical Writing:
Prewriting Techniques

Reporter’s questions

Mind mapping

Brainstorming/listing

Flowcharting

Outlining

Storyboarding
Technical Writing


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Is important to success in business
Lets you conduct business
Takes time
Costs the company
Reflects your interpersonal communication
skills
Often involves teamwork
Sources

Society for Technical Communication

Technical Writing - A Dalton: Organizing

Online Technical Writing: Information
Infrastructures – Comparison

Online Technical Writing