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Thomas Nguyen
Professor Refaei
English 2089
24 June 2014
An Analysis of the Effective Technical Writing Style
At one point or another in your lifetime you will follow instructions. And at other times
you will wish you had instructions as guidance. That is something that technical documents
address. Whether you realize it or not, you have probably either read or written some form of
technical documentation in the past. A common example of this would be a user manual that
comes with something you buy or even a set of directions. Technical writers employ techniques
that allow the information being presented to be absorbed by the reader in the easiest manner. In
this paper, we will explore the effectiveness of the technical document genre. In addition, we will
also be discussing their purpose in industry as well as their importance in our everyday lives.
The practice of technical communication predates even the first computer that was
invented. At the rate that technology is advancing, an effective documentation method is
necessary to make sure that information transitions well into the future. The medium that was
created to facilitate this information was the technical document. As information became more
complex, the demand for a more structured, well-formatted genre was necessary. This writing
genre has become one of the major styles of text that is present in our day to day lives, next to
expository writing. The main difference between the two can be described in the article
“Expository Writing vs. Technical Writing”, “Expository writing shares thoughts, opinions, and
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fleshed-out concepts, while technical writing is usually aimed to get someone to follow
directions or understand a procedure.” As we continue to dissect this genre, the strengths and
weaknesses of this writing style will become much clearer.
Although it may seem as if technical documents are created for those who are less
technical, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. While consumers are the primary audience for
technical documents, developers are also well-acquainted with this genre. My first encounter
with a technical document was during my time at Seapine Software as a software developer.
Whenever I was tasked with testing a new feature on a product, I was required to read the
technical specification document for the feature. Often times I would be testing this feature with
other professionals who were also required to read the document. This came to me as a surprise
as I expected the other developers to already understand the product from the inside out since
they have been working for quite some time. What I took from this is that regardless of the
reader’s ability or previous knowledge, a technical document will always outline something that
has not been presented to the reader elsewhere. Take Apple’s MainStage 2 user manual for
example. Let’s say you are a developer that works on the audio playback feature of this product
and you are asked to help do some testing on the edit mode feature. . .The odds that you
understand this feature are quite slim unless you either use the product as a consumer or have
also worked on this feature previously. This is where the user manual comes in handy as it has
information regarding the usage of every feature on the product.
As stated previously, consumers are the primary audience for this genre. There are many
purposes of technical documents aside from just providing information on the subject. Over time,
it has become common practice to package documentation with a product (and for good reason.)
Again, technology has been advancing and it has been harder and harder to keep track of all of
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the information available to us. By having documentation readily accessible for the consumer,
the company can build customer satisfaction. These documents can often be found on the
company’s website as well (Apple’s MainStage 2 for example.) This genre simply aims to
improve the overall quality of life for the product and the consumer.
Similar to most forms of writing, this type has its own way of interacting with its
audience. Because of the nature of technical documents, it is quite difficult to communicate with
the reader on a more personal level. Since the genre aims to inform the reader on a specific
product or subject, it doesn’t allow for the reader to appreciate the writing itself. But this is how
it is supposed to be since technical documents urge the reader to interact with the product itself
rather than the writing. By nature, technical writing is selfless. These types of documents are
written in such a way that focuses the reader’s attention on the result, rather than the text.
Let us not forget the writers who create these documents. Individuals who create
technical documents are often referred to as technical writers. Over time, these writers have had
increased responsibilities in the industry; like controlling the formatting and usability options
within products. While I was at Seapine, I had the privilege of working with a technical writer.
She tasked me with finding acronyms within the software’s menus so that she could point out to
the developers that these acronyms needed to be extended into their full form to avoid ambiguity.
This leads into the rules and restrictions of technical writing. Ambiguity is one of the important
traits to avoid. A PDF created by an MIT professor states, “Do not overuse pronouns – . . . –
because it is often difficult to identify the antecedent.” (Kelley 18) Good practices as a technical
writer involve clarity, brevity, and simplicity. The whole writing process for technical documents
involves much planning and revising. Technical writers often look for more ways to condense
their work without losing the quality of information. Facilitating an easy reading experience is
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one of the main focuses when it comes to writing technical documents. A common practice often
seen in most technical documents is to include a table of contents (as seen on page 3-6 on
Apple’s MainStage 2 technical document.) The purpose behind including a table of contents is
to allow the reader to find the exact information they are searching for, which directly supports
the purpose of technical writing. If the reader then proceeds to the actual section they are
searching for, they can often find a sub-list outlining what the section contains (see page 11 of
Apple’s MainStage 2.) These are just a few examples to show that technical writing helps the
reader understand even the most complex subjects without diving into too much detail.
From what we’ve explored so far, you may think that technical documents have no
drawbacks but there are indeed weaknesses to this style of writing. One of the weaknesses was
briefly covered previously and that is the lack of interaction involved with this genre. With this
in mind, you can imagine how difficult it is for a technical writer to have a unique voice. This
isn’t the only issue contributing to the anonymity involved with this genre. Technical manuals
also do not often credit their author(s). Compare a standard novel’s cover with the cover of
Barnes and Noble’s Nook user manual. A novel more often than not will have the title followed
by the author’s name on the cover; on the contrary, the user manual will place more emphasis on
the product name and none on the author(s). Even if the author’s name was placed on the cover
and given emphasis, it would still be difficult for the author to obtain any recognition. This is
because of the nature of the writing. High-quality technical writing has a formula that not many
writers stray from, which provides for a very static and dry form of writing. Another weakness
roots from the content itself. Technical documents, more often than not, are used to describe
some form of physical activity. This means that the writer must translate something that could be
done physically, into written language. This can prove to be very difficult given the rules and
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restrictions that are provided when writing a technical piece. Lastly, due to the content and its
connection to physical actions, technical documents just have a negative reputation overall. The
reasoning for this is simple: a consumer will just read the document, follow the instructions and
focus on the product the document describes. No matter how well the document is written, it will
remain transparent to the reader simply because of the genre’s purpose.
The technical writing style has made such a large imprint since its conception. Regardless
of its strengths and weaknesses, it will always serve a very specific but necessary purpose.
Technical document’s importance will only continue to grow and adapt as technology and
information grow as well. Eventually, the appreciation for this genre will grow when more
people realize how convenient and easy it makes our lives.
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Works Cited
"Expository Writing vs. Technical Writing." Your Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 June 2014.
<http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/expository-writing-vs-technicalwriting.html>.
Inc., Apple. "MainStage 2 User Manual." (n.d.): n. pag. Apple. Apple. Web. 24 June 2014.
<http://documentation.apple.com/en/mainstage/usermanual/MainStage%202%20User%20Manua
l%20%28en%29.pdf>.
Noble, Barnes &. "NOOK User Guide." (n.d.): n. pag. Barnes and Noble. Barnes and Noble.
Web. 24 June 2014.
<http://images.barnesandnoble.com/pimages/nook/download/User_Guide_NOOK_v1_5.pdf>.
Kelley, Nicole. Sentence Structure of Technical Writing (n.d.): n. pag. MIT. MIT, 2006. Web. 24
June 2014. <http://web.mit.edu/me-ugoffice/communication/technical-writing.pdf>.