Technical writing

Technical writing is writing or drafting

technical communication used in technical
and occupational fields, such as computer
hardware and software, engineering,
chemistry, aeronautics, robotics, finance,
medical, consumer electronics,
biotechnology and forestry. Technical
writing encompasses the largest sub-field
within technical communication.[1]
The Society for Technical Communication
defines technical communication as any
form of communication that exhibits one
or more of the following characteristics: "
(1) communicating about technical or
specialized topics, such as computer
applications, medical procedures, or
environmental regulations; (2)
communicating by using technology, such
as web pages, help files, or social media
sites; or (3) providing instructions about
how to do something, regardless of how
technical the task is".[2]

Overview
Technical writing is performed by a
technical writer (or technical author) and is
the process of writing and sharing
information in a professional setting.[3]:4 A
technical writer's primary task is to convey
information to another person or party in
the most clear and effective manner
possible.[3]:4 The information that
technical writers convey is often complex,
and it is one of their main tasks to analyze
the information and present it in a format
that is easy to read and
understand.[3]:12–14A good technical writer
needs strong writing and communication
skills. They do not only convey information
through text, and must be proficient with
computers as well. They use a wide range
of programs to create and edit
illustrations, diagramming programs to
create visual aids, and document
processors to design, create, and format
documents.[4]

While commonly associated with online

help and user manuals, technical writing
covers a wide range of genres and
technologies. Press releases, memos,
reports, business proposals, datasheets,
product descriptions and specifications,
white papers, résumés, and job
applications are but a few examples of
documents that are considered forms of
technical writing.[5]

History
While technical writing has only been
recognized as a profession since World
War II,[6]:2 its roots can be traced to
classical antiquity.[7]:233 Critics cite the
works of writers like Aristotle as the
earliest forms of technical writing.[7]:234
Geoffrey Chaucer's work, Treatise on the
Astrolabe, is an early example of a
technical document and is considered to
be the first technical document published
in English.[8]
With the invention of the mechanical
printing press, the onset of the
Renaissance and the rise of the Age of
Reason, the need to document findings
became a necessity, and inventors and
scientists like Isaac Newton and Leonardo
da Vinci prepared documents that
chronicled their inventions and
findings.[6]:1 While never called technical
documents during their period of
publication, these documents played a
crucial role in developing modern forms of
technical communication and writing.[6]

The field of technical communication grew

during the Industrial Revolution.[9]:3 This
increased the need to instruct people how
to use the more and more complex
machines that were being invented and
used.[9]:8 However, unlike the past, where
skills were handed down through oral
traditions, no one besides the inventors
knew how to use these new devices.
Writing thus became the fastest and most
effective way to disseminate information,
and writers who could document these
devices were desired.[9]

During the 20th century, the need for

technical writing skyrocketed, and the
profession finally became officially
recognized. The events of World War I and
World War II led to advances in medicine,
military hardware, computer technology,
and aerospace technologies.[6]:2 This rapid
growth, coupled with the urgency of war,
created an immediate need for well-
designed and written documents that
chronicled the use of these technologies.
Technical writing was in high demand
during this time, and became an official
job title during World War II.[6]:1

Following World War II, technological

advances led to an increase in consumer
goods and standards of living.[6]:3 During
the post-war boom, public services like
libraries and universities, as well as
transport systems like buses and
highways saw massive amounts of
growth, and the need for writers to
chronicle these processes increased.[6]:1 It
was also during this period that computers
started being used in large businesses and
universities. Notably, in 1949, Joseph D.
Chapline authored the first computational
technical document, an instruction manual
for the BINAC computer.[10]

The discovery of the transistor in 1947

allowed computers to be produced more
cheaply than ever before.[6]:3 These
cheaper prices meant that computers
could now be purchased by individuals
and small businesses.[6]:3 And as a result
of the computer's growing prominence, the
need for writers who could explain and
document these devices grew.[6]:3 The
profession of technical writing saw further
expansion during the 1970s and 1980s as
consumer electronics found their way into
the homes of more and more people.[6]

In recent years, the prominence of

computers in society has led to many
advances in the field of digital
communications, leading to many
changes in the tools technical writers
use.[6]:3 Hypertext, word processors,
graphics editing programs, and page
layout software have made the creation of
technical documents faster and easier
than ever before, and technical writers of
today must be proficient in these
programs.[3]:8–9

Techniques
Good technical writing is concise, focused,
easy to understand, free of errors, and is
audience-based.[11]:7 Technical writers
focus on making their documents as clear
as possible, avoiding overly technical
phrases and stylistic choices like passive
voice and nominalizations.[3]:236–245
Because technical documents are used in
real-world situations, it should always be
explicitly clear what the subject matter of
a technical document is and what should
be done with the presented information. It
would be disastrous if, for example, a
technical writer's instructions on how to
use a high-powered X-ray machine were
difficult to decipher.

Technical writing requires a writer to

extensively examine their
audience.[3]: 84–114 A technical writer needs
to be aware of their audience's existing
knowledge about the material they are
discussing as the knowledge base of the
writer's audience will determine the
content and focus of a document.[3]: 84–114
For example, an evaluation report
discussing a scientific study's findings that
is written to a group of highly skilled
scientists will be very differently
constructed than one intended for the
general public. Technical writers do not
have to be subject-matter experts (SMEs)
themselves and generally collaborate with
SMEs to complete tasks that require more
knowledge about a subject than they
possess.[3]:51

Technical writing must be accurate. A

technical writer, after analyzing their
audience, knows what they are trying to
communicate. The goal from there is to
convey the message in an accurate and
ethical manner. Physical, environmental, or
financial repercussions could result if a
writer does this incorrectly. Knowing the
audience is important to accuracy
because the language will be tailored
according to what they understand about
the subject at hand. For example,
instructions on how to correctly and safely
build a bookshelf are included when
purchased. Those instructions are
constructed so that anyone could follow
along, including accurate details as to
where each fastener goes. If those
instructions were inaccurate, the
bookshelf could be unstable and fail.[12]

Document design and layout are also very

important components of technical
writing.[3]:261–286 Technical writers spend
large amounts of time ensuring their
documents are readable, because a poorly
designed document hampers a reader's
comprehension. Technical document
design stresses proper usage of document
design choices like bullet points, font-size,
and bold text.[13] Images, diagrams, and
videos are also commonly employed by
technical writers because these media can
often convey complex information, like a
company's annual earnings or a product's
design features, far more efficiently than
text.[3]:306–307

Technical documents
Technical writing covers many genres and
writing styles depending on the
information and audience.[3]:84–114
Technical documents are not solely
produced by technical writers. Almost
anyone who works in a professional
setting produces technical documents of
some variety. Some examples of technical
writing include:
Instructions and procedures are
documents that help either developers
or end users operate or configure a
device or program.[11]:226 Examples of
instructional documents include user
manuals and troubleshooting guides for
computer programs, computer
hardware, household products, medical
equipment, mechanical products and
automobiles.
Proposals. Most projects begin with a
proposal—a document that describes
the purpose of a project, the tasks that
will be performed in the project, the
methods used to complete the project,
and finally the cost of the project.[11]:191
Proposals cover a wide range of
subjects. For example, a technical writer
may author a proposal that outlines how
much it will cost to install a new
computer system, a marketing
professional may write a proposal with
the product offerings and a teacher may
write a proposal that outlines how a new
biology class will be structured.
Emails, letters, and memoranda are
some of the most frequently written
documents in a business.[11]:117 Letters
and emails can be constructed with a
variety of goals—some are usually
aimed at simply communicating
information while others are designed to
persuade the recipient to accomplish a
certain task. While letters are usually
written to people outside of a company,
memoranda (memos) are documents
written to other employees within the
business.[11]:118
Press releases. When a company wants
to publicly reveal a new product or
service, they will have a technical writer
author a press release, a document that
describes the product's functions and
value to the public.[14]
Specifications are design outlines that
describe the structure, parts, packaging,
and delivery of an object or process in
enough detail that another party can
reconstruct it.[15] For example, a
technical writer might diagram and write
the specifications for a smartphone or
bicycle so that a manufacturer can
produce the object.
Descriptions are shorter explanations of
procedures and processes that help
readers understand how something
works.[3]:564 For example, a technical
writer might author a document that
shows the effects of greenhouse gases
or demonstrates how the braking
system on a bike functions.
Résumés and job applications are
another example of technical
documents.[11]:284–285 They are
documents that are used in a
professional setting to inform readers of
the author's credentials.
Technical reports are written to provide
readers with information, instructions,
and analysis on tasks.[11]:141–143
Reports come in many forms. For
example, a technical writer might
evaluate a building that is for sale and
produce a trip report that highlights his
or her findings and whether or not he or
she believes the building should be
purchased. Another writer who works
for a non-profit company may publish an
evaluation report that shows the
findings of the company's research into
air pollution.
Case study is a published report about a
person, group, or situation that has been
studied over time; also : a situation in
real life that can be looked at or studied
to learn about something.[16] For
example, an individual's challenging
situation at his or her workplace and
how he or she resolved it is a case
study.
White papers are documents that are
written for experts in a field and typically
describe a solution to a technological or
business challenge or problem.[11]:644
Examples of white papers include a
piece that details how to make a
business stand out in the market or a
piece explaining how to prevent cyber-
attacks on businesses.
Websites. The advent of hypertext has
changed the way documents are read,
organized, and accessed. Technical
writers of today are often responsible
for authoring pages on websites like
"About Us" pages or product pages and
are expected to be proficient in web
development tools.[17]:484–504
Datasheets are the document that
summarize the features, key
specifications, technical characteristics,
application circuits and some other
important information about the
product, machine, equipment, software,
application, system in brief.
API guides are written for the developer
community and are used to explain the
application programming interfaces.
Help systems are online help centres
that provide users with technical
information about products and
services. They provide content as web
pages that are viewed in a browser. The
 content may be created in help centre
software, such as Zendesk, or in help
authoring tools or component content
management systems that can create a
help centre as an HTML output.

Tools
The following tools are used by technical
writers to author and present documents:

Desktop publishing tools or word

processors. Word processors such as
Scrivener, Microsoft Word, Apple Pages,
and LibreOffice Writer are used by
technical writers to author, edit, design,
and print documents. Since technical
writing is as much about the page's
layout as it is the written language,
enhanced desktop publishing tools such
as Adobe InDesign and LyX are also
used by Technical Writers.[18] These
programs function similarly to word
processors but provide users with more
options and features for the document's
design and automate much of the
formatting.[19]
Help authoring tools are used by
technical writers to create the help
systems that are packaged with
software products, delivered through
web browsers or provided as files users
can view on their computers. When
writing instructional procedures to
describe mechanical, electrical or
software programs; technical writers will
use these tools to assist them in
simplifying assembly, operation or
installation processes.
Component content Management
Systems are also used by technical
writers to create help systems and
documents. Component Content
Management Systems (CCMS) allow
writers to create similar outputs as help
authoring tools, but they also provide
content management features such as
version management and built-in
workflows.
Image editing software. Often, images
and other visual elements can portray
information better than paragraphs of
texts.[3]:306–307 In these instances,
image editing software like Adobe
Photoshop and GIMP are used by
technical writers to create and edit the
visual aspects of documents like
photos, icons, and diagrams.
Collaborative software programs.
Because technical writing often involves
communication between multiple
individuals who work for different
companies, it can be a collaborative
affair.[3]:57 Thus, technical writers use
Wiki Systems and shared document
work-spaces to work with other writers
and parties to construct technical
documents.[3]:74
Web development tools. Technical
writers' jobs are no longer limited to just
producing documents. They must now
also produce content for company's
corporate and other professional web
sites.[17]:485 Web Development Tools like
Adobe Dreamweaver are standard tools
in the industry that technical writers are
expected to be proficient in.
Graphing software. In order to portray
statistical information like the number
of visits to a restaurant or the amount of
money a university spends on its
sporting programs, technical writers will
use graphs and flowcharts.[3]:306–307
While programs like Microsoft Excel and
Word can create basic graphs and
charts, sometimes technical writers
must produce incredibly complex and
detailed graphs that require functions
not available in these programs. In these
instances, powerful graphing and
diagramming tools like Microsoft Visio
are used to effectively organize and
design graphs and diagrams.[20]
Screen capture tools Technical writers
commonly use Screen Capture Tools
like Camtasia and Snagit to capture their
 desktops.[21][22] When creating
instructions for computer software, it's
much easier for a technical writer to
simply record themselves completing a
task than it is to write a lengthy series of
instructions that describe how the task
must be performed. Screen capture
tools are also used to take screenshots
of programs and software running on
user's computers and then to create
accompanying diagrams.

List of associations
Association for Business
Communication
 Czech Society for Technical
Communication
European Association for Technical
Communication
IEEE Professional Communication
Society
Institute of Scientific and Technical
Communicators
International Association of Business
Communicators
SIGDOC
Society for Technical Communication

References
1. What is Technical Communications?
 TechWhirl. Accessed December 9,
2014.
2. "Defining Technical Communication" .
Society for Technical Communication.
Retrieved February 10, 2019.
3. Mike Markel (2012). Technical
Communication 10th Edition.
Bedford/St. Martins.
4. Johnson, Tom (December 19, 2011).
"What Tools Do Technical Writers
Use" . I'd Rather Be Writing. Retrieved
May 4, 2014.
5. Perelman, Leslie C.; Barrett, Edward;
Paradis James. "Document Types" .
The Mayfield Handbook of Technical &
Scientific Writing. Retrieved May 4,
2014.
6. O'Hara, Fredrick M. Jr. "A Brief History
of Technical Communication" (PDF).
Montana State University Billings.
Retrieved April 22, 2014.
7. Doody, Aude; Follinger, Sabine; Taub,
Liba (February 8, 2012). "Structures
and Strategies in Ancient Greek and
Roman Technical Writing: An
Introduction" (PDF). Studies in History
and Philosophy of Science. University
Of Cambridge. 43 (2). Archived from
the original (PDF) on August 3, 2012.
Retrieved April 22, 2014.
8. "The Way to the Stars: Build Your Own
Astrolabe" . Saint John's College.
Retrieved April 22, 2014.
 9. Crabbe, Stephen (2012). "Constructing
a Contextual History of English
Language Technical Writing" (PDF).
University of Portsmouth. Archived
from the original (PDF) on May 12,
2014. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
10. "History of Technical Writing" . Proedit.
Retrieved May 9, 2014.
11. Tebeaux, Elizabeth; Dragga, Sam
(2010). The Essentials of Technical
Communication. Oxford University
Press.
12. Diane Martinez, et. al., "Technical
Writing: A Comprehensive Resource of
Technical Writers at All Levels."
13. Waller, Rob (April 2011). "What Makes
a Good Document? The Criteria we
use" (PDF). The University of Reading:
16–19. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
14. Perelman, Leslie C., Barrett, Edward,
and Paradis James. "Press jaylan
peregrino". The Mayfield grave naba
Handbook of Technical & Scientific
Writing. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
15. Perelman, Leslie C., Barrett, Edward,
and Paradis James. "Specifications."
The Mayfield Handbook of Technical &
Scientific Writing. Retrieved May 4,
2014.
16. "Dictionary and Thesaurus | Merriam-
Webster" . www.merriam-
webster.com. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
17. Anderson, Paul V. (2007). Technical
Communication [A Reader-Centered
Approach] 6th Edition. Thompson
Wadsworth.
18. Johnson, Tom "What Tools Do
Technical Writers Use". I'd Rather Be
Writing. December 19, 2011. Retrieved
May 4, 2014.
19. "What is LyX" . LyX. Retrieved May 9,
2014.
20. Hewitt, John (January 18, 2005). "How
Technical Writer's use Microsoft
Visio" . Poe War. Archived from the
original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved
May 9, 2014.
21. Brierley, Sean (2002). Screen Captures
102 (PDF). STC Carolina (Report).
pp. 5–8. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
22. Johnson, Tom (December 19, 2011).
"What Tools Do Technical Writers
Use" . I'd Rather Be Writing. Retrieved
May 4, 2014.

External links
Technical writing at Curlie
 IEEE Transactions on Professional
Communication
Technical writing courses from
Wikiversity

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