Albert Einstein once said, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.

"

Many people think that using of simple words or terms make someone unintelligent, but to be
able to explain one concept in the simplest way, you need to have a deep understanding about
it first. The same goes with technical writing in which you need to deliver a clear and concise
communication that addresses specific needs of the readers. Technical writing has three
purposes which are to inform, instruct, and direct. Some of the examples of technical writing
are lab reports, manuals, directions, guidelines, job application materials and etc.

Technical writing has its own uniqueness which are audience specified, concise presentation,
informative visuals, broad knowledge, factual information, highly specialized language, formal
tone, and rarely using of examples. On the other hand, technical writing is somehow similar to
other types of writing when it comes to writing process, time and effort, research and rules.
Technical writer also need to do drafting, editing and the likes. It also requires time and effort
especially when you do research because technical writing must be factual and accurate. And it
has rules to be followed, too.

In writing technically, you must remember the purpose of your writing. Is to inform, to instruct
or to direct? You also need to remember and understand your audience. What are the
information they need or what are the terminologies that they understand better. And to be
able to do that you need to widen your knowledge, you need to be knowledgeable enough
about the topic you are writing. Consistency in writing style is also a must, because readers
must be able to understand what you are trying to convey, easily. The same goes with writing
clearly and precisely, the words must be simple and your statements must be direct to the
point. And lastly, make use of the visuals effectively. However many people say that ‘rules are
meant to be broken.’ In connection to technical writing, there are also writing rules that
technical writing breaks. The use of passive voice, the use of figurative language, and the use of
sentence fragments.

The characteristics that makes technical writing good are comprehensiveness, emphasis,
quality, confidence, and facility. Comprehensiveness is when a technical writer was able to give
all the needed information, emphasis is when the important point was given clearly, quality is
when a technical writer was able to follow all the grammatical rules, confidence is when a
technical writer was able to put his readers at ease and earn their trust, and facility is when
readers were able to locate information easily. Facility is important in technical writing and to
be able to achieve that you need to think about the visuals of your writing with taking into
consideration of your content and page design such as colors, headings, spacing, images, use of
margins and so on. It helps your readers or audiences to locate where information is and how
to look at it.

As you try to write technical writing practice these eight tips: open your sentences with short
and concrete subject; use specific verbs; get to the main verb quickly; be concise; create
affirmative sentences; remember the known/new rule; control sprawl; and use parallel
structure.