Lesson Proper for Week 1

Technical Writing

Technical writing is a type of writing where the author is writing about a particular subject that requires direction,
instruction, or explanation. This style of writing has a very different purpose and different characteristics than other
writing styles such as creative writing, academic writing or business writing.

Likewise, Technical writing is a written communication about a scientific or technical subject to a specific reader or
group of readers for the purpose of giving certain information. It is also called scientific writing because it deals with a
topic in any sciences. These sciences are classified into biological, physical and social.

Writing Paradigm by Dell Hymes

Based on the speaking paradigm devise by Dell Hymes, this writer formulated his paradigm for writing. To make any
speaking engagement successful, the speaker should consider the elements comprising Dell Hymes writing
paradigm:

S - setting (where and when) time and place

P - participants (who) interlocutor

E - end (why) purpose

A - act (how) manner

K - key (how formal) formality

I - instrument (with what instrument or medium) medium /instrument use for communication

N - norm (what) subject

G - genre (which kind) exposition, description, narration or argumentation

The same manner, to make every writing effective, the writer has to consider the components of the writing paradigm
devise by the author (Dell Hymes) they are as follows:

W - width (to what extent) scope

R - register (what language) words used in the field (computerese, medicalese, Legalese, journalese,

commercialese etc)
I - intention (why) purpose

T - tenor (what conditions) the tone and circumstances surrounding the writing

I - information (what) subject

N - needs of reader (who needs / what needs)

G - genre (which kind) exposition, description, narration or argumentation

Remember:

A writer doing any type of writing considers the components of the writing paradigm will produce the effect he so
desires and will satisfy his reader. Moreover, he has to bear in mind that despite the fact that he uses technical terms
or highfalutin words, he should write not to impress, but to express. In doing so, he achieves his purpose as a writer.

Qualities of an Effective Technical Writer

To be an effective writer, one must possess the traits required to meet the expectations of his readers He must
possess more than those traits of an ordinary or a mediocre writer. He must be aware of a Scientific phenomena and
must own a wealth of technical terminology. Not merely layman’s terms.

The writer enumerates the qualities of an effective technical writer in the form of an acrostic:

T - technology driven – he keeps abreast with technological advances

E - effectual -he produces the desired result

C - curious – he is desirous to learn about different things

H- honest – he tells the truth and does not resort to plagiarism

N-neutral -he is objective, impartial and free from bias

I-intelligent -he uses his wit

C- careful -he takes pain in doing his work

A-active -he displays tireless energy during the course on his writing
L- logical -he applies the principles of logic in his writing.

W- workmanly- he is skillful in technical writing

R- resourceful -he makes use of primary persons, organizations, plants, animals, artifacts

I- interesting - he arouses the interest of his readers

T- thorough -he comes up with a complete work

E- ethical -he conform with the code of professional ethics

R-responsible – he does his work well without any prodding to others

Technical Writing VS Literary Writing

                           Technical writing is a type of writing where the author is writing about a particular subject that require
direction instruction or explanation. The style of writing has a very different purpose and different characteristics than
other writing styles such as creative writing, academic and business writing.

Uses for Technical Writing

          Technical writing is straightforward, easy to understand explanations and/or instructions dealing with a
particular subject. It is an efficient and clear way of explaining something and how it works.

The subject of technical writing can either be:

• Tangible - Something that can be seen or touched, such as a computer or software program, or information on how
to assemble a piece of furniture.

• Abstract - Something that involved a series of steps that aren't related to a tangible object. One example of this
might be steps required to complete an office process.

Some examples of technical writing include:

• Instruction manuals

• Policy manuals

• Process manuals

• User manuals

• Reports of analysis

• Instructions for assembling a product

• A summarization of a long report that highlights and shortens the most important elements

Tips for Good Technical Writing

• Regardless of the type of document which is written, technical writing requires the writer to follow the properties of
knowing their audience, writing in a clear, non-personal style and doing extensive research on the topic. By including
these properties, the writer can create clear instructions and explanations for the reader.

• Know your audience. An expert in the field will understand certain abbreviations, acronyms, and lingo that directly
applies to such a field. The novice will not understand in the same manner and, therefore, every detail must be
explained and spelled out for them.

• Use an impersonal style. Write from a third person perspective, like a teacher instructing a student. Any opinions
should be omitted.

• The writing should be straightforward, to the point, and as simple as possible to make sure the reader understands
the process or instruction. This at times may appear as simply a list of steps to take to achieve the desired goal or
may be a short or lengthy explanation of a concept or abstract idea.

• Know how to research. Gather information from a number of sources, understand the information gathered so that it
can be analyzed thoroughly, and then put the information into an easy to understand format to instruct those who
read it. The more inexperienced your audience, the more information you will need to gather and explain.

• Be thorough in description and provide enough detail to make your points; but, you also have to consider that you
need to use an economy of words so that you do not bore your reader with gratuitous details.

• A good technical writer can make a difficult task easy and can quickly explain a complex piece of information.

Characteristics of Technical Writing

          Knowing the characteristics of technical writing is very important if you are a person that is interested in writing
professionally. There are many different types of writing and each type has a purpose. Technical writing is different
from other types of writing in that it is more informative. The purpose of this type of writing is to explain a variety of
topics to other people. Technical writing is commonly seen in how to manuals and other pieces that provide direction.
Learning the characteristics of technical writing is essential if you want to build a successful writing career.

Purpose of Technical Writing

Every type of writing has a goal. There are some forms of writing that are geared to telling a story and there are other
forms of writing that are geared to expressing opinions.

    The main purpose of technical writing is to provide sometimes complex information. This is the type of writing that
will:

• Assist a person with understanding more about a particular item, such as a computer or a new drug or a new piece
of technology.

• Explain how an object works or how to complete a project.

        Technical writing is targeted to readers who are looking for information on a particular topic. The goal in
targeting this group is to make sure that the information provided is clear, concise and easy for understand.

        This type of writing is somewhat difficult for some people as it requires that you are able to translate information
that is sometimes hard to comprehend into terms that anyone will be able to read and follow along with, without an
issue. While there are different types of writing that are informative, technical writing is the type that most clearly
focuses on presenting information in a specific way so that people can use the information for a variety of purposes.

Properties of Technical Writing

• Accuracy – An effective technical paper is accurate. An accurate work is devoid of errors.

• Brevity – An effective paper is brief or short.

• Coherence -An effective paper is coherent. Coherence refers to the sticking together of ideas

• Directness -An effective paper is direct to the point.

• Emphasis – An effective technical paper is emphatic. To emphasize is to highlight main ideas and downplay
subordinate ones.

• Factuality- An effective technical paper is factual. The information that it contains is based on facts.

• Grammaticality – An effective technical paper is grammatical It does not violate grammar rules or standards of
correctness of structures in the language.

• Heaviness – An effective technical paper is heavy. In as much as the subject matter of a technical paper, is serious
that is a scientific subject or a technical topic associated with the sciences, technical writing manifests heaviness.

• Intelligibility- An effective technical paper is intelligible. Even if a technical paper contains technical or scientific
terms it must still be easily understood.

• Judiciousness- A judicious writer always exercises good judgment.

• Keenness- An effective technical paper is mark by keenness or sharpness. It is a product of a smart writer how
makes use of his intelligence to satisfy his readers.

• Logicality- An effective technical paper is logical it conforms to the principles of logic, It conforms with the principles
of logic, the science of correct thinking and listening.

Mechanical Correctness- An effective technical paper is mechanically correct. It conforms to the various rules of
mechanics.

• Neutrality-An effective technical paper is neutral. It is not biased, it does not favor only one side.

• Order- An effective technical paper is written in an orderly manner. The ideas are sequence in such a way that they
flow smoothly.

• Personality – An effective technical paper manifests the writer’s personality. It is a reflection of the kind of person
the writer is.

• Quality – An effective technical paper is a quality paper. It has substance and does not violate writing principles or
rules.

• Reader Friendliness -It is adapted in the reader’s needs, interests, and knowledge.

• Specificity – Unlike literary writing, technical writing is written by a specific writer to a specific reader for a specific
purpose.

• Thoroughness – It must be thoroughly done; it must not miss out anything that is essential or salient to its being.

• Unity- Means consistency in purpose, idea subject voice, mood number, person, gender, language, etc.

• Veracity -It contains no lies and presents information coming from reliable sources.

• Worth- It is valuable to its readers or group of readers because it satisfies the readers need for information.

Lesson Proper for Week 2

Basic Techniques of Technical Writing

         Successful writers employ a variety of techniques in their writing. However, the kind of writing dictates the
techniques to be employed by the writer. For instance, if one does a brochure, he uses description more than any
other techniques; if he writes a fire incident report, he uses narration more than any other. In description,
classification, partitioning or analysis, causation (causal analysis) comparison, contrast and interpretation.

Definition – Technical writing is replete with technical terms that need to be defined. It is a must to define scientific
terms to allow better comprehension. These difficult words may come in the form of known words used in a in a
differently new sense (as fly- over), new words for already known things and new words for unknown things. New
words does not necessarily mean newly coined words they are new in the sense that they are encountered by the
readers for the first time so they have to be defined.

When one defines he gives the meaning of a certain term. The writer may define a word in any of the three ways:

             a. Informal (word or phrase definition)

             b. Formal (sentence definition)

             c. Amplified (extended or expanded definition)An informal definition comes in the form of a word or a phrase
oftentimes called a synonym.

          A formal or sentence definition, as its name suggests is in the form of a sentence with these three elements;
species is the term defined; genus is the class or kind to which the term belongs; differentia are the distinguishing
characteristics that make the term different from other terms of the same class.

          The amplified (extended or expanded) definition comes in the form of additional sentences that support a
formal definition which becomes the topic sentence of a paragraph with definition as a method of development.

This is done in any of the following ways:

1. function – use of the thing defined

2. location – placement/ position of the thing defined

3. physical description- physical traits, (color, size, shape, etc.) of the thing defined

4. further definition- definition of words in the formal definition of the thing defined

5. causation- causes or effects of the thing defined

6. comparison- similarities of the thing defined with another thing

7. contrast- differences of the thing defined

8. exemplification- concrete examples of the thing defined

9. etymology/word derivation- words from which the thing defined was derived

10. analysis- parts of the thing defined

11. basic principle-law or principle governing the thing defined; and

12. negation-negative statements about the thing defined.

Mechanism description – description, besides description is a useful technique in technical writing. A writer may
describe a mechanism, a process or even a person.

Process description -is simply describing a series of steps /stages or a series of actions, always uuses
chronological (time) order. Therefore the steps or stages are sequenced base onthe time of occurrence.

Analysis or partitioning -like definition and description, division is a technique commonly used in Technical writing.
It may involve one species or several species.

Classification- is division of several species into classes or groups.

Comparison- species in a given class possess traits common to all.

Contrast – while similarities exist between two items, differences between them do occur.

                       The two patterns of contrast:

                          a. Opposing; and

                          b. Alternating.

Causal/ Analysis – one of the techniques used by technical writers. It analyzes the causes /and or effects of an
event or a phenomenon.

                       Patterns of cause and effect relationship:

                            a. Single cause-single effect

                            b. Single cause -multiple effect

                            c. Multiple cause- single effect.

                            d. Domino/ staircase effect; and

                            e. Multiple cause-multiple effect patter

Interpretation – it is the art of informally establishing a meaningful pattern of relationships among a group facts.

Characteristics of technical writing

It is necessary to begin by determining the nature and purpose of technical communication. This will help students to
distinguish the distinct characteristics of technical writing to literary writing. The main purpose of technical writing is to
inform and describe, to explain and to give information. Generally technical writing adheres to the principle of UNITY,
COHERENCE, and EMPHASIS.

Characteristics of technical writing:

1. Objectivity

2. Accuracy

3. Clarity

4. Brevity

5. Simplicity / economy

6. Concise

7. Directness

8. Concreteness
9. Formality

                Another important consideration in technical writing is the style the format which distinguishnIt from other
writing demands:

Technical style:

1. Simple English

2. Grammaticality

3. Vocabulary

4. Scientific / technical term

5. Appropriate word choice

Technical Format

1. Three- part format: introduction

2. Mechanical neatness

3. Visual illustration

4. Tables and graphs

5. Drawings and diagrams

6. Computer – generated visuals and photos

Methods and patterns of organization of technical prose

The techniques in writing technical reports, business correspondences and research papers are necessary to
produce effective papers. The students should know how to analyze authentic text embedding the methods of
technical prose so that they can apply these methods in actual writing activities.

Methods of Technical prose:

a. Exposition

b. Description:

    1. Mechanism

    2. Process

          Informative

          Instructive

c. Definition:

     1. Formal

     2. Operational

     3. Extended definition

d. Narration; and

e. Argumentation.

Kinds of Technical Reports

       The students should be able to identify the different kinds of technical report, determine their specific functions
and examine authentic technical reports to be able to write one effectively for a particular audience’s needs and
purpose.
Kinds of technical reports:

1. Information reports:

     a. Routine reports

     b. Annual reports

2. Special information report:

     a. Preliminary

     b. Feasibility

     c. Progress report

     d. Final report

3. Examination report:

     a. Engineering

     b. Administration

     c. Financial

     d. Marketing

4. Recommendation report:

     a. Operation

     b. Construction

     c. Proposals

5. Short informal reports:

     a. Memorandum

     b. Letter

     c. Incident

     d. Field report

     e. Project completion

     f. Inspection

     g. Laboratory

Kinds of technical manual

Technical manuals serve various purposes. However, communicating contents of manuals should include simplified
technical concepts to convey a particular audience for a particular purpose and to perform the task accurately and
easily.

1. Instruction manual

2. Guides

     a. Preparation guide

     b. Installation

     c. Troubleshooting

     d. Business guide

     e. User guides and

     f. Specification

3. Journals

4. Magazines

5. Brochures

6. Pamphlets