What is Technical Writing

1
What is Technical Writing?

• writing to accomplish a purpose
• writing for a specific audience
• writing for multiple audiences
• writing with specific, agreed upon conventions
• writing that is assigned to the writer
• writing about technical information
• writing about facts, mathematically measurable
  information
• writing to prove a point

2
Examples of Technical Writing

• recipes
• how to themes
• users guides
• legal documents
• resumes
• lesson plans
• syllabi
• press releases

• obituaries
• anything with features that help you use a
  document
• -table of contents
• -section headings
• -indexes
• -cross-references
• -bulleted lists

3
Questions Technical Writers Ask About Their
Writing Situations

• What is the purpose of this document?
• What is the audience for this document?
• What is the assignment?
• How does this communication fit into the larger
  context?
• Will this be written by a group?
• What are the available resources?
• What are the time constraints?

4
Explicit Purposes of Technical Writing

• report a solution to a problem
• describe services available to customers
• interpret factual information
• provide instructions
• initiate a new procedure
• order material
• submit a bid

• define a position on policy
• propose adoption of a plan
• prepare a proposal
• thank a customer
• change a course of action
• announce a change

5
Implicit Purposes of Technical Writing

• 1. To create credibility
• 2. To generate trust
• 3. To persuade

6
Principle One -- Help Readers Feel Involved in
What They are Reading

• Address the reader as directly as you can
• use you or direct address if possible
• give commands (imperative sentences)
• Write in the active voice
• Avoid sexist language

7
Principle Two -- Select Words Carefully

• Avoid inflated language
• Avoid jargon
• Define and explain technical terms when necessary
• Avoid slang
• Make sure you use the correct word
• Avoid clichés

8
Principle Three -- Write Clear Sentences

• Eliminate extra words
• Avoid redundancy
• Write shorter sentences
• Make sure relationships between ideas are clear
• Rewrite negative sentences as positive sentences
  when you can
• Avoid noun strings
• Untangle confusing sentences

9
Principle Four -- Make Your Document Easy to
Navigate

• Put important information where readers expect to
  find it
• Use helpful transitions
• Use lists when you have several items to present
  (use parallel structure)
• Use informative headings

10
Examples of Technical Writing Techniques

• Technical Definition
• Technical Description
• Technical Process Description
• Technical Summary
• Technical Analysis
• Technical Argumentation

11
Examples of Cross-Discipline Assignments

• Math Create a multi-step word problem that
  requires algebra to solve and writing skills to
  communicate (time, space, problems work well)
• Science Ask students to write a technical
  summary/analysis/argumentation to follow up an
  in-class experiment

12
Examples of Cross-Discipline Assignments

• Social Studies Create a chart detailing the
  political, social, technological, other
  developments over the course of years.
• Social Studies Write a report in technical
  style about how peoples in different societies
  perform a common task or solve a common problem.