An Overview on Technical Writing
What is Technical Writing?
At a STEM-oriented school like Georgia Tech, the idea of any sort of ~ writing ~ can sound tedious, painful, and even unnecessary — especially when you’re getting a degree in computer science, mechanical engineering, or chemistry. In actuality, knowing how to convey and articulate the intricacies of your specialty to others is imperative to working successfully in these fields.
Technical communication is the process of creating and distributing research based or technical information to a (usually) non-expert user through various mediums. There are many facets of what I affectionately call “Tech Comm” — information architecture, user experience design, instructional design — but this article will focus on the basics of technical writing. Technical writing is used to communicate complex information to a targeted audience, who can then use this information to complete tasks or goals accurately.
Some Key Tenets of Technical Writing
- One of the most important things to remember in technical writing is that you are writing FOR the user, not for yourself. Identifying and then understanding your audience well is key to successfully conveying your information. How can you analyze your audience and cater to their needs? Before starting your documentation, it is necessary to ask yourself a couple of questions about your users:
- What level of expertise are your users? Are they non-experts, or are they already familiar with your subject in some way?
- What do you users need from your document? Are they trying to learn how to perform a new task, or are they reading to understand a more complex concept that relates to their interests or line of work?
Knowing the answer to these questions can help you decide what to include in your document and what to leave out.
2. Your users are reading your document to gain an understanding of something clearly and efficiently — so don’t add fluff. Prioritize concision in your writing. Avoid ambiguity. Technical writing is one of the few forms of writing where there’s no need to embellish your words or elongate your sentences; short and to the point is the goal here. Some ways to do that in your writing:
- Use active voice instead of passive voice > “She picked the flower.” instead of “The flower was picked.”
Put emphasis on who/what is performing an action, not the receiver of the action
- Use action-oriented verbs rather just simple “to be” verbs (is, was, are)
Being specific and intentional about the verbs you use will make it easier for your reader to understand or focus on actionable events.
- Try to use meaningful modifiers. Avoid using terms like “a lot”, “very”, “really”, and “somewhat”.
Again, being specific and intentional about the words you use is key.
In general, as a technical writer, you should focus on using as little words to still get your point across
3. Group main topics and important subjects together so that your reader can easily skim and find information that they need
- Not all your users are going to need all the information; they may just want to find specific key points or details
- Adding topics and transitioning sentences to your writing can allow your reader to gain the insights they need without wasting time
- Additionally, work to break up your text into shorter, more meaningful chunks, rather than writing in large paragraphs (about 7 lines maximum).
4. Give anecdotes and examples to bridge the gap between expert-level information and non-expert audience knowledge
- Comparing intricate concepts to more simple, every day scenarios or mechanisms can make your writing more approachable and easy to understand
5. Make sure to include background information on more critical topics, so that the user can get a holistic view of your topic.
- Doing so can provide a deeper understanding of the material.
Why is it Important Again?
You may still be reading this and thinking “Okay that’s great, but I don’t really need to know this for my field”, but I would disagree. While you may know how to conduct your research and excel in your career, at a certain point, it will become important for you to explain why what you do is important; whether that be to others in your company, to investors in you or your expertise, or to unknowing audiences that you are trying to recruit into your line of work.
Being able to articulate the significance of your technical processes allows you to share your expertise with others and convey the relevancy of your work. After all, how meaningful is all the information in the world if you can’t share it with others?
Sources:
https://techwhirl.com/what-is-technical-communications/
Open Technical Communication — Tiffani Reardon, Tamara Powell, Jonathan Arnett, Monique Logan, Cassie Race
More Information:
https://www.instructionalsolutions.com/blog/become-a-technical-writer
