What Is The Meaning Of Technical Writing?

Ever heard of technical writing and wondered what it is? If your answer is yes, then you are not the only one that as this question. For some, technical writing may sound daunting because of the perceived difficulty on writing it. However, a simple and quick overview on what technical writing really is will give you an idea and basic understanding about this topic.

What is technical writing?

Technical writing is the practice of researching information about a particular topic and coming up with an accurate and simplified article. The term “technical” may refer to technology and other related subjects about it. Thus technical writing is more often linked to engineering, computer hardware, computer software, aeronautics, biotechnology, electronics, finance, robotics, chemistry, and others.

Though technical writing is usually associated with technological advancement, it has always been used as long as technology emerged in human civilization. As this might be the case, it was only during the World War I that technical writing explosively proliferates.

Technical writing is performed objectively rather than subjectively. This means that the writer only writes facts and relevant information. Any opinion is excluded.

What is the goal of technical writing?

The goal of technical writing is to transform complicated and hard to understand topics into simpler and more comprehensive piece of writing. The article should be useful and accurate.

Obviously, the primary and chief goal of technical writing is to inform a targeted audience about a technology. One good example of technical writing is composing a manual’s guide. Creating a technological machine can be very complex and the manual’s guide should be readily understandable by its readers as they do not have the same level of expertise to the people who created the machine.

What are the criteria of good technical writing?

Like any other types of writing, good technical writing should be written with extensive language skills. This means that the document should be coherent and direct to the point without any errors in grammar that may obscure the real meaning of a sentence, paragraph, or the entire chapter.

Another criterion of a good technical writing is its relevance to its targeted audience. It is rare for technical writing to create a document with a broad scope and audience. The created document should be written in the same level as the understanding of the readers. For example, jargons or terms native to a profession can be used if the document will be read within that profession. Therefore, a good technical writer should be familiar with his or her targeted audience to come up with the right content.

Maybe what sets apart technical writing is to other types of writing is that technical documents are more than just a written materials. It is for the purpose of teaching and educating readers. It is imperative that technical writers should have strong and solid foundation in academics. If there is inaccurate information in a technical material, readers can easily get side-tracked and even give-up reading. This situation can damage the reputation of the company behind it. Thus, technical writers should be beyond the mediocre level to write a good technical writing piece.

Above all, technical writers should be an expert of their field. The writer should be an authority and not just some amateur writer who do not have the essential background about a particular subject.

These are some of the fundamental concepts and information that you need to know about technical writing. If you want to know more about technical writing, you need to read additional sources pertaining to this topic.