10 Easy Rules of Technical Writing

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Like many other professions, Technical writing brings new changes to this new era of digitalization. Along with our health, our economy was also impacted by these unpredictable pandemic circumstances. In the field of Technical writing, several facets or rules facilitate change and approach better strategies or techniques. 

Technical writing is all about technical communication to create technical documents for its specific audience. A technical writer is a new professional career opportunity for the IT or industrial department. Many people get distracted by the concept of technical writing. Technical writing course designed to provide detailed and factual information about technical writing and its career opportunities as professionals.

Good technical writing should have various materials to produce correct and specific information to the specific audiences. In this article further, I’m listing a few easy rules of technical writing that will help you to boost your technical writing career and motivate you to write well.

1. Solid Writing

The technical writer should know the purpose or motive of writing. The purpose of technical writing delivers rightful information to their specific audience. The technical writing should have command over the current events.

The importance of solid and sustainable writing frames a demand for information. Solid technical writing helps the pupils to work reasonably or properly. Though, the technical writing should be user-friendly and helpful. 

First of all, know the purpose of your writing. If you know the purpose and to whom you are conveying the information. Then, it is quite easy for technical writers to research wisely and work on their projects with passion. The technical writer should avoid using weak verbs and should use an active voice to make the information clear and accurate.

For example, 

“My recommendation is for a larger budget.” 

This statement is quite inappropriate and confusing to deliver the information.

“I recommend a larger budget.”

This statement is clear, direct, and precise. It is conveying the information in a better way.

2. Verbal Communication 

Technical writers must use words that demonstrate valid appeals to reason and avoid words and phrases that appeal to basic emotion instead of justifiable reasoning. In addition, technical writers must use valid sources and questions to support ideas and strategies. In technical writing avoiding reference shows non-experts an aspect that can shake readers’ support. Also, technical writers must use accurate numbers of evidence to report data. A technical writer should avoid charts and tables that skew data. Using any type of fallacies in technical writing is unethical and could result in awful consequences.

In technical writing, the writers write about a particular subject that requires directions, instructions, or explanation. This style of writing has very different purposes and characteristics than another writing style. For example, ‘Valve A before you shut down Valve B is wordy’

This statement is irrelevant and incorrect. It conveys very confusing information.

‘Never open Valve A before you shut down Valve B’

This statement is correct, direct, and logically consistent. It conveys rightful information which is reasonable to the audience.

3: Research Wisely

In Technical writing, readability plays a crucial role. In your research, good quality information helps a lot to convey direct and correct information. Though, select a good amount of sources. During the research, the technical writer should experiment with the tools and techniques. The new and modern technologies can frighten the audience or readers so the technical writer should concisely take care of their writing.  

The technical writer should do some research and learn some successfully published work that conveys a good quality of information about technical writing. Like the book by Andrew Etter ‘Modern Technical Writing’ and blog by Tom Johnson ‘ I’d rather be Writing’. 

Technical writing should be planned systematically like pre-writing, drafting, revision, or editing. Always remember the purpose, topic, or product and its particular requirements. In technical writing, facts are the key factor.

4. Know your Audience

The audience is always at the forefront of the technical writer’s mind. The readers clarify the text or information. Generally, the technical information is inflexible to change the only thing that changes is how those facts are conveyed. A good technical writer revises or analyzes the text based on the reader’s context. Most technical writing projects required expertise and use of the fields of writing convention and a style guide. Always understand and remember the target audience. 

The information should be as clear as possible without any ambiguities, fallacies, or questions. The technical writer should have choices of good quality or specific words that deliver precise and correct information. The technical writer should be 100% sure and clear about the certain idea and information.

For example, 

It was determined that the machine was broken by John.” 

This statement is quite lengthy and it is conveying the information with lots of difficulties.

“John broke the machine.” 

This statement is conveying accurate information precisely. 

5. Strong Technical Mindset

A technical writer should have the ability to learn about new tools and technologies. Day-by-day there are a lot of changes occurring in the world and the same thing is with technical writing. 

A technical writer with a technical mindset drew a broad range of information and ideas. A technical writer’s mindset determines technologies researchers that suggest the use of existing or new technologies which is first and foremost, driven by managerial mindsets.

6. Non- Anthropomorphic

A technical writer should be focused on their choice of words and the texture of their information. A technical writer should not apply human attributes while conveying the information. For example,

‘The client machine loves thin applications.’ 

This statement conveys incorrect information about machines because a machine doesn’t have human attributes or emotions.

‘A client machine works more efficiently with thin applications.’ 

This statement is conveying reasonable information so that audiences didn’t get confused with the text or information. It is direct, precise, and correct. 

7. Presentation 

First of all, a technical writer should understand the fundamental elements of technical writing such as the target audience, subject matter, and purpose of the writing throughout the research, and analyze the process. If a writer is not clear with the purpose and facts the writer will not be able to achieve the desired results.

In the process of presenting technical writing, the writer should be aware to make good visuals and use them effectively with catchy words and relatable images. In technical writing content, design, page, and graphics urged a powerful impact upon the audience. While presenting technical writing, visuals are used to explain the better information. Like doodle art, anime art, painting art the new and effective visual designs forms in technical writing presentation.

Graphics of the object helps the user to interpret the information in a better way and faster than others because the real images help to organize the product completely. The impact of graphics is to make the user understand, not for the decoration. The graphics should be added between the paragraphs and relevant to the writing. Using high-quality, related, original, and better-placed graphics would make a better impact while understanding.

In the presentation of technical writing, listicle forms are useful in three ways:  to write a series of related items, to describe a series of tasks, and to make items visually accessible.  Lists can be written in a sentence or set off from the text vertically.  Items listed vertically are prefaced with a bullet, number, or checkmark.  Bulleted lists make items easy to see or locate, numbered lists organize steps in a process, and checklists communicate items that are required or need to be completed.

8. Tone of your Language 

Technical writing should be concise and concrete but it does not mean easy or fast. Use a stylesheet and follow the instructions consistently. The active voice is easier to read and understand than the passive voice. WheInactivesible, choose the active voice in your sentences. Inactive voice, the subject of the sentence is the doer of the action. The presentation of information should be factual. Misleading information can be dangerous in some instincts.

In technical writing grammar, punctuation, spelling sentence structure, and choice of words are more important than anything else. The technical writer should avoid using difficult words. There should be more focus on readability and comprehension. Simple and reasonable sentence structure keeps the reader away from getting lost.

Eventually, the tone of technical writing should be accurate, concise, interesting, logical, clear, and consistent. 

For example,

“The voltage across a forward-biased silicon diode is small.”

This statement is irrelevant and it does not clarify the information well.

“The voltage across a forward-biased silicon diode is 0.7 V.”

The tone and language of this statement is clear and accurate. It conveys reasonable information to the audience.

9:Readable

Technical writing should be direct, concise, specific, correct, relevant, and logically consistent so it delivers rightful information and is readable by the audience. Technical writing should be planned systematically like pre-writing, drafting, revision, or editing. Always remember the purpose, topic, or product and its particular requirements. In technical writing, facts are the key factor.

Technical writing should have cohesiveness that will be easy to follow and read by the readers. For example, 

‘ Start the car and insert the ignition key’

This statement conveys incorrect information and is irrelevant, the consumer can get confused with this type of information.

‘ Insert the ignition key and start the car’ 

This statement is conveying the correct information and it is direct, precise, and reasonable. This type of information never confuses the consumer or audience. This type of information produces the relevant or desired results.

10: Be a Team Player

The technical writer should have the quality to perform as a team player. Sometimes a big project demands teamwork. A team player should have important qualities such as 

• A team player should be cooperative and flexible
• A team player should actively listen to other members opinion
• A team player should be reliable and responsible
• A team player should be a problem-solver 
• A team player should acknowledge mistakes and handles them wisely 
• A team player should be motivated, respectful, and helpful. 

More about Technical Writing:

Technical is specifically a technical communication that transmits direct and correct information to a specific audience. It is precisely used in technical and professional fields such as Computer Hardware and Software, Aerospace, Engineering, Biotechnology, Forestry, Finance, Medical, Chemistry, Consumer Electronics, and Robotics. 

The roots of Technical writing can be traced out to the classical age. Technical writing has been recognized as a professional career since World War II. Writers like Aristotle and Geoffrey Chaucer are the pioneers of technical writing. The Scientist and Inventors like Isaac Newton and Leonardo da Vinci, their technical documentation played a crucial role in building up the modern form of technical writing and communication. 

The early pioneer of technical writing is Joseph Chapline who published the first in 1949, the piece of technical writing which is a user manual for the computer that he developed, the BINAC. The origin of this user manual broke new ground in that before, there wasn’t an officially recognized demand for documentation meant to aid and inform the reader.

The era of the Industrial Revolution is a remarkable period for the technical writing profession. With the modern revolution, there are a lot of changes that have come out in technical writing. The Technical writer should have Software skills like MS Office, Dreamweaver, Framemaker, X Metal, RoboHelp, Arbortext Editor. Moreover, Technical writing is audience-centered technical communication that creates technical documentation such as user manuals, installation documents, whitepapers, design documents, technical reports, etc. 

Technical writing is one of the broadly growing skills in the professional workplace. According to a survey, the estimated growth of this writing until 2024 will be 10%, which is faster than any other occupation. Technical writing refers to writing that is regarding a specific area of marketing, usually in science and technology. The reason is the approach of technical writing for a specific object, procedure, or idea.

However, technical writing always has a specific purpose and will always have a reader.  Regardless of the number of the planned readers of a document who may or may not read the document, but the document will be read by the primary reader.

Conclusion:

In short, in this modern digital generation, technical writing is a revolutionary career opportunity that paved the way for many writers. Technical writers work differently in various fields. Technical writer’s main motive is to convey rightful information to their target audience. Furthermore, the article highlights the easy rules and important qualities of technical writing. 

Nowadays, technical writing is usually used in all the industries that provide services or sell a specific object. It is the best way of making the user understand your product.

However, the fact is that in this modern world of competition highlights the big problem: dependency. This unpredictable pandemic catastrophe affects our health as well as the economy. So, there should be an implication of a new stream of income such as Technical Writing, GST or GST Practitioner, Content Writing, and many more.

Recommended Reads:

Scope of Technical Writer in India

How to Become a Successful Technical Writer 

Latest Technical Writing Jobs in India 2021 [Updated] 

Demand for Technical Writers: Top 15 Jobs that You Can Take Up

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