A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TECHNICAL WRITING

1
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TECHNICAL WRITING

• By Papia Bawa

2
What is Technical Writing?

• Composing text for the purpose of conveying
  specific information about a particular subject,
  craft, or occupation (eg creating computer
  manuals, or writing textbooks).

3
What do technical writers do?

• Technical writers translate technical ideas into
  words a specific audience will understand.
• Technical writers create documentation for a
  technology. Their responsibility is to
  effectively communicate a message.

4
What are its key elements?

• Appropriate Language
• Precision
• Presentation
• Cohesion
• Format

5
The three cardinal rules.

• Rule 1 Accessibility
• Accurate facts and grammar
• Clear no ambiguity
• Complete only necessary information
• Corroborated examples and verifiable data
• Organized logical and coordinated
• Attractive visually pleasing and easy to read

6
Rule 2 Usability

• Technical writers do not only write ABOUT
  "technology". They also write FOR technological
  systems, such as computer software.
• Remember what is useful may not be usable!
• How long did your reader take to find a specific
  information?
• Multi-layering
• Multi- media formats

7
Rule 3 Relevance

• Information is relevant if the audience can apply
  it to the associated task.
• Consistency is imperative to maintaining
  relevance.
• Trim the fat.
• Categorize or chunk your document.

8
Scope of Technical Writing

• Technical writing, a subset of technical
  communication, is used in fields as diverse as
  chemistry, the aerospace industry, robotics,
  consumer electronic products such as VCRs or
  digital cameras, biotechnology, software,
  computer hardware, and many others.

9
Prewriting Steps

• Identify your scope
• Familiarize yourself with the work environment
• Familiarize yourself with the product
• Identify the audience for the documentation
• Specify perceived audience requirements
• Roughly estimate project duration and resources
• Research audience requirements

10
While Writing

• Keep it Short (Cut needless words, needless
  information, stale phrases, and redundant
  statements).
• Keep it Simple (Use familiar words, short
  sentences and short paragraphs, keep your subject
  matter as simple as possible).
• Keep it Visual (Use appropriate visual aids, like
  graphs, diagrams, pictures etc)

11
Post Writing Steps

• Conduct documentation reviews ( to ensure that
  your documentation is technically correct and
  readable, you need to get it reviewed).
• Conduct usability testing

12
Technical Writing Genres

• Operational guides
• Presentation materials
• Press Releases
• Web applications
• Contracts, proposals, and grants
• Feasibility reports

• Web pages
• Travel guides
• Training materials
• Advertising
• Procedures
• Questionnaires and forms
• Instruction manuals

13
Difference from conventional writing?

• Technical Writing
• factual, straight-forward
• specific
• inform, instruct, persuade
• formal, standard, academic
• objective
• specialized
• sequential, systematic

• Conventional Writing
• imaginative, metaphoric or symbolic
• general
• entertain, provoke, captivate
• informal, artistic, figurative
• subjective
• general, evocative
• arbitrary, artistic

14
To sum up Technical Writing is

• Clearis easily understood by the intended
  audience without ambiguities.
• Accurateis factual, correct, free from bias.
• Correctfollows both grammatical and technical
  conventions.
• Comprehensivecontains all necessary information.
• Conciseis clear and complete without excess or
  redundant verbiage.
• Accessibleincludes headings and subheads,
  indexes, and table of contents.  

15
Now, let the fun begin