Technical Writing - Part 1

1 Introduction

1.1 Precision

Precision is crucial in technical writing. When you express an idea in technical writing, it may be realized in some device or process. If the idea is wrong, the device or process will also be wrong. To quote my friend, physicist and software engineer par excellence, Dr. George Hacken, “syntax is destiny.”

1.2 Indent

There should be no intent to evoke an emotional response from the reader. The technical writer should simply try to convey information as concisely and correctly as possible.

In poetry, prose, news reporting, and even business writing, it is necessary to convey information content or a story. But in poetry and prose, it is clear that an emotional response is desirable. The situation is the same in news, where the reporter may be looking to scare, shock, or evoke sympathy or pity from the reader. Even in everyday business correspondence such as advertising, contracts, lawsuits, job applications, and so on, a visceral response or at least a call to action is desirable.

A valid objective of technical writing may include persuasion of opinions, for example, convincing readers that a commonly held view about a topic is incorrect.

Encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, directories, and so on, although they may not be truly “technical,” fall under the category of technical writing. These items are truly “technical” in the sense of the precision needed

2 Technical Reporting

Technical reports are documents that are prepared for supervisors, subordinates, peers, customers, clients, and various government agencies. Typical technical reports include

• Progress reports
• Feasibility studies
• Specifications
• Proposals
• Facilities descriptions
• Manuals
• Procedures
• Planning documents
• Environmental impact statements
• Safety analysis reports
• Bug reports

all have a unity of purpose: to convey specic information in an archival way. By archival I mean that the document is intended to be stored and referenced for many years.