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Chapter-7
BASICS OF TECHNICAL WRITING

1. Definition of Technical Writing

 Technical writing is the process of interpreting and translating
difficult information for easy comprehension of the potential users of
such information.
 Defined as writing technical information for the benefit of someone
who doesn’t have technical background know-how in that area.
 Communications information clearly and directly to the target
audience.
 Minimizes the gap between the technical experts and the end users.
 Formal communication which presents high level technical
information to general audience in an easy, readable and interesting
manners..
 Technical writers-people who understand a technology and present
it to the customers.
 Create product information in the form of user manuals, help menus
handouts and so on.

2. Evolution of Technical Writing

 1949 -Joseph [Link] wrote a user manual for BINAC.
 1951 -The first advertisement for technical writer:”The Help Wanted”
advertisements are published.
 1952 -Joseph [Link] developed a technical documentation for
UNICAC Computers.
 1960 -Sustained growth of electronics and aeronautics resulted in
large scale demand for technical writers.
 1971 -The first issue of the Journal of Technical writing and
communication published
 1980 -Us Department of Justice established technical
communication as a recognized profession.
 1987 -Desktop Publishing (DTP) became popular Several Software
like Corel Venture, Publisher, Interleaf, Adobe Frame Maker, Page
Maker etc. were developed.
 1999 -Introduction of XML
 The need for construction of help menu and menu driven software
increased the requirement of help menus and technical
documentation
 2002 -Introduction of Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) insisted companies
to generate financial reports
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 Such policy reports include info graphics, flowcharts, policy

manuals, accounting manuals procedural write ups etc.
 This created a boom in the technical communication scenario.

3. What are the different types of Technical documents

Different types of technical documents
1. Letter, memo, e-mail
2.. Technical reports
3. Technical Proposals
4.. Research Paper, Dissertation, and Thesis
5. Instructions
6. User Manual
7. Technical descriptions
The various types of technical documents in detail.
1. Letters, Memos and e-mail
a. Letters
 Formal communication methods between individuals or small groups
of officials.
 Documents less than two pages
 Meant for quick and easy communication
 Direct to the point and tell matters precisely.
 A technical document creates a positive emotional response from
the reader.
 Business Communication depends largely on letters, memos and
emails.
 Letters are classified into
1) Credit letter -to enquire or request for loans
2) Enquiry letter- to know the status of something
3) Order letter- to place an order
4) Claim letter- to seek or complain
5) Sales letter- to sell a product or service
6) Cover letter- to introduce
7) Persuasive letter- to convince someone to do or think
b. Memos
 Aim at high-tech or low-tech audience who share the same
professional or business environment
 Made for internal circulation
 Target audience- employees, management personal, major state
holders.
C. E-mails
 The modern official communication channel in a corporate arena
 Convey short routine messages quickly
 Sent to multiple readers of various knowledge levels
 Degree of formality is much lesser than that of memos & letters.
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 Include abbreviation, user friendly short forms and a conversational

style
 Circulation is meant for the internal and external publics of an
organization.
2. Technical Reports
 The precise, relevant and factual details of a technology or a device
 Helps in understanding a product and accordingly one can take a
decision in favor or against it
 Reports in an organizational communication set up
 Are authentic information sources
 Help management personnel for planning and making decisions for
future operations
 Indicate the company’s growth and success in its business
endeavors
 The major types of reports are
1. Informative reports
2. Analytical reports
3. Periodic reports
4. Special reports

3. Technical Proposals
 Suggestive communication in resolving a problem
 Written in a comprehensive manner
 Element of persuasion-hidden or submerged in a language and data
 Have a wide range of purposes
 Aim-solving a problems, altering a procedure, finding answers to
questions offering advice and training or conduction research on topic
Two types
1. Business or sale proposals
 Sent to potential clients or customers of a firm
2. Research Proposals
 Prepared by academicians (professors or researchers)
 Aim-to gets approval and sanction of grants to pursue in-depth studies
and scientific analysis on a particular subject.

4. .Research Papers, Dissertations & theses
a. Research Paper
 The first disclosure of findings of new study which undergoes a peer
review
 The press may access the observations report experiments and
evaluate the intellectual process.
b. Dissertation
 A study of a particular topic for the partial fulfillment of a course for a
university degree.
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 Does not exceed 20,000 words

 Original, demonstrative and relevant work on a topic
c. Thesis
Much longer and complex than dissertation
 The outcome of an extensive study on a research problem over
several years
 Based on the systematic analyses and findings
 A long research report
 Identifies a research problem- explaine the methods to study the
problem (assumptions are made)
 Presents the data collected for the study- detailed analysis and
findings will add the authenticity
 The review of literature, biblography and eitations-make the thesis a
reliable reports of study
5. Instructions
 A type of business communications which enables the end user to
complete a task stop by stop.
 Guides in decision making and trouble shooting
 Can be either oral or written
 Have
 An introduction
 General warnings
 Caution or danger notices
 Technical background or theory
 A list of equipment
 Step by step progress of the task
 Additional explanatory information are given at the end, if required.
6. User manuals
 Assist or lead the end users to operate the product
 A small booklet or leaflet attached with the package of a product
7. Technical descriptions
 Identify and define objects or processes
 Breaks down large amount of information into manageable lots
 Undergoes different steps:
 Naming
 Defining
 Describing
 Illustrating
 Ends with a description of one complete cycle of operation
4. What are the qualities of technical writer
a. Language skills
b. Quick adaptation to different roles
c. Technical skills
d. Updating of knowledge
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e. Teaching skills
f. Interpersonal skills
g .Open to criticism
h .Professionalism
a. Language Skills
 The ability to convey ideas easily and concisely
 Should convey ideas in short sentences.
b. Quick adaptation to different roles
 Have to take different roles (narrators creative writers, corporate
communicators teachers etc) in a corporate environment
 Should adapt themselves to the changing environments naturally
c. Technical skills
 Must know the jargons of the industry and how to render it to a
technologically illiterate end user.
d. Updating of Knowledge
 Should update their knowledge of the ever growing industry
 Must learn new things that confront them in their professional
environments.
e. Teaching skills
 Should have a clear idea about the subject matter (while writing
something)
 Must master the subject with the aim of teaching someone else
 The ‘learn to teach’ approach is helpful for technical writers.
f. Interpersonal skills
 Should possess good interpersonal communication skills to get
information from professionals
g. Open to criticism
 Must listen to the critics and make the necessary changes.
 Should take lessons from others
 Correct mistakes to make things positive
h. Professionalism
 Understand the industrial needs and show patience in solving
problems
 Interact with the maintenance engineers and colleagues smoothly
 Develop the ability to write clearly
 Enjoy the techniques of showing the ideas in graphics
5. The Process of Technical Writing

 Divided into 3 stages

1. Planning

2. Drafting/ writing stage

3. Revising/ editing stage

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1. Planning

 The first step in the process of technical writing

 Step in planning are
 Define the audience
 Conduct audience analysis
 Plan and organize the content for the target
 Draw flowchart

Techniques in writing

a. Free writing

(a) Liberates writers from any critical thoughts about their writing

(b) Original thoughts are born.

(c) W rite the concepts systematically explaining the central theme

b. Invention heuristic

 Asking oneself as many questions as possible about the topic and

trying to find answers.

2. Drafting or writing stage

 The actual writing process

 Technical writers generate language and discover content and format
of the technical document

The major aspects of writing are

a. Language appropriateness
b. Conciseness and flow
c. Maintenance of impersonal and formal language
d. Bias free language
e. Maintenance of style
f. Adaptability
g. Clarity
h. Word economy
i. Sentence variety
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a. Language appropriateness

The following tips would help to ensure language appropriateness

 Use suitable level of language

 Avoid slangs
 Plain language is preferable
 Avoid euphemism. Eliminate a word which may embarass the
readers due to social stigma.

Substitute abstract words and ideas with concrete words and ideas
Abstract Concrete

An industrial worker A welder/plumper (specify the worker)

Furniture A table/chair

Apparel Shirt/trousers

Good attendance 93.5 percent attendance record

One of the leading companies Fifteenth among 6749 companies

The majority Specify in percentage like 78% or 3/4th and so on

In the near future By 15th of this month

Substantial amount 1500 million dollars or $150000000/-

Considerable amount Specify the amount as Rs. 3450

As soon as Within 22nd morning 10 am

b. Conciseness and flow

 Remove redundancy (repetition of words and ideas)
 Reduce clauses and phrases in a sentence use simple sentences
 Avoid adjectives and adverbs
 Cut unnecessary expressions
c. Maintenance of impersonal and formal language
 Technical writing demands impersonal form of communication
 The personal views, beliefs and prejudices of the writer should
not be reflected in the writing
d. Bias free language
 Avoid biases (gender bias, disability bias, racial and ethnic bias)
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Avoid slanted thoughts impressions of a race, nationality, culture,

class, gender.
 Avoid words like ‘servants’ ‘mentally retarded’ ‘handicap’ ‘mad’.
e. Maintenance of style.
 Avoid abstract words
 Prefer short sentences
 Avoid repetition of words and ideas
 Use active voice
 Include positive language
 Remove clichés
 Follow the SVO (subject +verb + object) pattern
f. Adaptability
 Technical documents should be adaptable to the target audience
 Should analyze the audience
 Types of audience
 High-tech audience
 Low-tech audience
 Lay audience
 For high-tech audience, jargons need no explanation
 Low-tech audience needed parenthetical definition
 A parenthetical remark is said in addition to the main part of what you
are saying or writing.
 Avoid jargon in case of low-audience
 Lay audience need adequate explanations with definitions
 Replace unpleasant words with pleasant words
g. Clarity
 Describe ideas in a clear manner
 Clarity of expression gives clarity in understanding
 Specify the expressions like "a lot of", huge, slight amounts in standard
measures.
 Choose concrete, precise and familiar vocabulary in presenting a
subject matter
h. Word economy
 Use least number of words to explain a concept
 Avoid word clutter and lengthy sentences
 Use graphic representation or a table with more straight data
 Picture elements communicates faster
 The visual elements make the document more reader friendly and
effective
i. Sentence Variety
 Avoid repeated use of words, sentence patterns and idioms
 Create variety in writing by making use of wide diction.
 Avoid overuse of variety
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 Revising or editing stage

 The third stage in the writing process
 An imperative stage (a good writer spends 50% of his entire writing
schedule for revising

3. Revising and Editing

 Review / Correction Phase
 This is the third stage of technical writing
 This is the most essential step
 Good writers use half of their time for review

6. Short note on User manual

 An elaborate account of a product
 Describes the installation operation and maintenance of a product
 Size depends on the use and complexity of the product.
Structure of a user Manual
 A user manual has
1. Cover
2. Precautions
3. Table of contents
4. Introductions
5. Abbreviations
6. Technical operations
7. Warranties
8. Accessories
1. Cover
The identity of a product as well as the company
Contain the name serial/mode number the logo and slogan of the
product.
2. Precautions
 Meant to warn the user about the hazards that may occur while
operating the machine or product
 Generally detail the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’
3. TOC (Table of Contents)
 Directs the user to locate his required information in the manual
4. Introduction
a. The company addresses the customer by thanking or congratulating
the customer in choosing the product
b. The positive expressions (welcome, valuable customer) leaves
lasting impressions
c. Readiness for the messages is created in the minds of the readers
5. Abbreviations
 Created for lengthy technical jargons or phrases
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 A glossary of abbreviations is given at the end of a technical

document
6. Technical specifications
 Introduce the product and its important parts to the user.
 A diagram is shown in which the important parts are marked visibly.
 Each part is numbered and defined in the same page.
7. Warranty
 A statement that contains the agreement showing the responsibility of
the company on a product.
 In case of malfunctions or serious damage within a designafed period,
the product will be replaced or repaired at the cost of the company
8. Accessories
 The list of accessories in the business diversion of the manufacturer.
 It is useful for the consumer (he/she gets valued added services from
the product)

[Link] of an Instruction/user Manual

 Have predetermined structure
 Begin with definition of audience
1. Definition of audience
By defining the audience
 The company gets the picture of the real targets
 The writers may focus on their communication aiming all the real
targets
2. Headline
 Give directions to the readers
 Help the audience for the easy location of the immediate needs of
audience regarding the user manual
 Add colour, typographical design, white space and provisions for
smooth navigation throughout the document
3. Introduction of situations
 Give and opening to specific task
 Set a platform for explaining the status of such operations.
 Explain the status of the company in the use of particular technology or
product.
Eg: Refrigerator companies claim that they are the first to introduce
CFC free gas emission
4. Prioritize different stages in a task
 Setting priorities in the execution of task is very important
 Each process is to be followed systematically to complete a task
 Give the order of priority with due care and consultation with experts.
5. List of tools
 Helps the user to equip for the execution of a task
 It is impossible to in search of a tool in the middle of an operation
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6. Narration of the process

 Describes the action
 A well written document describes each stage of the task in detail
 The step by step narration should lead the end user to the successful
completion of an operation.
7. Warnings
 Given at the beginning or end of the manual
 Depend on the nature of the product
8. Conclusion
 Instruction manuals end with a conclusion
 They make a note of positive attitudes about the product,
company and the users.
 Contain a reassurance about the company’s assistance is
future
 Gives
 The contact details of the company for communication
 Name of dealers
 Service networks
 Online help sites
 Official websites etc.