Technical Writing

Clarity

It is essential that the technical writer understands the reader's background and needs. Making the documentation too technical can confuse the reader. The document is meaningless if the intended audience does not understand what the writer wants to communicate. Writers who are well aware of their audiences are in a position to give a solution to their problems. The profession of technical writing demands simplicity of language and clarity of expression. One must avoid unnecessary words that may put the readers in a quandary. The written document must be clear and concise so that the text becomes easier to grasp and understand.

Descriptiveness

Electronic products such as digital cameras or VCRs often come with manuals that tell how to operate it. As the customers may come from a non-technical background, care must be taken that the manual is not difficult to understand. Certain key concepts to operate the product must be explained as easily as possible for the targeted readers. If your use pure jargons, the customer will possibly never know what you want to say. Explaining the product in layman's terms is absolutely necessary. Good technical writing conveys ideas in the most effective manner. A well-written technical document always contains answers to anticipated problems in the product or application. This aspect of technical writing is commonly seen in articles that are related to troubleshooting a particular software or product.

Accuracy

Accuracy is an important characteristic of any technical document. A slight mistake can have grave consequences. For instance, if you forget to mention some important features of a new mobile phone, the customers may think that there is nothing special in that phone and will not prefer to buy it. Effective communication requires quality content and language that is accurate and readable. Technical writing does not mean that you translate information unquestioningly. In this profession, one must know for whom the document is being written and whether it is accurate.

Correctness

The grammatical structure of your technical document should be correct and free from any kind of ambiguities. The intended meaning will not be communicated to the reader if the document has ambiguous sentences. A well-organized document that makes use of headings and sub-headings is not only pleasing to the eye but will also helps the reader to find specific information in a short time.

Veracity means adherence to the truth; truthfulness. So if a technical report lacks veracity that means that it is false.

Distance yourself from falsehood" (Exodus 23:7)

Mechanism Description

explains the arrangement and shape of an object in space. Such a description may involve movement, complex motions are better handled with the process description. Typically, the parts of mechanism description answer the following questions in order: * What is it? * What is its function? * What does it look like? * How does it work? * What are its principal parts? ** Give a detailed description of each part. ** Each of these parts may require a mechanism description of its own. Process Description

explains the arrangement of a sequence in chronological order. In organization, it is similar to mechanism description, except that the "part-by-part" becomes step by step: * What is it? * What is its function? * Where and when does it take place? * Who or what performs it? * How does it work? * What are its principal steps? [2] Process description includes sequence, instructions and procedure; however, only instruct if you expect your reader to perform the process you describe. Try to keep separate these two concepts: "How to do something" and "How something occurs" The first calls for instructions or procedure; the second, for sequence. Classification

involves grouping things together (on the basis of similarities) and dividing them (according to differences). Classification assists in the complete consideration of a topic .Note the danger of Faulty Coordination. Partition

is the act of dividing things into their component parts; very similar to classification, and an inevitable part of mechanism description and process description .Partition could be spatial (how each part looks) or functional (how each part works). Definition

uses words to fix the meaning of a thing -- to make it "definite". The short definition (a paragraph or a single sentence) is essential to technical writing. For instance, the Mechanism Description and the Process Description each begin with a call for a definition. A definition answers the question "what is it?" Good definitions employ the following formula: species = genus + differentia thing to be defined = group to which

the thing belongs + specific details that separate it

from other things in its group A batten is a tapered piece of wood that fits into a pocket in the trailing edge

of a sail, helping it hold the shape

that allows it to propel a boat. Sometimes definitions might be much longer than one sentence, in which case you are still trying to answer "what is it?" but will be using most other patterns to help answer it: you can define by describing, classifying, comparing, etc.

Accurate

Brevity

Confidence

Dignity

Emphasis

Facility

Grammatical correctness

Honesty

Illustrations

Judgement

Knowledge

Logic

Mechanical Neatness

Objective

Planning

Qualification

Revision

Straight sentences

Thoroughness

Unity

Viewpoint

Word choice

Zest