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Characteristics of Technical Writing
Course: Structure Of English (TQA7003 )
189 Documents
Students shared 189 documents in this course
University: Universiti Malaya
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Characteristics of Technical Writing
Characteristics of
Technical Writing
Description of Characteristic
Understanding Why
You are Writing
(Purpose)
Is the purpose of writing…
•To inform: to provide information without expecting any action on the
part of the reader?
•To instruct: to give information in the form of directions, instructions,
procedures, so that readers will be able to do something?
•To propose: to respond to a request for proposals (RFP) or to suggest a
plan of action for a specific problem?
•To recommend: to suggest an action or series of actions based on
alternative possibilities that have been evaluated?
•To persuade: to convince readers to take action, to change their attitudes
or behaviors based on valid opinions and evidence?
Writing for the
Audience
Since the goal of technical writing is information transfer (sending a clear, noise-
free message), what you say and how you say it depends on the audience. The
nature of the audience determines the level of technical detail, the amount of
“context/background” information you provide, and the organization of the
document. It is important to understand who is reading the document so that the
information you convey is transferred effectively. As a writer, it is crucial to have
an awareness of the reader’s knowledge, ability level, and interest in the
information being conveyed.
Satisfying Document
Specifications
(Genre/Type of
Document)
Document specifications include…
•Adherence to document type (genre)--understanding what is expected in
an email vs. a memo, knowing the difference between a proposal and a
recommendation report, and understanding how to write up the results of
an experiment vs. the conclusions;
•Format--many document types specify a specific format be followed, for
example, various professional journals and government documents require
specified
--font
--margins
--labeling for figures and graphics
--line and paragraph spacing
--number of words per document or per section
--section headings and subheadings
Providing Accurate
Information
Being truthful and accurate are the cornerstones of technical writing. Technical
writing is rarely about opinion. Technical and scientific writing is grounded in
fact. It always wrong and unethical to falsify information and data, and that is
particularly true in technical writing. Providing inaccurate or wrong information
causes readers to question your credibility and reliability. It is important to always
report the facts about a particular experiment, even if those facts are not what were
expected or desired.