Principles of Technical Writing

Well written technical documentation serves valuable purposes in the workplace. Reviewing the basic principles of technical content writing can help you become successful technical writer to a great extent. The key principles of technical writing are as follows:

Audience Orientation: Focus on what need of the audience does the document aim to fulfill. Take into account the level of expertise of the audience. Consider how the document should be organized so that it fulfills the need of the user most conveniently.

Organization and Content: Convey ideas and analysis, not just raw data and statistics. Illustrate points made in the text using graphics, images and descriptive examples. Allow the reader to digest one block of information at a time by organizing the information into paragraphs and subheadings. Make it easy for the reader to find the main points; don’t bury them in text. Write observed facts from a neutral point of view so that communication is fair and unbiased. Use cross references in the text to clarify or elucidate points. The overall logical organization of the document must lead to the result stated.

Formatting: Document formatting drastically increases the user friendliness and readability of a document. Chapter and section titles must be descriptive and informative. Line spacing and paragraph indentation can give the document an open, easy look by introducing ample white space. Font sizes and styles should be chosen so that they are large enough to be legible, and yet look good. Page numbers and header-footer content make it easy to navigate through long documents.

Language: We must remember that technical writing seeks to convey information in a simple yet (if possible) interesting manner. Keeping this in view, use simple vocabulary and short sentences. Aviod redundant words e.g. “New innovative”. Delete words, sentences and phrases that do add to the meaning. Take special care of spellings, grammar and punctuation. Use active voice wherever possible, since sentences normally turn out to be shorter e.g.

Passive- “It is supposed that…”

Active- “Supposing…”

Avoid using “I” in formal reports. Use “I” in progress reports, memos, letters, sometimes proposals. Use past tense to describe your experimental work and results. Use present tense in most other writing. The document can be made interesting by using an active mix of simple and complex sentences of limited length.