Characteristics of Technical Writing

Technical writing is a type of writing where the author is writing about a particular subject that requires
direction, instruction, or explanation. This style of writing has a very different purpose and different
characteristics than other writing styles such as creative writing, academic writing or business writing.
The following are the characteristics of technical writing.
1) It pertains to a technical subject.
Technical writing must pertain to some subject area such as the following:
o Philosophy, psychology, and religion
o History, Geography and anthropology
o Social sciences
o Law and political science
o Education
o Fine arts
o Language and literature
o Science and technology
o Agriculture, health and medicine
2) It has a purpose.
A technical document always is written for a reason, and the purpose of reports may be to
o Explain what was done
o Why it was done
o The results of a study
The purpose of reports and papers should also be clearly stated.
3) It has an objective.
The objective of a technical report is the overall reason for doing the work. For example,
in an industrial situation, the objective of any work is usually to make or increase profits.
4) It conveys information/facts/data.
o Technical writing should have substance in every statement.
o A report without facts or scientific evidence to support an opinion also lacks
credibility.
o The use of data and factual information makes the work a technical report.
5) It is concise.
 A sentence is always harder to read and understand than a simple declarative sentence.
 Sentences are like baggage. Only carry what you need and not a bit more.
 Make Sure to Use
 Simple words
 Clear sentences
 Coherent paragraphs
6) It has 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.
 Watch out for
 Acronyms, abbreviations, and jargon
 Slangs and foreign words
 Biased language
7) It has 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.
8) Timeliness.
 Timeliness is very important for a report on a problem or investigation.
 Problems are a big part of any industry or business, and most engineers spend a
significant portion of their career solving problems.
 State the outcome in your own words and provide them in documentation in a timely
way.
9) Use of active language.
 Action coupled with a direct statement is at the heart of effective technical writing.
 Strong, active verbs give your writing energy and power that add interest and
understanding to the message.
 Verbs express either action or state of being. Action verbs convey movement and energy.
 Action verbs can describe events in either an active voice or a passive voice.
 In the active voice, the subject of the sentence names the entity that performed the action.
Sentences in the active voice have a direct subject- verb-object structure.
 In the passive voice, the subject names the entity that was acted upon Sentences in the
passive voice have an indirect structure: the object, a helping form of the verb to be, and
the past participle of the action verb.