Learn how to use Technical Writing from APU Staff Writing Coach Mandy in this workshop tutorial. In this video, she will go over key aspects to the style, examples of good technical writing, and tips to improve your own work.

Hi everyone and welcome to the introduction to technical writing workshop.

My name is Mandy and I am a staff coach at the writing center here at APU.

The goal of this presentation is to help you better understand what technical writing is, when to use it, and how to use it effectively.

This is an introductory workshop and is intended to provide only a basic overview of technical writing.

There are handouts available to complement this presentation, including a chart that compares and contrasts technical writing with other common types of writing, and a handout outlining the technical writing rules of bulleted and numbered lists.

If you are in a field that uses technical writing regularly, I encourage you to continue learning more about this style of writing.

Technical writing skills are highly valued in many fields and can give you an advantage in the job market.

I want to start by using a quote from Albert Einstein, If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.

There is a common misconception implying that simplicity in writing comes from simple-minded or unintelligent writers.

As the renowned genius states, though, it actually takes a thorough understanding of a concept in order to explain it in simple terms.

In fact, 1 of the easiest ways to tell if a person understands a concept well is to see if they ramble or go in circles as they try to explain it.

Technical writing is used to inform, instruct, or direct a specific audience through maximum clarity and precision with a specific tangible goal in mind.

Notice it only has 3 purposes, either to inform, instruct, or direct.

On rare occasions, technical writing may be used to indirectly persuade the reader through informing, instructing, or directing them.

Think of a nonprofit newsletter which may do nothing but inform you of what the charity is doing, but with the hope that this will encourage you to act in some way.

Another example is a warning sign that says a dangerous spark of electricity could happen if you touch a wire.

It is encouraging you not to touch the wire by informing you what will happen if you do.

Technical writing never directly persuades, it only informs, instructs, or directs.

Notice also that the definition says to a specific audience and with a tangible goal.

We will talk more about those later in the presentation.

On a similar note, many people often mistakenly believe that technical writing is only for technology-centered fields or fields in architecture and engineering.

While technical writing is commonly used in these fields, it is actually a style of writing that is not specific to any particular field.

It's based on something called Puritan Plain Style, which is a type of writing where uncomplicated sentences and ordinary words are used to make simple, direct statements.

This style was favored by the Puritans who wanted to express themselves clearly in accordance with their religious beliefs.

In modern times, however, this style is often used in technology, architecture, and engineering fields, but it is also common in business and many other disciplines.

Keeping the definition of technical writing in mind, Can you think of any examples in writing that use 1 of these purposes?

You may want to pause the video to give yourself a little bit of time to think.

Here are some examples of technical writing.

Some other examples might include textbooks, lists of instructions, how-to tutorials, hiring resources, training manuals, job descriptions, offer letters, most web pages, and more.

The next few slides will be some visual examples of what different types of technical writing might look like.

This is a tutorial in a magazine showing how to drive a golf ball further.

This 1 is a poster for how to use chopsticks.

This example shows the articles of incorporation for a church.

This is an instruction manual on how to use the office printer.

This example is a humorous adaptation, but the concept still applies.

This 1 is a medical pamphlet about cholesterol.

A manual for using or putting together an appliance is also a technical writing example.

And finally this 1 is a research article about a math problem.

All of these examples have been examples of technical writing.

Notice that some of them are from technology fields but others are not, such as the Articles of Incorporation for Church or a medical pamphlet about cholesterol.

However, these are still examples of technical writing because they use that same Puritan plain style writing that favors direct and simple statements over anything else.

Before we discuss how technical writing is unique, let's first talk about the similarities between technical writing and other types of writing.

First, you still have to use some kind of writing process that includes brainstorming or pre-writing, drafting, revision, and editing.

Though the process may look a bit different from other types of writing, it's still important that you do not simply turn in or publish writing that you have simply drafted with minimal effort.

The writing will still take time and effort, even though it may be shorter than other writing.

It may actually take longer to know exactly what information is essential to include and what information is essential to leave out.

Every word must count in technical writing.

You still have to employ strong language skills, including correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and more.

You will likely need to heavily research the topic you're writing about too.

Like Einstein said, you can't explain it simply if you don't understand it well enough.

You also don't want to accidentally provide the wrong information to your reader.

And finally, just how your professors may ask you to use APA or another style, technical writing requires a strong knowledge of its own guidelines and rules, and each individual field or company will have its own rules that must also be carefully used.

You may be wondering why some of these similarities are still important.

Here are a few examples of how just a simple punctuation mistake or ambiguity can completely change the meaning of the sentence.

We just want to tell grandma that it's time to eat.

You may see these other examples as well.

Without commas, if you say the panda eats shoots and leaves, you're talking about a panda bear who is eating shoots and leaves from a bamboo stalk.

But if you add commas, you're actually talking about a panda who is not just eating bamboo, but is also shooting something and leaving the scene of the crime.

Here is a sentence from a business document that has no commas.

The initial workshop identified the work scopes and phasing generated several different sourcing strategies for those work scopes and proposed selection criteria to compare the sourcing strategies to best benefit the project.

First, that's a really difficult sentence to read.

It doesn't have any commas, and we don't know where to pause.

Let's look at some different examples of what the proper example may look like.

The way this sentence is worded without punctuation, it probably means 1 of 2 things, but we can't be sure.

Is it indicating that all the workshop did was identify work scopes, while the phasing process did the rest?

Or is it a list of the different items the workshop accomplished?

The workshop identified the work scopes and phasing, it generated sourcing strategies, and it proposed selection criteria.

Without the commas, we don't know, and the business document does not accomplish its intended purpose to inform.

Remember this when you're writing your own technical writing examples.

If you choose not to include commas or you include them in the wrong places, you are likely to confuse your reader, which could have drastic consequences.

Now that we have identified some of the ways that technical writing is similar to other writing styles, let's look at what makes it different.

First, the audience or readership is usually much more specific than other writing styles.

In fact, the written material is often only written for 1 job title and it may only ever be seen by those it's written for.

For example, instructions for putting together a military airplane would only be useful for an aircraft engineer, but the plans would probably only even be accessible to those particular engineers working on the project.

This is an extreme example, but the same is true for employee handbooks, professional lab reports, business proposals, contracts, and more.

It's likely that only those involved in the project will even ever see the document.

The presentation or structure of technical writing documents is also unique in that it values simplicity and clarity over anything else.

The famous phrase writing flow, often gained through transitions in varied sentence structure, is not important or even effective in technical writing.

Instead, short and precise language is valued.

If you tend to keep your writing short and to the point, this style may be just right for you.

Visuals Unlike many other styles or genres, visuals are highly encouraged in technical writing.

Pictures, drawings, or other graphics can help readers get an image in their head and ultimately better understand the directions or concepts being explained.

Do you remember teachers in high school and college telling you that you had to prove your credibility by using the credibility from other sources?

While that is important in academic research, especially as a student, in technical writing you are automatically assumed to be an expert on the topic.

If you try to prove your credibility, you will lose the trust and respect of your reader.

On a similar note, teachers probably also used to tell you that you had to make the information interesting when you write.

Perhaps for some writing assignments, you were asked to show emotion or give an opinion.

For creative writing, you were probably even asked at times to be a bit ambiguous so that you could create suspense in your story.

In technical writing, however, all information must be 100% objective, factual, unambiguous, up-to-date, and accurate without a shadow of a doubt.

Otherwise, someone could start a fire while trying to decipher your instructions for wiring an electronic device, or lose a business deal when providing incorrect information to a client.

Language Language is something that is explored differently in every style of writing, But many require word choices that can be understood by most in a particular field or even the general population.

In technical writing though, you are encouraged to use highly specialized language from the field because jargon keeps the language precise for readers in that particular job or career.

They hear the words every day, so using less precise words would be more confusing than field-specific jargon.

The tone in technical writing is even more formal than a research paper.

There is no originality involved at all, and it must be as direct and clear as possible.

Absolutely no colloquialisms, slang, or fillers are allowed.

Examples In other academic writing courses, you are likely encouraged to use examples in order to explain or support the main points or arguments in your papers.

But in technical writing, examples are far less common.

Examples should only be included when they are necessary for reader comprehension.

If you would like more information about how technical writing compares to other types of writing, particularly academic writing or creative writing, you can see the technical writing compare and contrast handout.

So far, we've spent the time in this workshop by defining technical writing, providing examples, and discussing the similarities and differences between technical writing and other types of writing.

The next group of slides will discuss the rules that should be followed when using technical writing.

You may want to jot these down and have them available as a checklist whenever you write in this style.

The first rule is to remember the purpose of your writing.

Are you informing, instructing, proposing or indirectly persuading?

Writings will look very different depending on the purpose, and if you write without purpose, you will probably not receive the desired results.

Be sure to shape your writing to fit the purpose and make your goals clear as early as possible.

The next rule is to remember and understand your audience.

Always be sure to know exactly who your audience is and remember them as you write.

Because technical writing is so audience specific, having a misconception or confusion about your audience can be quite costly.

What are your audience's concerns, backgrounds, and attitudes about what they are reading?

Are they experienced users or are they new to the field?

Shape your content to fit the needs of your audience and even the medium of your writing.

Know the topic or product and its particular requirements.

Always learn as much as you can about what you are being asked to write.

Going back to Einstein's quote, you have to understand it completely in order to explain it simply and effectively.

Be sure you are aware of any requirements that may be specific to the topic or product, such as what warnings you may need to provide or what misconceptions you may need to address.

Always use a style sheet when creating a long piece of technical writing.

This is important because any inconsistencies in word choice, punctuation choices, symbols, or structures can confuse readers.

Readers of technical writing often don't have the time to think about what they are reading and a Misreading can even be dangerous in some instances.

Concise writing enhances the reader's understanding because they don't have to weave through unnecessary information.

This is a bit different from writing precisely, because you can keep sentences short without making them clear.

Choose specific words that have clear implications and simple sentence structures that keep the reader from getting lost.

It can have no ambiguities, misinterpretation, or questions.

We already mentioned that visuals are common in technical writing, but these visuals have to be chosen and created carefully.

Any visual should serve a clear purpose, and the design of pages and content should also be carefully crafted to enhance comprehension.

There are a few writing rules that technical writing actually breaks.

Passive voice, for instance, is not only common in technical writing, but sometimes it's necessary.

If the subject or person isn't important, you want to keep them a secret, or you want to focus more on the action taking place, you may need to use passive voice.

For example, we could say, attendance to chapel is required, rather than Azusa Pacific University requires attendance to chapel, if we want to focus on the attendance part rather than the university itself.

Figurative language too is less common than other types of writing such as creative writing.

Whenever figurative language is used, which is rare, that figurative language should clearly enhance understanding and should refer to something that is familiar to most people.

For example, twist the nozzle clockwise like twisting on a bottle cap.

Most people have twisted on a bottle cap, so this could be an instruction that enhances understanding.

Using sentence fragments allows writers to present information briefly, especially in a bulleted or numbered list.

Always remember that if it enhances readability and comprehension, it is encouraged in technical writing.

We've talked about some of the rules of technical writing and even some of the rule writing rules that technical writing breaks, But what are some other characteristics of good technical writing?

Comprehensiveness of information keeps the reader from having to search for other sources of information.

Carefully choosing to emphasize important points while subordinating others can also help the reader focus where it's needed.

Clear use of signposts and headings that allow for an easy read can help the reader avoid getting lost in the information.

High quality writing that is void of standard usage errors will increase the reader's trust in you and will also enhance clarity.

Finally, a tone of confidence will also put the reader at ease, allowing them to focus on their task rather than on your qualifications.

We've talked a lot about writing clearly, but how do we learn to do that?

How can we ensure that users can easily read and understand the information we provide?

First, start by practicing these 8 tips as you write.

Whenever possible, open your sentences with a concise subject that is concrete.

For example, the car tires is a concrete subject.

But pumping the car tires is not concrete because the word pumping is not something we can touch.

For example, say the red wire controls the machine rather than the red wire allows the machine to be controlled.

The main sub, the main verb here should be control not allows because the red wire isn't really allowing anything it's simply controlling the machine.

If your verb is drives there should be very few words before the word drives.

In other words, always write as few words as possible.

Create affirmative sentences and avoid negative ones.

For example, say, always use gloves instead of never work with bare hands.

Remember the no new rule, which states that you should always begin a sentence with information your reader already knows, and then push new information to the end of the sentence.

Be sure to control sprawl in your sentences.

In other words, keep them simple with few clauses and phrases.

Finally, use parallel structure, which means that each part of a list should have the same grammatical structure.

Let's look at a couple of examples of these rules.

This example shows how to open sentences with short, concrete subjects, how to choose specific verbs, how to get to the main verb quickly, and how to be concise.

Once upon a time, as a walk through the woods was taking place on the part of Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf's jump out from behind a tree occurred, causing her fright.

Now, this is a story we're all familiar with.

But didn't it just make it extremely confusing, the way this is worded?

I'm going to read it 1 more time just for emphasis.

Once upon a time as a walk through the woods was taking place on the part of Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf's jump out from behind a tree occurred, causing her fright.

It's not using any of the suggestions above.

Once upon a time, Little Red Riding Hood was walking through the woods when the wolf jumped out from behind a tree and frightened her.

We have opened the sentence with a short concrete subject, Little Red Riding Hood.

Little Red Riding Hood was walking through the woods.

The wolf jumped out from behind a tree and the wolf frightened her.

The main verb here is actually was, but all that comes before it is, once upon a time, Little Red Riding Hood was walking through the woods.

Everything in this sentence is necessary for us to understand what's going on.

Remember that parallel structure ensures that each item in a list has the same structure.

Also, remember to be as concise as possible.

This is an incorrect usage of parallel structure.

In his spare time, James enjoys beach jogging, volunteering at his church, and has a third-degree black belt in karate.

You may have noticed that the third piece of the list that has a third-degree black belt in karate doesn't quite go along with the first 2, beach jogging and volunteering at his church.

So let's revise that so that each part of that list has the same grammatical structure.

In his spare time, Fred enjoys jogging on the beach, volunteering at his church, and practicing karate as a third-degree black belt.

You'll notice now, while this is a very simple example, when you have more complicated sentences or even more complicated concepts, not using parallel structure can make the information very difficult to understand.

But since we're trying to be as concise as possible here, let's revise this sentence 1 more time.

In his spare time, Fred jogs, volunteers, and practices karate.

Depending on what we're writing for and what our purpose is, this may be all we need.

It's certainly the most concise example of all 3.

Think for a moment about what you like to see when you read an article, a magazine, a manual, or a textbook.

What visual choices make information less overwhelming or easier on the eyes and why?

Pause this video for a few seconds to think about that.

You may have thought of some of these content and page design elements, using italics, bold, underlining, or even colors.

Using bullets and numbers, maybe providing definitions of unfamiliar terms, using white space on a page by carefully choosing margins, spacing, and font size can also make information easy to see.

And clear font styles make it easy on the eyes.

Remember to utilize these as you design the visuals of your writing.

Let's look at some different ways where we can practice making content that is easier on the eyes and easier for the reader.

This example has very little page design, almost like a typical novel.

It's not terrible, but it is a lot of words on a page, with very little white space and no examples.

If we were trying to find something in here it would be very difficult for us to figure out where that is.

It has more white space because it uses line breaks, headings, bulleted and numbered lists, and even boldface letters.

This last example uses many different visual elements to enhance reading and understanding.

Colors, headings, spacing, images, use of margins, and more allow us to locate information easily.

This is what you want your technical writing to look like, if at all possible.

It doesn't necessarily have to have an image.

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What is Technical Writing? | Writing Genre Fundamentals