Technical Writing, a form of technical communication, is a style of formal writing and business communication, used in fields as diverse as computer hardware and software, chemistry, the aerospace industry, robotics, finance, consumer electronics, and biotechnology. Good technical writing clarifies technical jargon; that is, it presents useful information that is clear and easy to understand for the intended audience.
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Designing and Writing to Reduce User Errors
A vast majority of documents (I consider print and online as documentation) often works to define the optimized error-free method of performing a task and provides a user with a straightforward solution. However, the user expects documentation to help solve problems and address errors. Thus, attention must be paid to potential problems users can have and how to correct them. Errors have different causes; the information designer should understand the potential types of errors since properly addressing each type requires a different approach in the design and documentation.
Albers, Michael J. WritersUA (2004). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Usability
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Designing and Writing to Reduce User Errors 
A vast majority of documents (I consider print and online as documentation) often works to define the optimized error-free method of performing a task and provides a user with a straightforward solution. However, the user expects documentation to help solve problems and address errors. Thus, attention must be paid to potential problems users can have and how to correct them. Errors have different causes; the information designer should understand the potential types of errors since properly addressing each type requires a different approach in the design and documentation.
Albers, Michael J. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
#27500
Developing a Web-Based Tutorial in RoboHelp
The very first thing you should do in developing a tutorial is to be familiar enough with the subject matter that you can write the content.
School for Champions (2005). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
#31098
As a technical writer, you'll typically have to create indexes for the print books and for online helps you develop. The type of index we mean here is the classic back-of-book index that shows page numbers on which topics and subtopics occur within the book. An online index is much the same except that you supply hypertext links rather than page numbers.
McMurrey, David A. Illuminati Online (2004). Articles>Editing>Indexing>Technical Writing
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Developing Industrial Cases For Technical Writing on Campus 
At the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, the World's Engineering Congress met and included special section, 'Division E, Engineering Education.' This division was the seed for The Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, and one paper delivered in the section was 'Training of Students in Technical Literary Work,' evidencing early concern about engineers' education in technical writing. But concern alone did not solve the problem. Two decades later Edward D. Sabine, a terminal engineer, complained that most college graduated engineers could not even write a decent letter. And in the same year F. W. Springer, a professor of electrical engineering, spoke of the need for teaching 'engineering-English.' Fifty years ago Hale Sutherland, a professor of Civil Engineering, described how Case School of Applied Science had instituted a two-course, technical writing requirement to overcome 'the engineer's ancient weakness, his inability to speak and write effectively.' One approach to solving this problem has been cooperation. Seventy years ago C. W. Park wrote an article about the cooperative program at the University of Cincinnati, in which members of the Engineering and English Departments worked together to promote better writing; obviously the idea of teaming up is hardly new. Thirty years ago The Journal of Engineering Education published another description of a cooperative effort and just five years ago devoted an entire issue to technical writing. The need for teaching engineers to write and the difficulties in accomplishing the objective even cooperatively have been recognized for almost a century; we are still grappling with the problem.
Mair, David and John Radovich. JAC (1985). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing
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Developing Knowledge Base Articles
A short article that offers some tips on writing articles for a knowledge base, whether internal or client facing.
DMN Communications (2008). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
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Developing the Specification for a Document
Between 25-30 percent of the overall writing time is typically devoted to developing the document specification, meaning how the document will be formatted and actually present the information. This is true even when the organization has a style guide with a prescribed format, but no “standard” for documentation overall. Although this may seem an inordinate amount of time and effort on the front end, before getting any information onto the paper, it is far more cost-effective than spending unplanned time rewriting and reformatting the document late in the production process.
Tech-Writer. Articles>Writing>Project Management>Technical Writing
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The use of real materials in a technical writing class involves both advantages and drawbacks. Use of real materials makes the class relate well to the work environment, improves self-esteem, critical thinking, and student motivation. Drawbacks include the problem of finding materials, a lack of course continuity, a lessening of use of the class text, and legal implications. Overall, the use of real materials for classroom editing is recommended.
Stibravy, John A. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing
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Discovering the Pedagogical Paradigm Shift in Technical Writing
For my dissertation, I am analyzing technical writing textbooks from the early 1900s to the present to determine whether technical writing pedagogy has undergone or is undergoing a paradigm shift. When I began this study, my hypothesis was that technical writing pedagogy, like composition and rhetoric pedagogy, has shifted from the product orientation to the process orientation. Textbooks that are product oriented emphasize the study of examples or models, and textbooks that are process oriented emphasize the study of the writing process. Now that I have completed my study and am in the process of analyzing the results, my hypothesis is that technical writing pedagogy shifted from a product orientation to a combined product and process orientation.
Jeansonne, Jerold. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing
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Distributed or Centralized: How to Maintain Quality When They Keep Reorganizing Your Organization
Is there a 'best' way to organize technical publications? One central organization? Many small organizations per business unit? Communicators distributed through the development teams? Discuss the pros and cons of organizational structure and its relationship to quality.
Hackos, JoAnn T. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Writing>Quality>Technical Writing
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Do Technical Writers Need an International Standard for English-Language Spelling?
He demonstrates how ministers of state who speak different languages often choose English as the most convenient language of communication. He cites the 11-nation European Central Bank in Frankfurt as a typical organization that works only in English. And he notes that many of the journals published by respected international organizations such as the Pasteur Institute also are published in English. TC-Forum is another example.
Blicq, Ronald S. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Style Guides>International>Technical Writing
#25015
The SMEs had a choice between two sets of tables they could use to input key product data. If their part of the project used items from the A list, they were supposed to use table A. If their part of the product used items from the B list, they were supposed to use table B. In almost every case, the SMEs used the wrong table, leaving gaps where their information did not conform to the columns of the tables.
Hewitt, John. Writer's Resource Center (2005). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>SMEs
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Document Hack (A Technical Writer's Journal): Changing Bosses
Switching bosses within the same company is not an entirely smooth process. On the day of the crossover, I showed up to work and discovered my badge and my email deactivated. It took most of the day to get security to reactivate my accounts.
Hewitt, John. Writer's Resource Center (2004). Careers>Writing>Technical Writing
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Contracting for Fun and Profit
Because I am working at this job through a contract, rather than as a regular employee, there are some situations unique to my position. In the technical writing industry, many writers work on a contract basis through an agency. This type of employment is called contracting, although you may also hear it called consulting. I prefer the term contracting because I associate consultants with people whose job is to advise a company on one issue or another. That may or may not describe a particular technical writing assignment.
Hewitt, John. Writer's Resource Center (2004). Careers>Writing>Consulting>Technical Writing
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Document Hack (A Technical Writer's Journal): First Day
Rule number one for a contractor is to never panic about what happens your first day. First days are naturally chaotic, and often companies are not fully prepared for you. Because contractors are usually brought in to solve a particular problem, the people are anxious to get you started, but companies, especially large ones, are not geared for quick action.
Hewitt, John. Writer's Resource Center (2004). Careers>Advice>Writing>Technical Writing
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Document Hack (A Technical Writer's Journal): Interview and Negotiation
My face-to-face interview with the company was similar to my phone interview. So similar, in fact that more than once I found myself answering the same questions I had answered over the phone. They did throw a couple curve balls at me, however. The strangest question I was asked was, 'If we called your references, what would they say about you?' I was unprepared for this one, and I ended up talking more about my references than about what they would say about me.
Hewitt, John. Writer's Resource Center (2004). Careers>Interviewing>Writing>Technical Writing
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Document Hack (A Technical Writer's Journal): Phone Interview
When I originally spoke to the recruiter on the phone, she gave me a brief description of the job and asked for my rate. We negotiated the rate for a few minutes and came up with an acceptable number ($25 an hour) and she sent me an e-mail with the full job description and a short agreement asking me to confirm her representation and my rate. I sent back my confirmation and that was it for a while.
Hewitt, John. Writer's Resource Center (2004). Careers>Interviewing>Writing>Technical Writing
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Funny thing, documentation. Ought to be easy enough, surely? So why the disappointing results? What IS the elusive spark which distinguishes the professional author from others who put their hand to the pen (keyboard)?
Mobbs, John. ISTC (2002). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
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Documentation Solutions for Complex Tools: Task-Based Design at the Cross Roads
For most of the technical writing community, task-based documentation has become the panacea for presentation of end-product document (in any of its myriad forms including traditional linear manuals and online help). We believe, however, that applying this method to a complex tool, (for example, a software tool without a Graphical User Interface), challenges the task-based approach.
Swallow, Lisa and Matt Laney. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
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Columns on technical writing. Continuation of the column written from 2001-03 for IT People.
Kamath, Gurudutt R. Topica (2004). Resources>Mailing Lists>Writing>Technical Writing
#29337
Does Having a Blog Make You a Writer? 
For the techno-savvy TechRepublic member, writing in some form or fashion is an almost daily occurrence. But how effective is your communication? In this interview, author Barry Rosenberg shares his thoughts about the current state of technical writing skills.
Kaelin, Mark. TechRepublic (2005). Articles>Interviews>Technical Writing>Blogging
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Scott Adams created a character named Tina the tech writer for his comic strip Dilbert. She’s brittle, humorless, literal, and wonders why she doesn’t get any respect or interesting work. Like many caricatures, Tina has a basis in reality. This blog will explore issues in technical communication and its professional association the Society for Technical Communication.
Harkness, Holly E. Don't Call Me Tina (2008). Resources>Writing>Technical Writing>Blogs
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Sure, the economy's booming now, but as the Asian crisis becomes the North American crisis, it pays to remember Newton's famous law of gravity: what goes up must come down again. And, of course, when the economy comes down and pension fund managers start asking those awkward questions about why they should remain invested in your company's stock, managers have a lemming-like tendency to trim staff to make room for short-term profits and long-term plausible deniability. As a technical communicator, you're obviously well up on the hit list, which some might see as a bad thing--but there's a silver lining to every cloud (or, in our case, a copper lining; they don't pay us well enough for silver). In fact, the good news is that it's easy to ensure you're the first one fired, so you can leave before the job becomes mundane without looking like a quitter. Then there are all those perquisites (severance pay, a little downtime)...
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Geoff-Hart.com (1999). Careers>Unemployment>Planning>Technical Writing
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Downsizing Documentation: Meeting the Challenge
The redesign of the Microsoft Windows operating system along with a shrinking page count and Help file-size allocation, presented Windows User Education with a unique opportunity. We not only redesigned our entire documentation model, we also changed and improved our authoring tools. And, along the way, we changed how we did our work.
Bloch, Peggy, Phyllis Levy, Kimberly A. Parris and Gayle Picken. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Minimalism
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The article outlines the technical writing tutorial (TWT) that preceded an advanced ESL writing course for students of English Philology at the Jagiellonian University. Having assessed the English skills of those students at the end of the semester, we found a statistically significant increase in the performance of the students who had taken the TWT in comparison to the control group who spent the time of TWT doing more traditional exercises. This result indicates that technical writing books and journals should be considered as an important source of information for teachers of writing to ESL students.
Zielinska, Dorota. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2003). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing
