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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Marketing the Wily Technical Writer
If the world really is run by C students, then you have to ask yourself a question: How do I market myself in an ocean of average? Today's competitive job market can be a hard nut to crack. How do you stand out in that crowd?
Knowles, Michael. Writing World (2001). Careers>Writing>Technical Writing
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Marketing Writing for Technical Products 
This workshop will examine the types of marketing materials that can give you creative experience. You'll learn how to adapt your skills and subject matter knowledge to these projects, how to plan and develop different types of materials, and how to identify opportunities for new types of communication.
King, Janice M. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Technical Writing
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Microcontent refers to small, granular, and possibly representative (that can provide a summary of or a navigation to a larger set of information) bits of information, typically available on the Web. An example in the domain of journalism might be headlines and news summaries, small bits of content that can be used on a front page of the news with links to more in-depth articles. The definition has grown in scope as much as in its application.
Albing, Bill. KeyContent.org (2006). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Technical Writing
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In a multibillion-dollar-per-yearcindustry, medical technical writers are well situated between companies that manufacture drugs and medical equipment and the federal government, which regulates the manufacture of drugs and medical equipment. The government requires that these companies produce specific types of documents, which must be of a very high standard. This situation creates lucrative opportunities for technical writers.
English, Wayne A. Intercom (2003). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical>Technical Writing
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A memo is a concise document that conveys essential information about your accomplishment(s). All memos at Ohio University should be written in third person.
Young, V.L. and K.J. Sampson. Ohio University (2004). Articles>Writing>Business Communication>Technical Writing
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Mental Models: Laying Foundations to Support Readers
Technical communication is often no more complicated than clearly describing the steps in a procedure, but sometimes we must create new models for each key part of a complex procedure.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2007). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing
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The Merging Work of Technical and Marketing Communications
Increasingly, technical communicators are being asked by their companies to participate in marketing efforts. While most of us have long considered user's manuals and other documentation an important ingredient in maintaining customer loyalty, we have accepted that generally our primary function is to instruct people on the use or repair of products. Our job is to make complex information understandable; if in doing so we also make friends of customers and prospective customers, then we are pleasantly surprised.
Palokoff, Kathy. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Marketing
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A problem that sometimes occurs, when authors ask my advice about the method of presenting an instruction, is that they use words that I think will not necessarily be understood by people whose mother-tongue is not English.
Farrington, Gordon. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
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Review: Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications
Microsoft is one of the largest software companies in the world. Thus, with their rich experience in documentation it is only natural that they share it with the rest of the IT industry. The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications, Third Edition (MSTP) is the latest step in this direction and takes care of latest technologies and technical terms.
Sharma, Sangeet. Indus (2005). Articles>Reviews>Style Guides>Technical Writing
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Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications 
Understanding the user interface can be a confusing experience for customers. By using a consistent set of terminology and style, you can help customers navigate the product user interface successfully. Once customers become familiar with this system, they can jump seamlessly between content about different products.
Microsoft (2004). Books>Style Guides>Technical Writing>Documentation
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Microwriting: Small Choices with Large Implications
The little elements of writing can make a big difference. If you're looking for a way to refresh your writing, consider paying close attention to the aspects involved in microwriting.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2006). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing
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Minneapolis Technical Writers and Editors Directory
Web sites of technical writers and editors in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and in nearby outstate Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Winzig Consulting Services, LLC (2004). Resources>Directories>Writing>Technical Writing
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Mistakes Technical Writers Make 
Inexperienced technical writers typically make a number of avoidable mistakes, including parroting the SME and hard-coding xrefs. Here is a description of some mistakes to avoid.
Docsymmetry (2003). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing
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MITWA: Mentors, Indexers, Tech Writers and Associates
Whether you are an aspiring technical writer, or just starting out, or have been in the technical writing game for a while, we are here to give you the support and encouragement you may need from time-to-time.
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A Mixed Bag of Job Prospects for Tech Writers
One of the areas the 2001 ITAA survey looks at is supply and demand. Of the estimated 258,332 jobs that IT hiring managers predict they will add this year, only 1,799, or less than 1%, are for tech writers. This is down a whopping 91% from the year 2000 where the 20,773 available tech writer jobs accounted for almost 5% of the total. The news may not be as bad as it sounds. On the supply side, there is an expected shortfall of 1,008 qualified candidates in filling the open tech writer jobs.
Welinske, Joe. WritersUA (2001). Careers>Writing>Technical Writing
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Model Documents Gallery: Business and Technical Writing
A collection of model documents to complement a variety of TC textbooks.
Bedford-St. Martin's. Resources>Business Communication>Writing>Technical Writing
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Modeling Rhetoric in Scientific Publications
Despite the advent of computer-centered ways of creating and accessing scientific knowledge, the format of the scientific research article has remained basically unchanged. We have developed a model of a more appropriate form for research publications to structure scientific articles, based on a rhetorical structure which is ubiquitous in (natural) science papers. The model has three components: defining rhetorical elements inside the documents, the identification of the argumentational relationships between these elements; and the connection of data elements and entities to external sources.
de Waard, Anita, Leen Breure, Joost G. Kircz and Herre van Oostendorp. INSCIT (2006). Articles>Scientific Communication>Rhetoric>Technical Writing
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Momma, Don't Let Your Babies be Tech Writers
If you have the stomach for it, technical writing can be the path to a full-time writing career. I did it for three years before switching to general business writing, which offers more variety. If you decide to go technical, be sure to keep reading the work of authors you admire so your day job doesn't make you forget everything you ever knew about 'real' writing.
Wormald, Karen. Absolute Write (2001). Careers>TC>Writing>Technical Writing
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More on Education for Technical Communicators
For most readers of TC-Forum, technical communication is an activity undertaken by dedicated technical communicators, for whom writing, editing, illustrating, or page-making is their chosen vocation. Yet there is also a much larger community for whom technical communication is only a secondary activity, although it remains an essential part of their work.
Blicq, Ronald S. TC-FORUM (1998). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing
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I think it can be dangerous for a technical writer to be a grammar expert.
DeGraw, Yvonne. Boston Broadside (1993). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Grammar
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Motivating and Preparing Students to Submit Articles on Technical Writing 
Technical writing students must learn that technical writing is objective, unemotional, unequivocal, and factual.
Estrin, Herman A. CCC (1974). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing
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MS Help 2.x was announced at WinWriters on March 5, 2001. MS Help 2 is the help system used by Visual Studio .NET help and MSDN Library, and now the Borland .NET IDEs. Getting started with MS Help 2.0? This site is a start.
Helpware.net (2001). Reference>Writing>Help>Technical Writing
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Musings on User-Generated Documentation
User-generated documentation is a big issue in technical communication circles. If properly done, tapping into the knowledge of users can improve the quality and breadth of your documentation.
DMN Communications (2008). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Wikis
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When you start working with DITA, there are some things that you may feel you need for traditional reasons that you won't find in DITA. Before you try to modify or specialize DITA, it may be worthwhile to rethink some technical writing practices that are outdated and not recommended today.
Doyle, Bob. XML.org (2008). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>DITA
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National and International Organizations for Technical Writers
This page is an international list of professional organisations, associations etc. for technical writers.
Peter Ring Consultants. Organizations>Writing>International>Technical Writing
