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.
#22614
The Personal Narrative of a Technical Writer
When I graduated with an Honours degree in English from St. F.X., I had no idea that I would find work as a freelance technical writer; in fact, I had next to no idea at the time what technical writing was. In short, a technical writer produces the literature of engineering, technology, software, and systems development.
Currie, John. St. Francis Xavier (1999). Careers>TC>Writing>Technical Writing
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The Place of Communication in Technical Writing Programs 
The Modern Language Association recently outlined numerous changes in English Studies, citing the significant growth of jobs in technical and professional communication. Since 1997, thenumber of academic positions advertised in our field has increased by 76 percent. The reasons are simple: the job market for capable communicators has expanded (primarily due to technology), andmore and more students want a major or minor that provides the knowledge and skills necessary to meetthe increased demand. Many English departments, including our own (Virginia Tech and University of Nebraska at Omaha [UNO], are responding to students’ needs by hiring faculty to build programs inprofessional/technical communication.
Bridgeford, Tracy and James M. Dubinsky. CPTSC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing
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Portrait of a Maturing Department 
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Department of Rhetoric and Writing has been an independent department since 1993. When we left the English Department, the writing programs -- composition, the shared B.A. program in Professional and Technical Writing, and the M.A. program in Technical and Expository Writing -- naturally came with us. What we didn't have was a developmental vision of a program.
L'Eplattenier, Barbara, Betty Freeland, Cindy Nahrwold, Karen Kuralt and Susann Barr. CPTSC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Education>Technical Writing
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Preparing to Teach Technical Writing
To teach technical writing effectively, technical writing teachers should know enough about their students' fields to understand what their students write and help them learn how to write appropriately for non-academic audiences. This paper discusses the need for additional preparation to teach technical writing. It presents the results of an informal survey of science and business faculty, identifying resources teachers can use to learn basic concepts in science and business. Also, the paper considers the value of such a survey in developing writing assignments and rapport with faculty whose majors take technical writing courses.
Samson, Donald C., Jr. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing
#29695
The Presentation of Safety Information in Product Manuals
Technical communicators may be asked to design and develop safety information for a product manual. During this process, technical communicators can add value to the presentation of safety information. In addition to adhering to a manufacturer’s internal guideline for the content and formatting of safety information, other factors can be considered as well. This paper presents the following factors: (1) an overview of common failure-to-warn allegations, (2) an analysis of current practices in automotive owner’s manuals for presenting safety information, and (3) an update on a new ANSI Z535 consensus standard for the presentation of safety information in product manuals.
Wisniewski, Elaine. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Documentation>Risk Communication>Technical Writing
#21228
The Procedure Writer©: A Wizard, A Writing Guide And Nine Magic Templates
The Procedure Writer is an easily navigable collection of steps: a wizard with seven windows, nine templates, and instructions that offer the user-cum-writer the maximum freedom in determining how a module is written. At the same time, the instructions and the nature of the templates are designed to obligate the writer/user to follow P&P standards.
King, Geoffrey, Tom Tomasovic and Mandy Huang. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
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The Process of Writing a Technical Manual
Whether you are doing the whole job, have been assigned a critical part of the project or are managing the production of the technical manual, you need to know the process involved.
Kurtus, Ron. School for Champions (2005). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing
#30542
Producing Brochures in the Technical Writing Classroom
Producing brochures for real clients teaches college-level technical writing students about constraints of cost, time, and the availability of materials. Brochure writing also provides opportunities for learning more about editing, collaborative work, document design, and the problems which may occur during the production of real documents. Brochures of good quality can be produced by a class in approximately three weeks, or nine classroom hours. Grading brochures is expedited through the use of a simple heuristic.
Ryan, Charlton. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Education>Document Design>Technical Writing
#20359
Producing Quality Technical Information 
A book about how to produce well-constructed technical writing and illustration.
Dean, Morris. Journal of Computer Documentation (2002). Books>Writing>Technical Writing>Technical Illustration
#24004
Professional and Technical Writing
According to the university catalog, the subject matter of WRT 307, Professional Writing, is: professional communication through the study of audience, purpose, and ethics; rhetorical problem-solving principles applied to diverse professional writing tasks and situations.
Murray, Joddy. Morrismurray.net (2002). Academic>Courses>Writing>Technical Writing
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Professional and Technical Writing
This course aims to prepare you for on-the-job writing. You will study and practice writing a variety of professional and technical documents such as emails, letters, resumes, instructions, proposals, presentations, and reports.
McShane, Becky Jo. Weber State University (2004). Academic>Courses>Writing>Technical Writing
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A Project Plan for Creating Training Courses
This link formerly referenced a free Microsoft Project 98 project plan for designing and developing technical courseware. This has been expanded into a 78-page ebook on how to write a successful software training course.
Rice, William H. IV. WilliamRice.com (2004). Books>Education>Project Management>Technical Writing
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Prototypes in Technical Writing: What are They?
A prototype is, generally speaking, a preliminary model of a larger, more detailed object. In technical writing, a prototype might be a full table of contents (with summaries for each major section) and one or two complete chapters. If conducting a survey is an important part of your project, your prototype might be a complete survey of a small number of subjects, designed to iron out the kinks in the questions you want to ask. A good prototype will help you identify flaws (such as incomplete research or mistaken assumptions) before you have multiplied their harmful effects by investing additional effort in them. A sculptor makes a scale model in clay -- a prototype -- before chiseling away at a full-sized chunk of marble. It it much easier to fix major mistakes in clay than it is to throw away a ruined chunk of marble and start over again.
Jerz, Dennis G. University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (2000). Articles>Writing>Online>Technical Writing
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Providing On-the-Job Writing Training to Nonwriters
Professional communicators today must often work with writing done by coworkers who have little or no formal writing training. This situation opens a long-term opportunity for professional development'from negotiating with management to developing tactful-but-truthful mentoring methods for the nonwriters. The mentor will develop skills in goal setting, curriculum development, and possibly even classroom-style teaching. This interactive workshop will lead participants through a 10-step process for becoming a successful writing skills mentor and give successful tips and techniques for evaluating and attacking writing problems.
Edgerton, Rebecca J. and Jill Nicholson. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Mentoring>Writing>Technical Writing
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Providing On-the-Job Writing Training to Nonwriters
Professional communicators today must often work with writing done by coworkers who have little or no formal writing training. This situation opens a long-term opportunity for professional development–from negotiating with management to developing tactful-buttruthful mentoring methods for the nonwriters. The mentor will develop skills in goal setting, curriculum development, and possibly even classroom-style teaching. This interactive workshop will lead participants through a 10-step process for becoming a successful writing skills mentor and give successful tips and techniques for evaluating and attacking writing problems. This workshop is an expanded version of the 90 minute workshop given last year to rave reviews.
Edgerton, Rebecca J. and Jill Nicholson. STC Proceedings (1999). Careers>Mentoring>Writing>Technical Writing
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Published Tech Authors Only Need Apply
It seems Microsoft is foregoing technical writers for technology writers. Apparently they want technology journalists writing the online help for the next version of Windows.
Creative Tech Writer, The (2003). Careers>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
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Putting the "Technical" in "Technical Writer"
By becoming more technical, you can interact more efficiently with software developers and qualify for a greater variety of software documentation projects. This article outlines ways to learn more about three prevalent technologies: programming languages, databases, and Web server technologies.
Owens, David. WritersUA (2004). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing
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Putting the "Technical" in "Technical Writer"
Owens explains how technical writers can bolster their credentials as technically knowledgeable employees. He provides brief introductions to technologies that technical writers are most likely to encounter on the job: programming languages, databases, and Web server technologies.
Owens, David. Intercom (2003). Articles>Writing>Information Design>Technical Writing
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Putting the Writer Back Into Technical Writing
It is one thing to complain about the shortcomings of technical writing but quite another to actually set forward a reasonable solution.
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Quality Criteria for Indexes, Website Navigation and Search
When users find the answers they are looking for, the investment in technical documentation gets a chance to pay off. In large volumes of technical information, just finding the answer can be half the battle. Microsoft found that users of its intranet were spending an average of 2.5 hours per day online - 50% of that being searching. This article was written as part of an experimental online workshop with the MITWA (Mentors, Indexers, Technical Writers & Associates) discussion group(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MITWA/). The article retains the workshop format including learning assignments.
Brown, Fred. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Information Design>Web Design>Technical Writing
#20134
Quality Documentation: ISO 9000 as a Process Model
While ‘quality’ is no longer the most popular buzz-word, there is still a need for thorough understanding of what it means to document a quality program. In preparing for ISO 9000 certification, I developed useful techniques which can be used to improve quality in other documentation tasks. Even if you're not involved in ISO 9000, it can serve as a good general model for documentation management. This paper briefly describes the ISO 9000 standard and the process of certification, how documentation in a quality program is different than usual technical documentation. and some of the useful tools and techniques.
Magyar, Miki D. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Management>Policies and Procedures>Technical Writing
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ISO is a quality system that all companies interested in global competition must subscribe to. ISO certification includes hidden benefits for the technical writing area, which will improve the day-to-day operation of that area. Not only will these benefits help technical writing management in project and contingency planning, they will also help in performance appraisals. Most importantly, the final result is an overall definition of technical writing's role in the company.
Jahnke, Jean M. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Standards
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The Question No One Asked Me at the Career Advice Panel, Thank Goodness
Tonight I participated on a career panel for technical writing majors at Utah State University. In preparation, I tried to think of answers to questions they might ask. The one question that I was sure some student would ask is this: 'If you were to do it over again, would you choose technical writing as your career?'
Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2008). Careers>Writing>Technical Writing
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Quick Reference Guides: The Poetry of Technical Writing
How many times have you written a 75+ page guide and heard the customer say, This is great, but can you give us a condensed version? After the third or fourth time I’d heard this, I decided to actually try it.
Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2008). Academic>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
#27462
Real Costs Of Technical Publications
This workshop shows a technical publication manager or rising professional how to work in the following technical publishing/financial areas: project management, operating budget preparation and management, and quality control.
Caernarven-Smith, Patricia. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Publishing>Technical Writing>Project Management
