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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In the United States, many technical writing courses and degree programs exist for hopeful writers. Technical writers in other countries are not necessarily so fortunate. I don't know why this should be so, but I am happy to say that this situation is improving; more and more universities and colleges are offering technical writing degrees and certificates. Since the number of schools offering technical writing programs changes frequently, providing a list of them here would soon cause this page to become out of date. To find out what technical writing courses are available in your area, contact your local universities and colleges. If there are no classes offered in your area, some universities and colleges provide online degree programs that you can complete from anywhere in the world. Also, many private companies provide technical writing courses. You can find these by typing "technical writing courses" at the search engines. Even if your local university or college does not offer any technical writing courses, you can take other courses that will be beneficial when you apply for a job.
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What are the primary skills of a technical writer? How do I become a technical writer?
Hewitt, John. Writer's Resource Center (2004). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Technical Writing
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Technical Writing for Desktop Publishers
Writing and book indexing help for desktop publishers. Often desktop publishers become jack-of-all-trades and need at least a basic understanding of technical writing.
Howard Bear, Jacci. About.com (2002). Resources>Document Design>Software>Technical Writing
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Review: Technical Writing for Dummies 
If you're a professional technical communicator who is interested in gleaning a few tidbits of knowledge for yourself, while simultaneously preparing witty answers to the questions asked of you by those who don't know anything about the things you do, you might want to add a yellow or orange book to your bookshelf. You wouldn't be completely dumb or idiotic if you did.
Ecker, Pamela S. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Reviews>Writing>Technical Writing
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Technical Writing for Fun and Profit
The average engineering student would rather go to the dentist and have root canal than write a technical report or a memo. This is unfortunate, as a large part of a working engineer’s professional life is spent in writing technical communiqués of one sort or another. Although, the widespread aversion to writing has a variety of causes, I suspect that a large part of the problem is simply not understanding the process and elements of good technical writing. And this comes as no surprise, because many students’ exposure to writing comes in college freshman English, and these courses train the student to write a certain kind of critical essay that is largely useful in passing college freshman English. Remarkably few such courses expose the student to the kinds of business writing they will use for the rest of their lives.
Goldberg, David E. University of Illinois (1999). Careers>Writing>Engineering>Technical Writing
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Technical Writing for Microwave Engineers
A complete resource to put all microwave geeks on the same page when it comes to tech writing.
Microwaves 101 (2003). Articles>Writing>Engineering>Technical Writing
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Technical Writing For Multi-Lingual Audiences 
In the global marketplace today, wise companies are learning an important fact about translation. Survival in today’s international environment means not making translation an afterthought. You gain precious competitive advantage if, as you develop your product and its accompanying documentation for simultaneous release in international markets, you plan for translation from the outset.
Landgren, Theodora. MetroVoice (2003). Articles>Language>Localization>Technical Writing
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Forum for the discussion of technical writing.
WritersWrite.com (1996). Resources>Writing>Technical Writing
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The format in technical writing is similar to the pyramid technique used in journalism. Information is presented quickly to the reader with the most important details in the first sentence or two.
Scott, George A. TechWriter!. Academic>Course Materials>Writing>Technical Writing
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Technical Writing in 1993 and 2003
Ten years ago, if someone had asked me about my profession, I would have spent a good 15 minutes explaining what I did for a living. Today, ‘Technical Writing’ is answer enough. This is one notable change in my life. In the last 10 years, I have witnessed many important changes in the field of technical writing. Here are a few.
Pandit, Makarand M. Indus (2003). Careers>TC>Writing>Technical Writing
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Technical Writing in a Technological Age: Changes in the Classroom and the Workplace
Over the past decade, new media and computer technologies have permeated both the technical writing classroom and the technical writing workplace. Documents written for, and used in, these two contexts no longer include just verbal text messages and simple line art printed on standard, 20 pound white paper, as they often did in the 1970s and early 1980s. Technical writing documents today appear not just in print but in electronic form, and in electronic form these documents include multiple media such as high-resolution graphics, audio and video clips, animation sequences, and visual effects. Couple this expanded electronic form of technical writing with Internet protocols that allow for the global exchange of information, and it becomes clear that distinct challenges and opportunities exist for the field of technical writing in a technological age. What is the nature of these challenges and opportunities in the classroom and the workplace? And, what is the relationship between new media, computer technologies, and the changes currently evident in these two contexts?
Selber, Stuart A. Addison Wesley Longman (1997). Articles>Education>Online>Technical Writing
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Technical Writing in College, Industry, and Government (The Junior College Program) 
Recommends in-service training programs, including summer institutes and monthly workshops, to teach technical writing techniques to literature-trained English teachers who have plunged into unknown waters.
Marcus, Mitchell. CCC (1968). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing
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Reports on the training and education of technical writers in Cuba.
Sapp, David Alan. Intercom (2004). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Cuba
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Technical Writing in English Renaissance Shipwrightery: Breaching the Shoals of Orality
Describing the emergence of the first shipbuilding texts, particularly those in English provides another chapter in the story of the emergence of English technical writing. Shipwrightery texts did not appear in English until the middle decades of the seventeenth century because shipwrightery was a closed discourse community which shared knowledge via oral transmission. The shift from orality to textuality in shipwrightery did not occur until advancing navigation principles enabled ships to sail in open waters. Shipping rapidly became a commercial business, and shipwrightery was forced to move from closely-guarded simple design principles to mathematically-based designs too complex to be retained only in memory of shipwrights and shared via oral transmission. Textual transmission began to supplant oral instruction. The evolution of English shipwrightery provides rich research opportunities for historians tracking the development of technical writing.
Tebeaux, Elizabeth. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2007). Articles>History>Writing>Technical Writing
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Technical Writing in Everyday Life: One User's Experience
The experience of setting up a new home theater system also sharply reminded me of what it is like to look at something as a new user: staring at a bunch of knobs and holes for the first time, holding a tassel of wire in one hand and a manual in the other, and really just wanting the darn piece of ?%^%! to do what it's supposed to do.
Vedrody, Sarah. MetroVoice (2002). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Technical Writing
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The technical writers, who already exist in the industry having created a golden niche, are fast emerging as the 'trainers' for this career option.
Nithya K. EZine Articles. Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>India
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Technical Writing in Seventeenth-Century England: The Flowering of a Tradition
English technical writing clearly emerged during the Renaissance and the first decades of printing, but during the 1641-1700 period technical writing gained credibility and prestige. It was a valued tool for achieving the utilitarian ends of an age in which practical goals were valued more than aesthetic ones. Technical writing can be found in a range of disciplines, such as agriculture, medicine, science, as well as the major English trades and crafts. As a valued form of discourse, it illuminates the world of work in seventeenth-century England and the problems faced by the early experimenters of the Royal Society who sought to use science to solve major human, military, and economic problems while seeking to expand understanding of nature. Studying technical writing of this period allows us to track the continued development of technical writing as a distinct form of discourse.
Tebeaux, Elizabeth. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Articles>History>Technical Writing>United Kingdom
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Technical Writing in the Computer Industry: Job Opportunities for Ph.D.'s
This essay answers some of the more commonly asked questions about the field of technical writing. It explains what software and software documentation are, what the software documentation specialist (hereafter referred to as the technical writer) does, and how to go about preparing and looking for such employment. It also attempts to assuage the anxieties and calm the fears of those humanists who are upset by the mention of anything remotely associated with computers.
Turnbull, Andrew D. ADE Bulletin (1981). Careers>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
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Technical Writing in the English Department: An Outside Perspective
During the last few years the growth of technical communication courses and programs in departments of English has been unprecedented. While this development has generally been viewed as healthy, not only for technical writing but for English departments themselves, the success of these courses and degree programs will depend on how well the administrations and faculties of the departments face up to a number of problems. What follows is an effort to identify these problems and suggest possible solutions.
Coney, Mary B., Judith A. Ramey and James W. Souther. ADE Bulletin (1984). Academic>Education>Writing>Technical Writing
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Technical Writing is a Great Career
Technical Writing is a great career with more than 5,000 practicing professionals in India.
SlideShare (2007). Careers>Writing>Technical Writing>India
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A collection of up-to-date advertisements for technical writing positions in industry.
Writer's Resource Center. Careers>Job Listings>Writing>Technical Writing
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What kind of textual evidence do courts now look at in light of the recent Grokster decision? What place does technical communication have in recent P2P court decisions? After examining the evidence courts have used from the Sony case to the Grokster case, the author argues that since texts generated and researched by technical communication have surfaced in P2P contexts as important evidentiary objects in court rulings (Napster, Aimster, Grokster), the field and its allies would do well to take notice. Using a lens of activity theory, the author argues that technical communication as a field can control its own future and ability to innovate by reseeing the texts that it creates, texts that are collected by courts as objects influencing determinations of the presence of intent to infringe (the current standard of liability in P2P contexts). With respect to legal liability, the best technical writing might be writing that stays invisible.
Rife, Martine Courant. Social Science Research Network (2006). Articles>Intellectual Property>Copyright>Technical Writing
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A collection of outlines from lectures on technical writing.
Collier, J. University of Massachusetts (2003). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing
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Technical communication resources of interest to the oil and gas industry.
Oil Survey (2002). Resources>Writing>Engineering>Technical Writing
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In this course, students will master two important aspects of technical communication: its genres and its process. Students will learn and apply several primary genres of technical communication, including the résumé and cover letter, the memo, the proposal, the abstract, the progress report, and the empirical report. Students will use these genres to document their research progress and results. Students will also learn and use the technical writing process.
Ratliff, Clancy. University of Minnesota (2003). Academic>Courses>Writing>Technical Writing
