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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Advice for the Novice Tech Writer: Think Long-Term
So you've just started out as a technical communicator, or you've been on the job for a year or two. And you've decided that maybe, just maybe, technical communication is the career for you and you're in it for the long haul. Now what? Think about the future and how you want your career to develop.
DMN Communications (2008). Careers>Advice>Technical Writing>Blogs
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Advice on Research and Writing
A collection of advice about how to do research and how to communicate effectively (primarily for computer scientists).
Leone, Mark. Carnegie Mellon University (1998). Academic>Writing>Research
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A friend asked the going rate for author's royalties on a technical or trade paperback, so I asked some people what they received. A few wrote back with extremely enlightening and fascinating comments. I passed these notes on to other authors, and received yet more interesting reading back. I have now edited all these comments down a bit, mostly taking out the names of authors and publishers and removing publisher specific comments.
Tognazzini, Bruce. Ray Tracing News (1996). Careers>Writing>Pricing>Technical Writing
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Advocating Plain Language: Thom Haller Discusses The Need For Clarity 
Plain language is clear, concise, and straightforward presentation of information. It is professional content structured to eliminate ambiguity and confusion in technical, government, and legal documents. Plain language allows readers to fully comprehend complex regulations, practices and instructions by requiring the language of bureaucracy to reflect the language of everyday speech.
Haller, Thom. Rockley Bulletin (2007). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric>Minimalism
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ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (formerly AECMA Simplified English) is a specification for writing aircraft documentation. The principles can be applied to all industry sectors. ASD-STE100 provides a set of writing rules and a dictionary of words and their meanings. It has a limited number of words; a limited number of clearly defined meanings for each word; a limited number of parts of speech for each word; a set of rules for writing text. This article outlines the standard, and shows how it helps to prevent ambiguity in text.
Unwalla, Mike. ISTC (2004). Articles>Writing>Minimalism>Controlled Vocabulary
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Aligning Theme and Information Structure To Improve The Readability Of Technical Writing 
The readability of technical writing, and technical manuals in particular, especially for second language readers, can be noticeably improved by pairing Theme with Given and Rheme with New. This allows for faster processing of text and easier access to the "method of development" of the text. Typical Theme-Rheme patterns are described, and the notion of the "point of a text" is introduced. These concepts are applied to technical writing and the reader is then invited to evaluate the improvements in readability in a small sample of texts.
Moore, N.A.J. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2006). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Rhetoric
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All the Secrets to Generating Creativity in Literature
NOT for the timid--here are proven, guaranteed, simple ways to create writing that is off-the-wall original. Why be mediocre? Now you can quickly and easily become innovative, bizarre, and distinctive. The "born writer" theorists and "author-worshipers", the non-deconstructionists, will HATE this article.
Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2004). Articles>Writing
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Alliance for Computers and Writing
The Alliance for Computers and Writing is a national, non-profit organization committed to supporting teachers at all levels of instruction in their intelligent, theory-based use of computers in writing instruction. The operating principle behind ACW/Web is that writing teachers will provide the shared knowledge necessary for doing their job well if someone gives them the means to share that knowledge.
Alliance for Computers and Writing. Organizations>Writing>Computers and Writing
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'It's all in the manual.' How many times have you heard that - or said it in frustration? After all, when you are the person who wrote the manual, you know that all the answers are there. But time and again readers can't find what they need to know, or don't understand the material. Before you blame the reader, look again at how you've presented the material.
Hollis Weber, Jean. Technical Editors Eyrie (1989). Articles>Editing>Technical Writing
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Writers of English have choices. Most every word we commit to paper (or its electronic equivalent) has a synonym
Wenger, Andrea. Carolina Communique (2007). Articles>Writing>Grammar>Tropes
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American Society of Journalists and Authors
Founded in 1948, the American Society of Journalists and Authors is the nation's leading organization of independent nonfiction writers. Our membership consists of more than 1,000 outstanding freelance writers of magazine articles, trade books, and many other forms of nonfiction writing, each of whom has met ASJA's exacting standards of professional achievement.
American Society of Journalists and Authors. Organizations>Writing>Journalism
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For fun, Asterisks.com shares some amusing blunders collected by editors.
Asterisks.com (1999). Humor>Language>Writing>Localization
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In some sense, weblogs sum up what's so great about the Internet. Like fanzine editors before them, weblog editors embrace a topic or theme and run with it. Weblogs are a great indicator of what's happening on the Internet and within the web community.
Barrett, Cameron. Camworld (2005). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Blogging
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A blog about writing fiction, nonfiction and copywriting.
Booth, Angela. TypePad.com. Resources>Writing>Business Communication>Blogs
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Angels and Copy Editors Defend Us!
Tinkering with the author's words simply because 'I would not write them that way' is not discretion, but interference. Preserving the author's authentic voice is as important as enhancing its presentation so as to maintain the authority of the words. Of what, then, does the enhancing consist? And how does editorial discretion fit in?
Fothergill-Brown, Ann. Writer's Block (1999). Articles>Writing>Editing
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Ankush Avhad's Technical Writing Links
A collection of categorized links to online technical writing resources.
Avhad, Ankush. DocumentorG. Resources>Directories>Writing>Technical Writing
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Offers suggestions for creating excellent annual reports.
Worth, Carol. Intercom (2000). Articles>Writing>Reports
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Answering the Critics of Plain Language
Plain language has to do with clear and effective communication -- nothing more or less. It does, though, signify a new attitude and a fundamental change from past practices.
Kimble, Joseph. Plain Language Network (2003). Articles>Writing>Legal>Minimalism
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Anything That Can Go Wrong: Lessons Learned from A Decade of Toolkit Documentation 
Writing software toolkit documentation for programmers is a special challenge and opportunity for technical writers. Compared with writing software documentation for lay users, toolkit documentation is more demanding and exacting. Checking facts and finding tiny errors is like riding a motorcycle through a swarm of gnats. However, for me at least, toolkit writing has opened doors to a larger role and greater input into product design. Engineers treat me like a peer and I get to see into their culture. I know my readers and salespeople need me.
van Oss, Joseph E. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>SDK>Technical Writing
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Anything Worth Writing Is Worth Writing in XML
Tyson supports the claim of his title with a detailed discussion of three important benefits of XML.
Tyson, Paul H. Intercom (2002). Articles>Writing>Information Design>XML
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Commas, semi-colons and colons are the sentence tidiers. Used correctly, they'll give your written language the 'punctuation' that pauses, voice modulations and gestures provide when you speak.
Right Words (2006). Articles>Writing>Style Guides>Grammar
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Apple Publications Style Guide (2003)
An updated version of the style guide used by writers and editors in Apple publications groups.
Apple Inc. (2003). Reference>Style Guides>Technical Writing>Technical Writing
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Apple Publications Style Guide (2003)
The May 2003 edition of the standard reference for Apple publications.
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Applying Common Sense to Technical Writing
How can budding writers achieve a middle path in their approach to documentation? This no-model approach is an attempt at busting the myth that only a model-based approach works.
Chitkara, Promila. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>TC>Writing>Technical Writing
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Applying Minimalist Principles, Strategies, and Techniques
People use documentation differently from what we might expect. They don’t like to read; instead they jump to a task with prior knowledge, and sometimes don’t realize they’ve made an error. Understanding how users learn and applying John Carroll’s minimalist principles will help provide solutions to this problem. Documentation that has been successfully planned and designed for minimalism may take longer to create than other manuals, but reaps the benefits of making users more productive and happy, while reducing support calls, maintenance, translation, and publishing costs. The key factors to a successful minimalist approach (or any good documentation design) are a keen understanding of your users, prototypes designed to match tasks relevant to users, and iterative testing to improve each draft.
Lester, Susan M.J. STC Proceedings (2000). Articles>TC>Writing>Minimalism
