An Overview of Technical Writing



An Overview of Technical Writing

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this chapter are to

• Explain how technical writing differs from academic writing.

• Explain the key elements of technical writing.

• Explain the role that communication plays within an organization.

• Explain the importance of good communication skills.

• Identify the foundations of technical writing.

• Identify the qualities of good technical writing.

TEACHING STRATEGIES

The point of this initial chapter of Reporting Technical Information is to ensure that students understand what technical writing is and to dispel any misapprehensions they may have about it or the course. The chapter also establishes goals for the rest of the textbook (See the section on issues for teaching technical writing in the introduction to this instructor’s manual for further discussion of these global or first-day concerns.).

On the first full class meeting of your technical writing course, consider doing some combination of the following:

Define technical writing (for other resources on technical writing, see the “Connecting with the Profession” section on page 17 of this instructor’s manual).

Show how technical writing is important to professionals in a wide range of fields.

Show students some samples of technical writing.

Explore the meaning of the term technical to indicate the broad application of technical writing.

Find out who your students are, what their majors are, and what special skills or knowledge they have. (See page 2 in this instructor’s manual for an informal review of the types of students whom you may encounter in your technical writing class.)

Discuss the importance of good communication skills to the careers of college-educated professionals.

Present your course plan, objectives, schedule, and policies. Show how these integrate with technical communication and with your students’ own majors and careers.

Discuss the benefits of taking a technical writing course.

WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES

Here are some ideas for things to do in class to help students learn about technical writing and get ready for the semester.

Traditional Classroom

1. Discuss writing done by professionals. Get your class to describe the kinds of writing they know that people in their professions do. This can be a risky enterprise if your students are naive about what professionals do and how much writing is involved in their regular work. (It can also be risky if they enter your course resistant to the notion that professionals in their line of work do any writing at all.) If you plan to conduct a discussion like this, you might ask students to be thinking about this issue until a subsequent class meeting and even suggest that they make a few phone calls.

2. Pass around samples of technical writing. It’s a good idea to hand out a sampling of technical writing in the first week. This will give students a solid idea as to what they are aiming for. Technical writing courses are typically writing-intensive courses; it’s also a good idea to hand out complete portfolios of the typical writing assignments that students do in this course.

3. Identify the characteristics of technical writing in those samples. Show the point summary of the qualities of good technical writing found on page 9 of the textbook, and have students identify those characteristics in the samples of technical writing that you hand out. Encourage them to think of additional characteristics not listed in the book.

4. Explore the range of “technical” knowledge your students already have. Some of your students will assume that they know nothing—and in particular nothing technical. It’s a good idea to explore the definition of “technical,” in the sense of specialized knowledge within any field, not just electronics or computers.

Computer Classroom

1. Have students search the Internet for documents they think reflect technical writing. Innumerable examples of actual technical writing, from proposals to quarterly reports to feasibility and planning studies, are available online. Have student pairs find an example of technical writing from their field(s) and prepare to discuss two or three elements of the example that qualify it as “technical.” As the instructor, be open-minded about what document types qualify as technical since the Web offers such a wide variety of writing. Stick closely to the characteristics of technical writing discussed in this chapter, and ask the opinions of others in the class if you’re undecided.

2. Select a series of Web sites or sample documents from the Companion Web Site (us/houp), and have students examine those and prepare to discuss them as technical communication. This activity is a more controlled form of the activity listed above.

3. Have students locate several online job postings in their fields and be prepared to discuss how many of the postings list requirements about communication skills. Students may go to job search sites like , or they may choose to search sites of specific employers. Encourage your students to note if a job listing identifies broad communication skills as a requirement of the job or if it identifies specific communication skills (presentation skills, grant proposal writing skills, etc.).

4. Have students develop a set of interview questions for a professional in their field(s) about the types of writing he or she performs. Think in terms of broad questions such as, “What are the various audiences you write for/to?” and in terms of narrower items such as, “What percentage of your day or week do you spend writing?” and “What is your biggest pet peeve about others’ writing?” Remember to include questions about technology use on the job and the future of communication in that field. Coach your students on how to avoid pious responses such as, “Oh yes, writing is very important in my line of work.” Get your students to ask about objective, quantifiable matters such as what types of documents, how many pages, how many hours of preparation, how often, to whom, and what consequences result from good or bad documents.

WRITING PROJECTS

Here are some ideas for writing projects related to Chapter 1.

Traditional Assignments

1. Survey the technical writing done by professionals. Have your students interview professionals in their fields concerning the kinds and amount of writing those professionals do. Have students write this information up as a memo, or have them present it orally in class, showing actual examples of the writing if possible.

2. Analyze a sample of technical writing. Have your students select a sample of technical writing that they can understand but that most nonspecialists would not. Have them write a memo in which they discuss the characteristics they find in that sample and then explain the meaning of the sample in nonspecialist terms (or have your students present this information orally to the rest of the class).

Distance Learning Assignments

1. Have students e-mail their interview questions to two professionals and write a memo to you summarizing the results. Make sure to coach your students on using netiquette and on framing the interview request in terms of deadlines, the reason for the interview, etc. Review Chapter 7 for information on preparing for interviews, and make sure that you and the students allow a reasonable amount of time for the interviewee to respond. A thank-you note provides a courteous follow-up for the interviewee and a great minor assignment for the student.

2. Have your students compare two online technical documents. Ask them to compare audiences, purposes, authors’ roles, etc., and to make judgments on which sample is the better one. Encourage them to find samples that are similar in some aspects (technicality and/or purpose) and different in others (approach, design, etc.). If you’re feeling brave, this can be assigned as an online pairs’ project. Each student can write his or her own response and then compare it to a peer’s reaction, or the two can collaborate online to produce one analysis.

RELEVANT LINKS

Society for Technical Communication ()

Writers Write: Technical Writing ()

Resources for Technical Writers ()

: Technical Writing ()

Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters and Academic Discussion Lists ()

RULES, Rules, and rules: How to tell them apart ()

WORKSHEET

You may wish to reproduce the following worksheet and have students fill it out prior to a class discussion of technical writing, or perhaps have students fill it out during class.

Comparison Chart: Academic versus Technical Writing

| |Academic Writing |Technical Writing |

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|Audience | | |

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|Purpose | | |

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|Content | | |

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|Document Life Span | | |

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|Liability | | |

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|Writing Style | | |

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|Formats | | |

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|Design Elements | | |

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OVERHEADS

The figures on the following pages may be reproduced as overhead transparencies or simply shown on a computer. The following set of discussion questions associated with each of the figures may be used to elicit student reflections on the concepts.

Discussion Questions for Figure 1-1

• What documents have you used or seen that contained these characteristics?

• Have you developed any documents in your other courses, in a job, or in an internship that used these characteristics?

Discussion Questions for Figure 1-2

• What jobs have you held or organizations have you been involved with that relied heavily on communication to function?

• Do the terms clarity, conciseness, organization, and correctness apply to your writing?

Discussion Questions for Figure 1-3

• Have you, as a student, used these imperatives in your writing?

• How significant are these imperatives in academic writing?

Discussion Questions for Figure 1-4

• In what ways has the writing you have done in the past exemplify these characteristics?

• How do you think that these characteristics further business goals?

Writing at Work versus Writing at School: Eight Basic Differences

• Writing at work achieves job goals

• Writing at work addresses a variety of readers

• Writing at work addresses readers with different perspectives

• Writing at work creates excessive paperwork and e-mail

• Writing at work may be read by readers unknown to the writer

• Writing at work has an indefinite life span

• Writing at work creates legal liability for the writer and the organization

• Writing at work uses a variety of written documents

Writing and Communicating at Work

• Role of communication: to share information and ideas and to show that work has been or is being done

• Importance of communication:

□ College-educated workers spend 20 percent of their time at work writing

□ The ability to communicate well is critical to job performance

□ Strong communication skills are required for most positions requiring a college degree

• Manufacture of communication: an industry in its own right

• Writing skills of importance to workers:

1. Clarity

2. Conciseness

3. Organization

4. Correctness—use of standard English

• Audience awareness: a necessity

The Foundations of Effective Technical Writing

1. Know your reader

2. Know your objective

3. Be simple, direct, and concise

4. Know the context in which your communication will be received and used

5. Design your communication with imperatives 1–4 as guideposts

The Qualities of Good Technical Writing

• Exemplifies effective design; makes a good impression

• Is designed so that it can be read selectively

• Has a rational and discernible plan

• Reads coherently and cumulatively throughout

• Answers readers’ questions as they arise in the readers’ minds

• Has the necessary front matter to characterize the report and disclose its purpose and scope

• Has a body that provides essential information and that is written clearly without jargon or padding

• When appropriate, uses tables and graphs to present and clarify its content

The Qualities of Good Technical Writing

• Has, when needed, a summary or set of conclusions to reveal the results obtained

• Conveys an impression of authority, thoroughness, soundness, and honest work

• Can stand alone and be understood by readers who are not part of the initial audience

• Makes a positive statement about the writer and the organization

• Is free from typographical errors, grammatical slips, and misspelled words

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