Have you ever tried to operate a washing machine? Have you used all functions of your mobile phone? If you answered one of these questions positively that means that you have at least once faced some manuals where you can’t but see the technical writing in person. As opposed to fiction or creative authoring that aim to entertain techwriting makes a reader understand the subject. It’s usually highly informative.
Technical writing exists in many forms. More often we face it in manuals (which are sometimes called “How to” guides) or “Frequently Asked Questions” section. These are not only manuals for different kinds of electronics, computer soft- and hardware but also recipes web-pages. Speaking about specifics of this kind of writing and the type of “literature” it exists in, it is quite clear that technical authoring aims for general audience that lack the knowledge of specific terms and different processes. These people usually need a step-by-step description of the procedure they need.
Technical type of writing is used in business sphere as well, mainly for communicating an information to management, companies, employees and for creating guidelines, training manuals, explanation with advertising of the new products, processes and services.
Books that are used for educational purposes can be also called a form of technical writing. They provide information using specific phrases, terms, style and aim to educate and instruct.
Regardless of the form any technical writing needs to give clear, precise information helpful and useful for readers. It has to be quite creative to engage the yarning audience. So on one hand a good tech writer has to show good examples, to connect creativity and technical ideas, sometimes even to bring humor into it. On the other hand a writer should avoid any kind of interpretation and foresee the questions a reader might ask.
The growing usage of this type of authoring demands more and more specialists in that sphere who obtain different skills including language, communicational, organizational skills. Those specialists who want to make a career in that sphere obviously need special training and of course a degree in a linguistic field is more then welcome. Although this profession is quite demanding, being a tech writer will always help you to earn your crust either within a technical writing companies or as a freelancer. |
