Technical means anything having to do with the specialised areas of Science & Technology and deals with topics of a technical nature. A Technical Writer produces technical documentation for technical, business & consumer audiences and should have the following qualities:-
- The purpose of technical writing
is transmission of technical information. A Technical Writer should present the facts, data & observations accurately.
- The technical document he prepares should contain useful information. Readers are interested in knowing what they need to know about the topic and nothing more and nothing else.
- He should be able to ensure that the manual or technical report he has prepared is complete in all respects. He has included everything, readers need to know.
- He should prepare the report in brief and ensure that words and phrases used are well-organised and to the point.
- He should use his words, sentences & paragraphs in short and in a logical way with visuals such as Chart, Graph, Table or Diagram, if necessary.
- He should be able to prepare consistent and uniform throughout his document/report, using abbreviations, punctuations and rules of grammer to avoid confusing the readers.
- Often, readers of the technical report will be from diverse backgrounds. A technical writer should be able to write for the majority of readers, at the sametime, accommodating minorities.
- A good technical writer should be able to well-organise his document/report and make it interesting for the readers to read.