David Ramthun

I am often asked why there is a special category for technical writing and how it is different from any other writing.  Well, pull up a chair and let me ’splain it a little bit.

Technical documents are taking the notes from a technical resource (engineer, developer, etc.) and translating those into simple English.  Simple, right? Not really.  You see, the engineering scribble has to first be deciphered into its’ parts.  Take E=MC^2 for instance.  If we were to attempt to decipher this formula into something simple without knowing what E, M and C stood for, the results may not be what Einstein had predicted.

Once we get past the engineering scribble after many phone calls and e-mails to the engineer that wrote it, we now have the source of why the technical document is being written in the first place to deal with; the boss.  The boss, invariably an engineer themselves in a previous career, want their documents to sound intelligent and intelligence means to use big words.

As an example of this “big wordiness”, look at the following examples that tend to show up in our technical documents.

In order to ensure you are writing to any reader of your document, avoid using common phrases or cliche’s. If you do you use them, always define them so every reader understands.

It was raining “cats and dogs” (i.e,. it was raining so hard that it seemed almost as if canines and felines (e.g., cats and dogs) were falling from the sky instead of raindrops).

All numbers should be written out to ensure you cover all reading preferences.

I threw twelve (12) stones into the pond.

Always use passive voice, since active voice places responsibility on someone

Use lots of bulleted items, since they make everything clear

• Dear Frank,
• It was great to see you and
• Your wonderful wife, Esther.
• We should get together more often.
• Talk to you soon.
• Jim

Abbreviations are a must for any term with at least two (2) words

The House of Representatives (HoR) shall be composed of Members chosen every Second Year (SR) by the People of the Several States (PSS), and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications Requisite for Electors (QRE) of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature (BSL).

“Function” and “Feature” are overused, so use “functionality”
Do you have the automatic door lock functionality on your car?

Use “Impact” as much as possible, since it causes reaction.

Don’t use: Turn the car on
Do use: Utilize the car’s power on/off interface, located on the steering column, most often to the right-hand side in most standard configurations (see diagram), to impact the operational status of the vehicular transport mechanism.

This should give you the basics on technical writing and how it is different from traditional writing.  Next time, I will put this to use to provide some examples of how all of this fits together.