General Rules of Technical Writing

Here are some general rules that you need to follow while writing your documentation.

 1. Accuracy. This is the most important rule of technical writing. The onus of maintaining the correctness and accuracy of a document rests with the technical writer. The document should be checked and re-checked for accuracy.

2. Well-Organized. The documentation should be in an organized manner.  The chapters and sections should be logically connected and should have an even flow. Technical documents are designed and arranged to provide information, beginning with a general point of view and later followed by more specific aspects of the product.

3. Comprehensive.  Technical writing should be exhaustive and comprehensive. It should cover all the aspects of the technology. Skipping a step or functionality because it appears trivial to you or irrelevant for the user could adversely impact user experience.

4. Precision. You should not leave any room for ambiguity. A word or an expression used in the document should not convey more than one meaning.

5. Compactness. The information should look compact, yet complete, without any loose ends. Restrict creativity in writing and practice austerity in the choice of words.

6. Consistency. There should be consistency in the use of vocabulary and style. If a technical jargon is called a certain way in the first page, do not replace it with an another name in some other part of the document.