What is Technical Writing?

"What on earth is Technical writing?" my friend asked me wryly without taking his eyes off his new-found obsession. He had just bought a brand new BlackBerry, much against his parents' wishes, and had been all over it ever since, like a child with a new toy.

He blurted some gibberish as he proceeded to fiddle with all of its functions at once, so I reminded him again to use the technical manual that came with it. I gave him the user manual and said,"This user manual here, my friend, is nothing but technical writing."



My friend was not the kind to take instructions, least of all from what he referred to as an obscure little book. He believed in learning the hard way, quite literally. My friend was a sucker for the trial-and-error method, and he had learned to have fun doing it. Not surprisingly, he soon mastered the art of using the BlackBerry like a pro, tap dancing with fingers on the keypad with aplomb. Quite a feat!

For those of us, who have walked before we ran, a user manual is a handy piece of  literature. Much to our relief, when it comes to technology, the void between the  'haves' and 'have nots' can be filled. Technical writing is the niche field of writing which essentially bridges the perceived gap and the people who humbly carry out this task are commonly referred to as technical writers. Technical writing allows a person who uses technology to understand its intended use in clear and concise terms, so the user gets the most out of it.

Technical writing is all around us. It is found in the form of online help, user guides and manuals, business proposals, product release notes, software installation guides, and policies and procedures and is used in fields as diverse as computer hardware and software, engineering, aerospace, chemistry, finance, biotechnology and consumer electronics.

Technical writers typically work by taking help from SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) and researching from various documents before using writing tools like Adobe Framemaker, Robohelp, SnagIT to complete their writing.