Technical writing is used to educate or inform somebody how to do something. It’s different from other forms of writing as it’s aim is to teach the reader a certain ability or skill. Technical writing can be quite detailed and requires advanced knowledge and therefore needs to be approached in a particular way in order for it to achieve its purpose.
Technical writing mistakes
We will take a look at some of the most harmful technical writing mistakes that writers make and how you can avoid them and also fix them. The following materials were borrowed from a team of professional essay writers from Custom Writings which is committed to care about papers 24/7.
● Punctuation
Simple punctuation is easy to use, however, if you plan on using more complex punctuation, make sure that you use it correctly.
How to avoid this mistake
If punctuation is not your strong point then make sure you do some reading and research before you use any punctuation that you are not comfortable with. This way you will ensure that you have used it correctly.
● Too much detail
If you provide too much detail you will lose your audience. As much as you are enthusiastic, your reader does not need to be inundated with information.
How to avoid this mistake
First of all, ask yourself how much your reader knows about the topic you are writing about and with this in mind, how much information do they need to know. Try and look at it from your reader’s perspective.
● A lack of consistency
Technical writing needs to be coherent and it’s difficult to fulfill this especially when a piece has been written over a certain length of time or when multiple writers have been involved. This is quite common in a technical document and can often mean that the end result lacks consistency.
How to avoid this mistake
If your job is to amend a document that already exists you need to understand the context that surrounds it. Any changes you make need to fit in with these aspects.
● Silly questions
You’ll have heard before that there is no such thing as a silly question and the same applies to technical writing.
How to avoid this mistake
If you are interviewing any experts, don’t feel that any question you have is silly. Don’t avoid asking something as you feel that you may look stupid for doing so. Always be clear about what you do and don’t understand, as this will ensure that your technical writing is clear and concise.
● Unorganized structure
Quite often a technical document can confuse a reader as it does not hit its purpose. This is usually down to a lack of planning from the offset. When planning has not been carefully considered, documents, particularly long ones end up poorly structured. This means that it’s difficult to locate parts of the text and the text does not flow in a natural fashion. This can make it frustrating for anyone reading it and the worst-case scenario is that the document becomes pointless.
How to avoid this mistake
Before you start any technical writing you need to think about the layout of your work. Begin by creating an outline of this as this will help you to structure your work correctly. Once you have written your text make sure you review it and perhaps ask a friend or your lecturer to take a look at your work so that they can provide any suggestions in relation to improving the structure of your work.
● Technical jargon
With anything technical, you need to keep in mind who your audience is. You will need to use technical jargon, however, if you’re writing for a specific audience, make sure that you use language which is appropriate. After all, the last thing you want to do is to confuse your writers with the jargon that you use.
How to avoid this mistake
First of all, spend some time thinking about who your readers are and what level they are to ensure that your technical writing suits them. Some terms and acronyms may be simple to you, but you need to make sure that they are simple to your reader’s too. Unless you are certain that your readers will definitely know the jargon that you plan to use, avoid it or provide a glossary within your document.
● Being vague
Ultimately, technical writing is usually there to get a reader to respond. So, this may be to solve an issue or to convince a consumer to buy a particular product and this needs to come across in your writing.
How to avoid this mistake
Try and use the active voice and avoid passive voice as much as possible. Ideally, 90% of your document needs to be in the active voice.
Useful Sources
1. ‘Technical Writing Process’
Author: Kieran Morgan
Publisher: Technical Writing Process; 1 edition
Year: 2015
This book can help any student to create a technical document in 5 simple steps.
2. ‘The Insider’s Guide to Technical Writing’
Author: Van Laan, Krista
Publisher: XML Press
Year: 2012
Whether you’re new to technical writing or an experienced technical writer, this book will suit both and help you to create successful technical writing documents.
3. ‘Developing Quality Technical Information: A Handbook for Writers and Editors’
Author: Michelle Carey
Publisher: IBM Press; 3 edition
Year: 2014
Perfect to help you get to grips with getting your technical writing to hit the spot. This book looks at the nine essential aspects of technical information: visual effectiveness, organization, style, orientation, accuracy, completeness, retrievability, clarity, and task orientation.
