Technical Writing 101: A Beginner's Guide to Technical Writing

Technical writing is great for people at different levels on their tech journey; beginners, intermediate and advanced.

In this article, we will cover the fundamentals, and how to write a technical document.

What is Technical Writing?

Technical Writing is the practice of taking complex concepts and breaking them down into simple, easy-to-understand concepts and guides.

Technical writing is aimed at creating written tutorials that help the end user perform a task.

A technical writer is a person who understands technical concepts and jargon and simplifies these concepts to make them easier for everyone to understand.

Examples of technical writing:

• manuals for electronics

• software documentation

• technical blogs

Types of Technical Writing

There are three types of technical writing, namely:

• Technical marketing writing, for example, blog posts, case studies and ebooks

• End-user documentation technical writing, for example, product manuals and guides

• Research-based technical writing, for example, technical reports, scientific research papers

Fundamentals of Technical Writing

1. Writing Skills

   Writing is an essential part of technical writing as it helps us communicate better. This is usually divided into multiple parts including,

   • Grammar

     You need to understand the best grammar practices as they will enable you to write content that is easily understood.

   • Clarity and Simplicity

     Your content should be simple and clear so that the end user can easily understand it.

   • Content Structure and Organization

     You should organize your writing into sections and use headings appropriately to make it readable

   • Consistency and Accuracy

     You should consistently use the same abbreviations, terminology and formatting in your document

   • Documenting and Formatting

     You should format your document using MLA or APA if required and ensure it is consistent

     You should include a title page, table of contents and references

   • Revision and Proofreading

     Read your document and check for grammatical errors, logical flow and consistency

2. Technical Expertise

   You should have a technical skill to write about or you should be learning one. This will enable you to simplify the concepts as you understand them better than your end user.

3. Visuals and Examples

   You should add visuals to your content that help to explain the concepts. This will help the reader better understand what is going on.

   You should add examples to help the end user know what to expect.

4. Understanding Your Audience

   You should clearly define who you are writing to as this will help you decide the technical terms you can use.

   Are they beginners or advanced? Are they technical? You should tailor your content to fit your intended audience.

5. Research Skills

   Due to the technical topics you want to write about, you should adequately research before writing. There are different ways to do research including,

   • Primary research - getting raw data by conducting interviews or direct observation

   • Secondary research - using analyzed data such as books or reports

6. Version Control

   Version control helps you save versions of your work using tools such as Git and GitHub. Saving our work at different stages allows us to have access to them if we need them at a later stage

How to Write a Technical Document.

When writing a technical document, there are five steps you should take which include:

1. Preparation

   During this step, you should define what you are writing and its main purpose. This will help to define your target audience and the medium you will use.

2. Research

   You should research the topic you want to write about to make sure you understand it.

3. Organization

   You should write in chronological order to ensure the document flows logically.

   You should create an outline that allows us to structure and organize our document into smaller sections.

4. Writing

   You should start writing your first draft following the outline. After your first draft, you can improve your document and edit it accordingly.

5. Revision

   Read through your document and check for any errors. You can use Grammarly to check for grammatical errors

Once you have revised your document and you are satisfied, you can publish it.

Summary

In this article, we covered the fundamentals of technical writing. You learned:

• what is technical writing

• who is a technical writer

• the different types of technical writing

• fundamentals of technical writing

• how to write a technical document