technical writing class assignments

8 Technical Writing Examples to Inspire You

Become a Certified Technical Writer

As a technical writer, you may end up being confused about your job description because each industry and organization can have varying duties for you. At times, they may ask for something you’ve never written before. In that case, you can consider checking out some technical writing examples to get you started.

If you’re beginning your technical writing career, it’s advisable to go over several technical writing examples to make sure you get the hang of it. You don’t necessarily have to take a gander over at industry-specific examples; you can get the general idea in any case.

This article will go over what technical writing is and some of the common technical writing examples to get you started. If you’re looking to see some examples via video, watch below. Otherwise, skip ahead.

If you’re looking to learn via video, watch below. Otherwise, skip ahead.

Let’s start by covering what technical writing is .

What Exactly is Technical Writing?

Technical writing is all about easily digestible content regarding a specialized product or service for the public. Technical writers have to translate complex technical information into useful and easy-to-understand language.

There are many examples of technical writing, such as preparing instruction manuals and writing complete guides. In some cases, technical writing includes preparing research journals, writing support documents, and other technical documentation.

The idea is to help the final user understand any technical aspects of the product or service.

In other cases, technical writing means that the writer needs to know something. For example, pharmaceutical companies may hire medical writers to write their content since they have the required knowledge.

If you’re interested in learning more about these technical writing skills, then check out our Technical Writing Certification Course.

8 Technical Writing Examples to Get You Started

As a technical writer, you may have to learn new things continually, increase your knowledge, and work with new forms of content. While you may not have experience with all forms of technical writing, it’s crucial to understand how to do it.

If you learn all the intricacies of technical writing and technical documents, you can practically work with any form of content, given that you know the format.

Therefore, the following examples of technical writing should be sufficient for you to get an idea. The different types of technical writing have unique characteristics that you can easily learn and master effectively.

1. User Manuals

User manuals or instruction manuals come with various products, such as consumer electronics like televisions, consoles, cellphones, kitchen appliances, and more. The user manual serves as a complete guide on how to use the product, maintain it, clean it, and more. All technical manuals, including user manuals, have to be highly user-friendly. The technical writer has to write a manual to even someone with zero experience can use the product. Therefore, the target audience of user manuals is complete novices, amateurs, and people using the product/s for the first time.

Traditionally, user manuals have had text and diagrams to help users understand. However, user manuals have photographs, numbered diagrams, disclaimers, flow charts, sequenced instructions, warranty information, troubleshooting guides, and contact information in recent times.

Technical writers have to work with engineers, programmers, and product designers to ensure they don’t miss anything. The writer also anticipates potential issues ordinary users may have by first using the product. That helps them develop a first-hand experience and, ultimately, develop better user manuals.

The point of the user manual isn’t to predict every possible issue or problem. Most issues are unpredictable and are better handled by the customer support or help desk. User manuals are there to address direct and common issues at most.

You can check out some user manual examples and templates here . You can download them in PDF and edit them to develop an idea about how you can write a custom user manual for your product.

2. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

Standard operating procedures are complete processes for each organization’s various tasks to ensure smoother operations. SOPs help make each process more efficient, time-saving, and less costly.

An SOP document can include:

Everything from the method of processing payroll.
Hiring employees.
Calculating vacation time to manufacturing guidelines.

In any case, SOPs ensure that each person in an organization works in unison and uniformly to maintain quality.

SOPs help eliminate irregularities, favoritism, and other human errors if used correctly. Lastly, SOPs make sure employees can take the responsibilities of an absent employee, so there’s no lag in work.

Therefore, developing SOPs requires a complete study of how an organization works and its processes.

Here are some examples of standard operating procedures you can study. You can edit the samples directly or develop your own while taking inspiration from them.

3. Case Studies & White Papers

Case studies and white papers are a way of demonstrating one’s expertise in an area. Case studies delve into a specific instance or project and have takeaways proving or disproving something. White papers delve into addressing any industry-specific challenge, issue, or problem.

Both case studies and white papers are used to get more business and leads by organizations.

Technical writers who write white papers and case studies need to be experts in the industry and the project itself. It’s best if the technical writer has prior experience in writing such white papers.

The writing style of white papers and case studies is unique, along with the formatting. Both documents are written for a specific target audience and require technical writing skills. Case studies are written in a passive voice, while white papers are written in an active voice. In any case, it’s crucial to maintain a certain level of knowledge to be able to pull it off.

You can check out multiple white paper examples here , along with various templates and guides. You can check out some examples here for case studies, along with complete templates.

4. API Documentation

API documentation includes instructions on effectively using and integrating with any API, such as web-API, software API, and SCPIs. API documentation contains details about classes, functions, arguments, and other information required to work with the API. It also includes examples and tutorials to help make integration easier.

In any case, API documentation helps clients understand how it works and how they can effectively implement API. In short, it helps businesses and people interact with the code more easily.

You can find a great example of proper API documentation in how Dropbox’s API documentation works. You can learn more about it here .

5. Press Releases

Press releases are formal documents issued by an organization or agency to share news or to make an announcement. The idea is to set a precedent for releasing any key piece of information in a follow-up press conference, news release, or on a social media channel.

The press release emphasizes why the information is important to the general public and customers. It’s a fact-based document and includes multiple direct quotes from major company stakeholders, such as the CEO.

Usually, press releases have a very specific writing process. Depending on the feasibility, they may have an executive summary or follow the universal press release format.

You can find several examples of press releases from major companies like Microsoft and Nestle here , along with some writing tips.

6. Company Documents

Company documents can include various internal documents and orientation manuals for new employees. These documents can contain different information depending on their use.

For example, orientation manuals include:

The company’s history.
Organizational chart.
List of services and products.
Map of the facility.
Dress codes.

It may also include employee rights, responsibilities, operation hours, rules, regulations, disciplinary processes, job descriptions, internal policies, safety procedures, educational opportunities, common forms, and more.

Writing company documents requires good technical writing skills and organizational knowledge. Such help files assist new employees in settling into the company and integrating more efficiently.

Here are some great examples of orientation manuals you can check out.

7. Annual Reports

Annual reports are yearly updates on a company’s performance and other financial information. Annual reports directly correspond with company stakeholders and serve as a transparency tool.

The annual reports can also be technical reports in some cases. However, mostly they include stock performance, financial information, new product information, and key developments.

Technical writers who develop annual reports must compile all the necessary information and present it in an attractive form. It’s crucial to use creative writing and excellent communication skills to ensure that the maximum amount of information appears clearly and completely.

If the company is technical, such as a robotics company, the technical writer needs to develop a technical communication method that’s easy to digest.

You can check out some annual report examples and templates here .

8. Business Plans

Every company starts with a complete business plan to develop a vision and secure funding. If a company is launching a new branch, it still needs to start with a business plan.

In any case, the business plan has a few predetermined sections. To develop the ideal business plan, include the following sections in it.

Executive Summary – includes the business concept, product, or service, along with the target market. It may also include information on key personnel, legal entity, founding date, location, and brief financial information.
Product or Service Description – includes what the offering is, what value it provides, and what stage of development it is in currently.
Team Members – includes all the information on the management team.
Competitor and Market Analysis – includes a detailed analysis of the target market and potential competitors.
Organizational System – includes information on how the organizational structure would work.
Schedules – include start dates, hiring dates, planning dates, and milestones.
Risks and Opportunities – include profit and loss predictions and projections.
Financial Planning – includes planned income statements, liquidity measures, projected balance sheet, and more.
Appendix – includes the organizational chart, resumes, patents, and more.

The technical writer needs to work closely with the company stakeholders to develop a complete business plan.

According to your industry, you can check out hundreds of business plan samples and examples here .

Becoming an Expert Technical Writer

Becoming an expert technical writer is all about focusing on your strengths. For example, you should try to focus on one to two industries or a specific form of technical writing. You can do various writing assignments and check out technical writing samples to understand what you’re good with.

You can also check out user guides and get online help in determining your industry. Once you’ve nailed down an industry and technical writing type, you can start to focus on becoming an expert in it.

In any case, it always helps to check out technical writing examples before starting any project. Try to check out examples of the same industry and from a similar company. Start your writing process once you have a complete idea of what you need to do.

Since technical writing involves dealing with complex information, the writer needs to have a solid base on the topic. That may require past experience, direct technical knowledge, or an ability to understand multiple pieces of information quickly and effectively.

In becoming a technical writer, you may have to work with various other people, such as software developers, software engineers, human resources professionals, product designers, and other subject matter experts.

While most organizations tend to hire writers with a history in their fields, others opt for individuals with great writing skills and team them up with their employees.

Technical writers may also work with customer service experts, product liability specialists, and user experience professionals to improve the end-user experience. In any case, they work closely with people to develop digestible content for the end customers.

Today, you can also find several technical writers online. There is an increasing demand for technical writing because of the insurgence of SaaS companies, e-commerce stores, and more.

In the end, technical writers need to have a strong grasp of proper grammar, terminology, the product, and images, graphics, sounds, or videos to explain documentation.

If you are new to technical writing and are looking to break-in, we recommend taking our Technical Writing Certification Course , where you will learn the fundamentals of being a technical writer, how to dominate technical writer interviews, and how to stand out as a technical writing candidate.

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Open Technical Writing: An Open-Access Text for Instruction in Technical and Professional Writing

(3 reviews)

Adam Rex Pope, University of Arkansas

Publisher: University of Arkansas

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of use.

Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Joyce Bower, Part-Time Professor, Linn-Benton Community College on 8/4/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

Adam Rex Pope does a good job of covering the basics and giving cooking metaphors to help readers understand the concepts. Unfortunately, there is no glossary or index to help students with finding and defining concepts. Technical writing documents also were not thoroughly explained and demonstrated. Pope provides brief explanations of some documents, but analytical reports were not explained. These are things that an instructor can supplement, however, so if an instructor wants a good overview of what technical writing is, this book would be a good choice.

Content Accuracy rating: 3

The content is fine, and in general, it is accurate, but sometimes Pope can be confusing: "In our examples below, we’re always conveying 'the facts,' in our messages or our boxes. And, in those examples, it would seem that no matter what we’re still conveying 'just the facts' once we cut out all the extra cruft. The essential facts never change in those examples, but when we do technical writing they very well can!" (p. 23). That doesn't make sense. Punctuation (commas) are needed for a better understanding, and what does he mean that when we do technical writing, the essential facts can change? This is not good writing or technical writing. Pope also does not reference other sources throughout. (He does cite two sources at the very end, but there are no in-text citations.)

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The content is a general explanation of technical writing, so it will not be obsolete quickly; however, it is almost too general to be used alone.

Clarity rating: 4

Pope explains concepts with cooking metaphors, something that many people can relate to. The tone is very casual, using terms like "folks." It may make it more accessible for some.

Consistency rating: 5

Following his own advice, Pope's terminology and framework for the text is very consistent and easy to follow.

Modularity rating: 5

The table of contents and section headings make it easy to assign readings and help readers find what they need easily.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Pope organizes the topics well, moving from general topics of technical writing through more specific topics such as genres and research. (Unfortunately, the genre and research sections are not very thorough or helpful.)

Interface rating: 4

The text is available to download and is easy to navigate (other than a few blank pages here and there between pages/sections, which can be distracting).

Grammatical Errors rating: 2

Not only is the tone casual, but the editing is also casual. Several misspellings and grammatical errors distract from the content and can confuse the message. Also, when I teach technical writing, I teach correctness to ensure readability and conciseness. The author does not show this in his writing, which would undermine what I am teaching.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

Pope does a good job of discussing audience/users in general but does not address cultures much.

Reviewed by Forrest Johnson, Part-Time English Faculty, Linn-Benton Community College on 1/14/20

The text does a fine job of covering the breadth of technical writing concepts, but there is no index or glossary. Still, the table of contents is detailed enough to make the content fairly discoverable. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Pope does a good job of making it clear that he is writing from his own perspective and set of biases, but the text could be tightened up to be a better demonstration of good technical writing.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Pope clearly worked hard to make a text that speaks to students currently in technical writing courses, but that also has staying power. There are references to technologies that will likely be out of date in 5 years, but the concepts and principals taught will remain relevant.

The conversational tone of the text makes it feel more accessible, but it also makes the text feel a bit bloated and, in some cases, may lead to confusion. I suspect that there are some students who struggle with traditional textbooks who will find the tone of the text helpful, while students used to formal writing may be frustrated that the tone is not more authoritative.

The text does a fine job of defining terms and using them consistently.

Modularity rating: 4

As Pope mentions in the "Note to Instructors", the chapters are long and packed with subsections. I think the content could be divided and reordered with out much confusion. However, the subsections are not always designated as clearly as they might be.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The major concepts flow logically. Because it is written in a conversational tone, some of the examples of the concepts take a while to develop and connect.

Interface rating: 5

The text is just a PDF, but the table of contents is interactive and looks to be reasonably accessible to a screen reader and to other accommodation needs.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There are some areas where the conversational tone leads to grammatical choices that could be disputed, but it is well written overall.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

While Pope certainly writes with a culturally situated voice, he does a good job of using examples that are inclusive and engaging.

I think this would be a particularly good text to use in an online course because of its conversational and personal tone. Pope's writing feels more like a guided discussion than a dry lecture. The text does an excellent job of giving technical writing life and a human context. There instances where the conversational tone results in modeling habits like over using adjectives that I would probably edit if/when I use the text in my own course, but the content is good enough to make this a minor issue.

Reviewed by Kelly Zepp, Assistant Professor, Community College of Denver on 11/4/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 2 see less

The author of the text spends so much time on lesser important elements like X-height and too little time on more important issues like the various technical writing genres. Also, the title of the book explicitly states that it will over professional writing as well as technical writing. Given this, I would expect that emails, memos, letters, and resumes would be included in the genre section; however, the book doesn't discuss these at all. I also would expect a book with this title to discuss style/readability; however, this is not included.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I did not find any inaccurate information; however, there are topics that I would prefer to be handled differently; for example, I would never reference taxonomy in the same way that Pope was. I would refer to it as chunking information and developing hierarchy.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

With the exception of acid wash jeans, it doesn't seem like the material will become dated quickly. The author makes use of some design tools. Overall, it doesn't seem like it would be easy to update because it is a PDF file.

Clarity rating: 3

Some people will like the author's fun, chatty style. Unfortunately, I thought it was distracting and took my focus from the material and put it on the author. The author discloses that this was an intentional choice, and I can imagine that his students might enjoy having a text that sounds like their professor. It seems, however, that this choice makes it hard for other professors to adopt this text. Also, all his asides lead to writing that is less concise than it should be, which is esp. unfortunate in a technical writing text.

Author is consistent with his references like "signposts" and "genre."

Modularity rating: 3

Here is what Pope has to say on the modularity of his book, "When it comes to daily teaching, you may notice I don’t have that many chapters. Each chapter is fairly lengthy, and they are not intended to be covered in a single day. Instead, each chapter has major chunks that can be assigned with suggested activities at the end of each major chunk. These activities are provided to give you some direction in classroom exercises to help students internalize and make use of the concepts covered in each section. You don’t have to stop each class when a chunk of text terminates with activities, but I’ve provided these spots to break up the chapters in ways that make sense in my own mind."

For me, what makes sense in Pope's mind, does not always make sense to me. This text does not seem like it lend itself well to someone who wanted to approach the content in a different way.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

Some of Pope's organizational choices do not make sense to me. For example, I would not expect to find a detailed description of the writing process in a chapter called "The User." Likewise, I would not expect to see signposting and taxonomy in the "What is Technical Writing" chapter.

Interface rating: 3

A book on technical writing ought to make good use of design; while this text is not awful, there are some elements that I wish the author addressed. For example, all headings, the info in the green boxes, and all info in the TOC is in ALL CAPS. This makes these sections more difficult to use. Also, most of the book uses large chunks of text that span the entire page. Some variety of design elements like indenting or bolding information or using small caps or title caps would have helped me navigate the text more easily. There are also a number of widows and orphans throughout the text. Lastly, the images could be integrated more effectively. For example, the image on page 149 is too far down and makes the page feel bottom heavy. This would be frustrating in any text, but it's even more so in a text that needs to teach students about effective document design. I also was disappointed that there are very few images in the visual communication section.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

Overall, it was fairly well proofed; however, it is not error-free. For example, the following heading on page 153 made me laugh, "A table to be used to asses Objectives and time allotment" I am pretty sure the author meant "assess."

The following is a SV agreement error on the "A Note to Instructors" page, "Because of this approach, the text try to dictate exact moves that much, especially when it comes to particular genres like white papers and the like."

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

Overall, there don't seem to be many cultural references, and they generally seem to be used well and inoffensively. It would be even stronger in this area without the many references to Halloween and the Jack O'Lantern in the visual design section to discuss how to stack design elements.

In his note to instructors, Pope writes the following: "In this text, I try to present technical writing as an approach to researching and carrying out writing that centers on technical subject matter. As part of this, each and every chapter is devoted to helping students understand that good technical writing is situationally-aware and context-driven. Technical writing doesn’t work off knowing the one true right way of doing things—there is no magic report template out there that will always work. Instead, I’ve focused on offering students a series of approaches they can use to map out their situations and do research accordingly. Because of this approach, the text try to dictate exact moves that much, especially when it comes to particular genres like white papers and the like. This is entirely by design. Nothing specific that I could write here would have any amount of a lifespan with a particular genre, so I’ve opted instead to provide a research framework and some specific tips and tricks with each genre. For researching and teaching a particular genre, I would recommend focusing on the method I suggest to research the genre and then to build your class time around finding example texts and building your own image of what the genre looks like. "

If you don't agree with his approach you probably, like me, will not find this text useful. I would need to supplement this text with so many other resources, etc. that it is not worth my time adopting it.

Also, this book is only available as a PDF, which makes it more difficult for one to pull modules into one's LMS. In its current version, I'm not sure its very accessible. For example, in 5 pages of very dense text, there are only two subheadings. This would be very difficult to navigate by someone with a screen reader.

What is Technical Writing?
Visual Communication & Technical Writing
Document Design in Technical Writing
Writing in Genres
Managing a Project
Research Methods for Technical Writing

Ancillary Material

About the book.

This book presents technical writing as an approach to researching and carrying out writing that centers on technical subject matter. Each and every chapter is devoted to helping students understand that good technical writing is situationally-aware and context-driven. Technical writing doesn’t work off knowing the one true right way of doing things—there is no magic report template out there that will always work. Instead, the focus is on offering students a series of approaches they can use to map out their situations and do research accordingly.

About the Contributors

Adam Rex Pope , University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

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ENGL210: Technical Writing

Course introduction.

Time: 86 hours
Free Certificate

Because the goal of this course is to improve your ability to write clear, comprehensible examples of technical writing, most subunits include short writing activities that will give you hands-on experience in many different writing tasks. Each unit also includes a series of writing self-assessments that will allow you to evaluate your own writing based on specific criteria and provide examples and commentary on how to write successfully. This practical focus on specific writing skills will help you learn the writing skills you will need in the workplace. By the end of the course, you will feel comfortable tackling a wide variety of workplace communications.

Course Syllabus

First, read the course syllabus. Then, enroll in the course by clicking "Enroll me". Click Unit 1 to read its introduction and learning outcomes. You will then see the learning materials and instructions on how to use them.

Unit 1: Audience Analysis

Imagine needing to make a phone call but not knowing what number to dial. Beginning a communications project without first establishing your audience is a lot like that phone call without a phone number. If you don't first know who you are communicating with, you can't determine what information they need and in what format. In this unit, we walk through the steps of audience analysis to determine who we are writing to, what they know, what they need to know, and the best ways to reach them.

When we first take on a writing project, we must first consider who we are communicating with. We should ask ourselves who they are, what they know, and what they need to know to take action.

After we conduct this audience analysis, the next steps in the process apply this analysis to writing choices. Different audiences require different approaches to word choice, tone, and formatting. We also use our audience analysis to anticipate issues and any concerns or questions the audience might have after accessing the communication we have created.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 7 hours.

Unit 2: Internal Communication: Writing Memos and Emails

Two of the most common forms of technical writing that you will encounter are the memo and the email. After completing an audience analysis, you must determine which form would be best for sending the message; memos and emails often rely on smaller amounts of information or requests for more information. In this unit, we cover the best practices for creating effective memos and emails.

Once the dominant form of communication in the workplace, memos typically serve as internal communication within an organization. Memos can update policies and procedures, announce meetings or organizational changes, or inform the internal audience as needed. Memos must typically be brief, concise, organized for readability, and addressed to targeted audiences with specific subject lines.

Emails, which often replace memos for internal communication, can be sent internally or externally. While this form of business communication must take into account the time constraints most readers face as a result of high email volume, people use emails to communicate issues both large and small. Emails must make use of strong subject lines, clear formatting, and concise writing. Email also presents some ethical challenges as the forwarding and BCC function enables you to easily share communications with larger audiences quickly and in a way that is documented for the longer term.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 9 hours.

Unit 3: External Communication: Formal Letters

While memos are used for internal communication and emails for both internal and external communication, formal letters are mainly used as an external means of communication. Understanding when a communications context requires the more formal delivery of a physical letter falls under the initial considerations of the audience analysis and design/formatting stages of the writing process.

Letters can range from friendly introductions to more formal announcements with accompanying legal documents. In their more serious capacity, letters seek to create a formal and documented chain of communication.

Two main formats exist for letters: the block format and the indented format. Both require the recipient’s and sender’s full names and addresses. They begin with a formal salutation and end with a complimentary closing. Their formal structure helps to convey authority and credibility.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 6 hours.

Unit 4: Using Visuals to Convey Information

Words are not the only way to present and share information with an audience. Technical writing often utilizes visuals to accompany written information and further deliver information to the audience. This unit leads you through the types of visuals available and the best practices for using them.

Visuals take many forms; they can be as simple as a photograph of a plant specimen or pie chart breaking down enrollment data or as complex as an embedded video or multi-page, hyperlinked, organizational chart. Visuals must be carefully selected to support the audience's understanding of the topic.

However strong they are on their own, visuals must be integrated into the text of the document. The written word supports the visuals, and the visuals further exemplify the meaning of the text. The two work in tandem to support the main idea of the document.

This unit will also cover the important tools needed to properly label, title, and document visuals used in a given communication context.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 11 hours.

Unit 5: Process Documentation

One of the most common formats of technical writing is the process document. The process document explains either how to do something or how something was accomplished. This can be used to teach people or to document a process for the record. These documents vary in level of formality based on audience, but they all share elements of formatting to keep the communication organized and effective. This unit takes you through the ways to create process documents.

Formatting is probably the first design concern for a process document. The writer must distinguish whether or not the audience will have the directions with them as they accomplish the task or if they must commit the task to memory. Beginning nursing students, for example, are taught the proper way to wash hands in a roughly 1,500-word document. This document details not just the steps of handwashing, but also explains why each aspect of the process is critical to overall handwashing success. This extra detail helps to embed the proper procedure into new nurses' minds; they will, after all, be washing their hands countless times during the day without the instructions handy. Recipes, on the other side of the spectrum, anticipate that the audience will have them close by as they prepare the food; as a result, these feature lots of white space and step by step formatting.

Process documents must also pay special attention to anticipating potential trouble spots or questions from the audience. Anticipating these moments enables the writer to save time overall and increases the chances that the audience can complete the process without difficulty. Note that in this unit we will work through the writing process to develop complete process documents. We'll start with planning before moving to initial drafting, then revising.

Unit 6: Writing Proposals

Proposals are another common form of technical writing. These reports can either be formal or informal depending on the context. Some examples of proposals can be simple estimates for home improvement projects to more complex and formal business plans. This unit covers how to craft proposals.

Like process documents, proposals also rely on formatting to help them convey professionalism and appeal to the audience. Appealing to the audience is key given the persuasive nature of proposal writing. Proposals seek to persuade the audience to take action on a requested item or task.

Like other forms of technical writing, a proposal begins with audience analysis and moves through the steps of planning, writing, and revision.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 4 hours.

Unit 7: Communicating on the Internet

As the Internet rapidly expands, so does the opportunity for businesses to share information and reach audiences online. Technical Writers are increasingly called upon to craft communications to reach a broad online audience. The unit explores how the Internet is used to communicate and how to apply the foundations of technical writing effectively to reach online audiences.

Reading and writing for the Internet presents certain challenges that the printed word doesn't. The largest concern is the shortened attention span of Internet-based readers and reduced reading comprehension. Given the scrolling feature and the ease of clicking away, savvy writers for the Internet tailor their communications with headings, short paragraphs, clear and engaging visuals, and links for further development.

Additional points to consider when writing for the Internet are how to use social media as a tool for both communications and marketing. Given how easy it is to share communication online, the technical writer should be well versed in the social media tools and the common practices for writing on each of the interfaces. For example, what works on a blog post would not work in a tweet. The technical writer must learn how to translate the same idea for several different types of social media and in a way that reaches the intended audience.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 12 hours.

Study Guide

This study guide will help you get ready for the final exam. It discusses the key topics in each unit, walks through the learning outcomes, and lists important vocabulary terms. It is not meant to replace the course materials!

Course Feedback Survey

Please take a few minutes to give us feedback about this course. We appreciate your feedback, whether you completed the whole course or even just a few resources. Your feedback will help us make our courses better, and we use your feedback each time we make updates to our courses.

If you come across any urgent problems, email [email protected].

Certificate Final Exam

Take this exam if you want to earn a free Course Completion Certificate.

To receive a free Course Completion Certificate, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on this final exam. Your grade for the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you can take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt.

Once you pass this final exam, you will be awarded a free Course Completion Certificate .

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ENGL 288 A: Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing

Welcome to ENGL 288A: Professional and Technical Writing!

ENGL 288A is a 5-credit writing course that focuses on professional and technical writing. In this course you will read, write, and review a wide variety of technical and professional documents, including task documents, technical reports, business emails, cover letters, and résumés. You will learn how to:

Analyze the needs and motivations of different audiences and write for these audiences.
Identify the rhetorical differences between concept, task, and reference information in technical documents.
Structure information for different genres and purposes of technical and professional writing.
Improve your writing by critiquing other documents and responding to feedback on your drafts.
Write to a style guide and pay attention to details that affect the clarity of your writing.

In addition to being a writing course, ENGL 288A is a writing community . This is your community for sharing ideas, trying new types of writing, giving feedback and suggestions, and supporting each other. It is important that this community be supportive and welcoming of everyone in the course. If we build a strong writing community together, you will get a lot more out of this course.

Chris Holstrom email: [email protected] Office Hours: TTh 1:00-2:00 & by appointment Website: https://www.chrisholstrom.com/

Communication

Communication is critical to your success in this course--especially in an online format. I am here to help you! I want to hear what's important to you, when you need help, when you have a question, and when you want to discuss an idea. Just let me know. Don't wait until a small problem becomes a big one--communicate right away. For example, if you know ahead of time that you will need extra time for an assignment, let me know and we'll come up with a plan together.

Here are the main communication channels for this course, outside of class sessions and Canvas Discussion Boards:

Office hours ( TTh 1:00-2:00 and by appointment): You can use this time for anything that you need to discuss.
Writing conferences: We'll meet 1:1 to discuss each of your writing projects. You can also ask other questions during conferences.
Email ( [email protected] ): Email is my preferred form of written communication. I will reply to email within 24 hours on weekdays. If for some reason I do not, please reply to your email thread with a message like: "Just putting this back at the top of your inbox." Make sure that your email has a title with the course number in it ("ENGL 288A: [descriptive title]") and a clear description of your problem or question.
Canvas Announcements: I will use Canvas announcements to send updates to the whole class. It is your responsibility to monitor your UW email address and Canvas on a regular basis.

Required Course Materials

We will read selected chapters from Technical Communication by Mike Markel and Stuart A. Selber. You can use either the 11th edition or the12th edition because they are not significantly different. (Reading assignments will list chapter or section titles and page numbers for the 12th edition.) You should be able to find a print copy of the 11th edition for as little as $5 online or find a PDF copy of either the 11th or 12th edition via a web search. I will also provide PDFs and links for addition readings.

See the Modules to find the readings that are due before each class session.

Assignments

This is a writing course, so you will do a lot of writing! Some of the writing will be informal discussions and reflections, some will be annotations and critiques of others' writing, some will be be first drafts, and some will be more polished writing. With all of these writing assignments you'll be practicing and getting more comfortable with different writing techniques and with reading and reviewing others' writing, all of which should make you a better writer.

Listed below are the four assignments for this course. Each assignment has multiple parts, which are explained in more detail on the Assignment pages. You'll write multiple drafts for all of the assignments except for the discussion prompts, focusing on improvements from draft to draft.

Discussion Prompts : Before most class session you will write a short response to the readings and lectures for the day. These writing assignments are informal. Instead of producing polished responses, you should use these assignments to get in the habit of writing regularly.
In-Class Activities : Most of our class sessions will have hands-on activities that you will do in small groups, discuss with the rest of the class, and turn in on Canvas.
Résumé and Cover Letter : You'll choose a job posting, analyze the hiring team or manager as an audience, and write a résumé and cover letter for the job posting.
Instructions : You'll choose a task and write instructions that detail how to complete that task. In this assignment we'll focus on procedural rhetoric and writing to a style guide.
Technical Report and Business Email : You'll write a technical report about tree canopy cover in Seattle. You will also write a business email that introduces this report to a specific audience.

There are no tests or quizzes in this course.

I have found that conventional grading often leads my students to think more about grades than about writing; to worry more about pleasing me or psyching me out than about figuring out what you really want to say or how you want to say it; to be reluctant to take risks with your writing. Grading even makes some students feel they are working against me.

- Writing Studies Scholar Peter Elbow

The goal of this course is not to determine who is a good writer and who is a less-good writer. The goal of this course is for everyone to become a better and more confident writer.

The grading policy for the course is based on rewarding work that contributes to that goal of improving your writing. If you actively engage in class sessions and activities, provide constructive and thoughtful peer feedback, and work on improving your writing with each draft, you will receive a good grade.

You will still receive critical feedback about your writing from me and from your peers, but that feedback will always be about helping you to improve your writing, not about deducting grading points. You will not be graded down for grammar issues, a document that doesn't quite flow, or trying something new that doesn't quite work--unless you do not make an effort to improve these issues.

Grading criteria are focused on how engaged you are in improving your writing and are listed in each assignment description. Assignment grades are weighted as follows:

10% Discussion prompts: Each prompt is worth one point. Only 10 responses will count toward your grade--your lowest score will be thrown out.
10% In-class activities: Each activity is worth one point. Only 10 activities will count toward your grade--your lowest score will be thrown out. You will be able to make up some activities by doing them yourself.
25% Résumé and Cover Letter: This assignment has a first draft, peer review, second draft and conference questions, final draft, and reflection.
25% Instructions: This assignment has a doc plan, first draft, peer reviews, second draft and conference questions, and reflection.
30% Technical Report and Business Email: This assignment has a first draft, peer reviews, second draft and conference questions, business email, and reflection.

Your grade for the course overall is calculated based on the following mapping. You can view your calculated grade in Canvas.


4.0	97%
3.9	95.5%
3.8	94%
3.7	92.5%
3.6	91%
3.5	89.5%
etc.

Late assignments are accepted, but will receive a reduced grade in line with how late the assignment is and any mitigating factors. Please write an explanation with any late submission.

You may ask for clarification about or contest any assignment grade that you receive. Questions about grades must be submitted via email no sooner than 24 hours and no later than one week after the grade is released in Canvas.

Student Responsibilities

As with anything that you do, the more that you put into this course, the more you will get out of it. Your responsibility is not to be a great writer. Your responsibility is to put in the work to become a better writer.

That work includes:

Responding thoughtfully to the discussion prompts.
Attending class regularly and being as mentally present as you can be.
Letting me know if you need extra help, extra time, or an extra explanation of a difficult concept. I'm here to help, but I can't do that if you don't let me know what you need.
Critiquing your classmates' writing honestly, respectfully, and with the goal of helping to improve their writing.
Reading and annotating documents--both your own and others'--to better understand what makes a document work.
Supporting your classmates and helping to make this class a safe and comfortable place.
Trusting that you can improve your writing through practice and study.

If you do this work while treating yourself and the rest of the class with respect, you will do well.

Student Resources

A number of challenges from a variety of directions can affect your ability to bring your optimal attention and energy to this course. This Student Resources document is a set of links to campus resources that UW makes available to students to help you deal with some of these challenges.

Writing Resources

Because this is a writing course, you should be particularly aware of writing resources that are available to you:

The Odegaard Writing & Research Center (OWRC) offers free, one-to-one, 45-minute tutoring sessions for undergraduate, graduate, and professional writers in all fields at the UW. They will work with writers on any writing or research project, as well as personal projects such as applications or personal statements. Their tutors and librarians collaborate with writers at any stage of the writing and research process, from brainstorming and identifying sources to drafting and making final revisions. For more information or to schedule an appointment, see their website .
The CLUE Writing Center helps undergraduates start, draft, revise, research, and polish their writing. The CLUE Writing Center believes that writing is a process and has one goal in mind: to help you become a better writer.
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is an online resource with a wealth of information about writing, from writing process to grammar to standards for citing your work. You'll find many websites with answers to your writing questions, but I've found that this site is consistently one of the best places to look.

I encourage everyone to use the writing centers. They are a great resource for improving your documents and for making you a better writer.

Academic Integrity

The University of Washington takes academic integrity very seriously. Behaving with integrity is part of your responsibility to the shared learning community. If you’re uncertain about if something is academic misconduct, ask me. I am willing to discuss any questions that you might have.

The type of academic misconduct that is most relevant to this course is plagiarism. Plagiarism is particularly discouraged in this course because our goal is to improve your writing. Plagiarism can take multiple forms:

Presenting someone else's work as your own. For example, buying an assignment online or from another student or using an article that you find online as your own. This form of plagiarism is antithetical to the goals of the course and, frankly, unproductive because you will not be graded on how polished your assignment is but how engaged you are in the process of improving it.
Presenting part of someone's work as your own without properly quoting and citing. You can quote directly from these sources or summarize their ideas, but you must cite them properly and not present the writing as your own.
Patchwriting or failing to write in your own words . Patchwriting is similar to paraphrasing or summarizing, but the writing that you present as your own is too similar to the original document. Patchwriting is often unintentional and is common for students learning to write in a new genre.

You will receive feedback and suggestions from your classmates on your writing projects and make changes based on their input. This type of collaboration is encouraged. You do not need to cite your peer reviewers as co-authors for your assignments, but it is good practice to note their contributions when you write your reflection

Assignments will have SimCheck plagiarism detection enabled. Concerns about plagiarism or other behaviors prohibited by the Student Conduct Code may be referred for investigation and adjudication. Students found to have engaged in academic misconduct may receive a zero on the assignment (or other possible outcome).

The IWP & Anti-Racist Pedagogy

The Interdisciplinary Writing Program (IWP) is committed to engaging with anti-racist pedagogies. These pedagogies may take various forms, such as curricular attention to voices, communities, and perspectives that have been historically marginalized inside and beyond academic disciplines; inclusive classroom practices; discussions of racism; and consideration of other forms of prejudice and exclusion. We believe that countering the cultures and practices of racism in an academic institution is fundamental to developing a vibrant intellectual community. The IWP is happy to talk with you about your questions as well as to support student-led initiatives around anti-racist work, and we invite you to contact IWP faculty member Rush Daniel at [email protected] or IWP Program Director Carrie Matthews at [email protected]. If you’re interested in how teachers of English as a professional community have taken up anti-racist work, check out the National Council of Teachers of English Statement on Anti-Racism to Support Teaching and Learning .

Religious Accommodations

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy . Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form .

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For Facilitators

Facilitating Technical Writing Courses

This section provides resources for anyone facilitating or considering facilitating technical writing courses. The following table contains links to relevant material for facilitators:

	for facilitators			for students
Course	Facilitator's Guide	slide deck*	log	pre-class	in-class
Technical Writing One
Technical Writing One: Virtual Edition
Technical Writing Two
Technical Writing Two: Virtual Edition
Tech Writing for Accessibility
To access the slide decks, please read .

If you'd like to facilitate a particular course, please start by reading the course's Facilitator's Guide.

Facilitator video guides

This page also provides links to a series of videos that go beyond the speaker notes in the slides and aim to help you prepare to facilitate your own classes.

Technical Writing One

The embedded video in this section introduces Technical Writing One. The following videos cover the activities in Technical Writing One:

Exercise 1: Audience
Exercise 2: Active voice
Exercise 3: Lists
Exercise 4: Sentence length
Exercise 5: Clarifying paragraphs
Exercise 6: Describing a project

Technical Writing Two

The embedded video in this section introduces Technical Writing Two. The following videos cover the activities in Technical Writing Two:

Exercise 1: Writing is Rewriting
Exercise 2: Illustrations
First intermezzo
Exercise 3: Descriptions
Second intermezzo
Exercise 4: Tutorials

Virtual class logistics

You can also watch a short video that explains the basic technical requirements for running the virtual editions of Technical Writing One and Technical Writing Two.

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License , and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License . For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies . Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2024-08-06 UTC.

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Technical Documentation

11 Technical Writing Examples & Samples in 2024

Published: October 21, 2021
Updated: January 23, 2024

For any organization, there is a need for technical writers to provide easy-to-understand technical documentation to help explain complex processes for its products end-users, customers, and internal workforce.

Many organizations are a renewed focus on developing the technical writing skills of their writers and product managers. According to the U.S. Department of Labour Statistics, employment for technical content writing is expected to grow at a 12% faster rate between 2020-2030 in comparison to the overall average of other writing occupations.

With different industries having various technical writing needs (ie. in format types, tone, complexity, etc.), analyzing industry-leading technical writing examples from other companies can provide a roadmap and inspiration for new technical writers.

What Are Common Examples of Technical Writing?

User Manuals
Software Installation Guides
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
API Documentation
Service Level Agreements (SLA)
Press Release
Case Studies & White Papers
Company Documents
Requests for Proposals
Annual Reports
Business Plans

What Is Technical Writing?

Technical writing is a niche, user-centric form of writing used to disseminate information on technical or specialized topics, such as software applications, environmental regulations, or medical procedures. This writing style simplifies complex information and processes, allowing readers to use that information for an intended purpose – such as using technology, executing a project, onboarding a user, exemplifying a complex process, or informing a large audience.

Types of Technical Writing

Technical writing majorly falls into fourr categories:

1. End-User Technical Writing

End-user documentation aims to empower the user of a product by helping them understand the core functionality of a product and how to solve common troubleshooting issues. This form of writing is observed in types of technical documentation such as user manuals, legal disclaimers, employee handbooks, and website help centers.

2. Expert-to-Expert Technical Writing

A niche style of technical writing, this documentation includes types such as research summaries, legal documents, and white papers. These technical writing examples are written by experts, for experts, to help them dive deeper into a complex, industry-specific topic.

3. Process Documentation Writing

Process documentation is a form of technical writing that is designed for internal use by organizations to share knowledge on how to complete a task, with an emphasis on creating consistent, company-wide procedures. Examples of this type of technical writing include step-by-step process guides, internal wikis, KPI and goal reporting, OKRs, and HR policies.

4. Technical Marketing Communications

Most technical marketing communications fall under the B2B (business to business) writing umbrella. A technical writer needs to communicate their expertise in user-friendly language to help drive brand awareness and help prospective customers understand the product’s core benefits. Examples of companies using technical marketing writing include competitive analysis documents, in-depth case studies, marketing landing pages , informative articles, and business emails to promote or sell their services and products.

technical-writing-examples-process-chart

What’s the Difference Between Business Writing & Technical Writing?

Technical writing is often confused with business writing. Although both writing styles share similarities, writers can’t use them interchangeably. Both writing styles adhere to formal, specific, and concise language to convey the intent. There is an additional use of bulleted and numbered lists for an easier-to-read content structure.

Technical writing maintains a neutral, competent tone throughout its documentation, as the sole purpose of technical writing is to clearly explain complex topics to a non-technical reader. However, in business writing, the tone varies depending on the target reader. For example, a proposal requires persuasive language to highlight the factual aspects of a bid, while an external email to a new client requires a professional, yet warm tone.

PRO TIP : To decide the writing style, answer a simple question. Is my writing intended to communicate the desired purpose or an instruction?

11 Examples of Technical Writing in 2024

Here are 11 examples of common technical writing documents – with real-world samples for you to use as inspiration for your business’s technical writing needs.

1. User Manuals

User guides are instruction training manuals written for novice end-users to help them with products ranging from consumer products such as electronics or appliances to B2B SaaS tools and solutions. These manuals are user-friendly and well-illustrated to highlight common issues and features.

Additionally, technical writers must collaborate with engineers, programmers, and product designers to cover all the bases.

2. Software Installation Guides

Computer software must be equipped with software documentation , such as installation guides, to assist users through the software implementation and installation process.

A well-written installation guide must include detailed workflows, video tutorials, FAQs, and a troubleshooting guide. Often the programmers automate the process, and the technical writer authors alert boxes and the ReadMe file.

Software installation guides can be easily created, published, and maintained with software documentation tools .

3. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are holistic processes to help employees work in unison and accomplish various tasks in an organization. SOPs are a form of process documentation that ensures smoother internal operations and workflows by making business processes more efficient and economical. Examples of an SOP document include anything from payroll processing to manufacturing guidelines.

4. API Documentation

API documentation helps your customers’ developers interact easily with a product’s code to implement an API effectively. It contains instructions and tutorials to simplify integration with other APIs such as web-API, software API, and SCPIs.

5. Service Level Agreements (SLA)

An SLA is a legally binding contract between a provider and a customer that outlines services, guarantees, warranties, and other mutually negotiated items between the two parties.

Source: BMC

6. Press Releases

Press releases are formal and factual documents issued by an organization to make business-related announcements.

They are short and factual documents that highlight how the announcement impacts users and external stakeholders of the organization. This technical document has a specific format and includes a headline, overview of the information, company’s contact information, and direct quotes from internal stakeholders like the CEO.

Source: Apple

7. Case Studies & Whitepapers

Case studies & whitepapers are industry-specific documents that provide real-world examples testifying to an organization’s expertise and value, and are used for lead generation purposes.

Case studies are instance-specific documents written in passive voice and offer key takeaways, often using data to highlight its benefits. In comparison, whitepapers address a specific challenge and are written in an active voice. Technical writers authoring such documents should possess in-depth knowledge about the industry for effective writing.

Source: Whatfix

8. Company Documents

Company HR documents such as employee handbooks and orientation manuals require a perfect combination of technical writing skills and organizational knowledge. These documents are of immense help during the initial phases of employee onboarding and provide continuous support for ongoing employee development and general assistance.

blissbook-tool-for-creating-company-handbooks

9. Request for Proposal (RFP)

An RFP is a business document that announces a project and solicits bids from multiple qualifying contractors. The writing style of this document is persuasive, and a poorly-written RFP document can ensure whether or not the deal will be successful. A well-written RFP must clearly highlight the project goals, challenges, scope of work, and evaluation metrics.

Source: Venngage

10. Annual Reports

Annual reports are exhaustive documents that indicate a company’s financial health and yearly performance. These reports are of prime importance to the organizations seeking investors’ trust and include stock performance, financial information, new product information, and strategic developments.

Source: Tesla

11. Business Plans

Every organization starts with a detailed business plan to secure funding and requires an update during expansion phases. A business plan must include the following sections:

Executive Summary: This section provides an overview of the business plan, target market, and purpose.
Product Description: The product or service description includes a brief about the offering, its USP, and the development stage.
SWOT Analysis: A complete analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the business.
Market Research: This section includes a detailed analysis of all the competitors and product potential in the target market.
Organizational System: Before the initial start-up, it is crucial to clarify the organizational hierarchy and team members to support the business.
Schedule: This section highlights the implementation schedule and includes start date, hiring, and investment milestones.
Financial Planning: This is the most critical section and highlights the viability of the business plan. It includes income statements, projected revenues, balance sheets, and liquidity measures.
Appendix: The appendix consists of any other additional and relevant information such as patents.

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Technical writing is an analytical form of writing where attention to detail is paramount. Unlike creative writing, technical writing doesn’t need to invoke the reader’s emotions – but instead, its goal is to convey complex information in an easy-to-read, digestible form.

Technical writing doesn’t negate creativity. It’s a subtle form of writing which needs to be highly user-centric and understandable.

Technical writing tools such as Whatfix help you author impactful technical documents in a way that encourages interaction and retention. With Whatfix, technical writers create on-screen guides, pop-up prompts, tooltips, chatbots, in-app knowledge bases, and more to inform users how to use your product. A technical writer’s goal should be to create documents that promote your product effectively and to make those documents easy and fun to read.

Learn how Whatfix can help create the interactive product and process walkthroughs you need now!

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Types of writing assignments for engineering courses

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Writing assignments in engineering courses can take many forms, ranging from a couple of sentences of in-class writing to formal reports.

Conceptual Writing

Ask students to write about technical definitions, assumptions, or terminology. They can rephrase easily found definitions and assumptions in their own words, which allows them to articulate basic knowledge that they have learned in the course.

Explain-a-Problem

Take an existing “calculator problem” and have students explain their answers. The format of their explanations can range from a few clarifying sentences to a solution manual-type description. This is the simplest type of writing question to apply, and it dovetails perfectly with already-developed homework questions.

How Stuff Works

Ask students to use newly-learned concepts and terminology in an explanation of how something works in the real world. This question forces students to apply new concepts and equations to an actual situation.

Real-world Example

Advise students to seek out and explain a real-world example of a concept in action. This type of writing prompt is great at promoting student appreciation for the real-world importance of what they are learning.

Design-a-Problem

Assign students to design their own homework problem and write a detailed solution to that problem. This approach lets students be creative and encourages deep understanding of technical concepts and procedures.

Open-ended Design

Challenge students to design a device or solution associated with a stated design objective. The writing component of the assignment lies in the explanation of the design. This writing task allows students to create their own design and further engage with technical concepts and procedures as they explain how their design works.

Writing Technical Instructions

Resources & Preparation
Instructional Plan
Related Resources

Learning to write technical instructions is challenging. Writers must consider audience, purpose, context, length, and complexity—plus the specific content of the instructions, such as the steps in using a stapler. In this lesson, students walk through the process of creating technical instructions by first analyzing existing instructions. They then select an item and an audience for which they will write technical instructions. After writing their own instructions, students conduct usability tests of each other's instructions, providing user feedback. Finally, students use this user feedback to revise their instructions before publishing them.

Featured Resources

Analyzing Technical Instructions : Students can use the questions on this handout as a guide when they analyze sample technical instructions. Technical Instructions Planning Sheet : This handout explains the process for working with a partner to plan the technical instructions they will write. Conducting a Usability Test : This handout includes instructions for testing the technical instructions students have written.

From Theory to Practice

Teaching students how to write technical instructions helps them see that "to write, to engage in any communication, is to participate in a community; to write well is to understand the conditions of one's own participation-the concepts, values, traditions, and style which permit identification with that community and determine the success or failure of communication" (Miller 22). Similarly, in discussing finding meaningful writing activities for the English classroom, Weber writes: "The technical writing approach is one of many avenues to this goal. It engages my students in the total communications process: creating, planning, writing, editing, presenting, listening, sharing, and evaluating." Understanding discourse communities requires students to analyze the audience for a written work, and learning to write instructions is one such way students can learn about both audience analysis and technical writing. This lesson works toward building students' understanding of the importance their writing has on real audiences. Further Reading

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
9. Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.
11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

Sample technical instructions (Manuals, user guides, etc.)
Household items for writing instructions
Access to computer with Internet connection, Microsoft Word or Publisher, and printer
Large white paper (Chart-sized sticky notes work well for hanging items on wall)
Digital camera (optional)
Analyzing Technical Instructions
Sample Technical Instructions Rubric
Technical Instructions Planning Sheet
Visually Drafting Your Instructions
Using ReadWriteThink Notetaker to Draft Instructions
Conducting a Usability Test

Preparation

Collect a variety of written technical instructions for household items for students to use to analyze. Try to collect both effective and ineffective examples. Examples are also available online, at the Websites listed in the Resources section . Review the examples to familiarize yourself with their features and effectiveness.
Prepare three or four examples of effective and ineffective written technical instructions, using those you gathered or online examples, to be shown on an overhead or a document camera.
Make sure students have access to computer labs during sessions two through five.
Prepare copies of all handouts for distribution in class.
Test the Notetaker on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tool and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.

Student Objectives

Students will

analyze technical instructions to learn what makes them effective or ineffective for an audience.
analyze and describe the audience for a set of instructions, noting what that audience needs from that document.
understand the difference between technical writing and other genres of writing.
use document and audience analysis, drafting, peer response/user feedback, and revision to create effective technical instructions.
reflect on their writing process, noting how this assignment will be useful to them in future writing.

Session One

Ask students to talk about their experiences reading and using different types of written texts.
How are these different?
How do these genres speak to different audiences?
How do these types of writing work toward different purposes?
Ask students to focus on technical writing as a genre and to brainstorm the different kinds of written instructions they have seen or used in the past. Record their responses on the board or an overhead transparency.
What were they using the instructions for?
How helpful were they?
What were the best parts of the instructions?
What parts were difficult or hard to use?
What did they do if they had trouble using the instructions?
Arrange the class in groups of two to four students each, and give each group a set of instructions from those that you gathered. If the class meets in a computer classroom, share the links to instructions included in the Resources section.
Pass out copies of the Analyzing Technical Instructions , and ask students to analyze their instructions and record their observations on the handout.
When students complete their analysis, bring the class together and have each group report on their set of instructions.
On a sheet of chart paper, make a list of the top five effective and top five ineffective things students noticed about the instructions.
Hang this paper on the wall in the classroom for reference during the next three class sessions.
Ask students to bring one common household item to the next class session. Explain that students will write their own instructions for the item, so they should bring items that do not already have written instructions.
Brainstorm and discuss with students what would make good items and what would be too complex.
Encourage them to bring items that are not overly complex but not too simple either. Examples may include a stapler, clock, paper punch, flashlight, mechanical pencil, etc. Students should be able to write instructions for operating 2–3 features of the item. (For example, how to use a stapler and how to replace staples when cartridge is empty.) Encourage students to be creative in their choices.
Gather some extra items from the classroom or your home before the next session so you have options for students who forget to bring items.

Session Two

Review the top five effective and ineffective things about technical instructions from previous session with the class.
Spend more time with this topic, asking students to create a rubric determining what makes technical documents effective or ineffective. Use the Sample Technical Instructions Rubric as a model or starting point for the task.
Ask students to take out their household item, and spend five minutes freewriting about why they chose that item and how difficult it may or may not be to write instructions for it.
Arrange students in pairs, and ask them to share the item they brought and their thoughts from the freewriting.
Have students interview each other, using the Technical Instructions Planning Sheet to take notes about each other’s items.
Once interviews are complete, have students begin drafting their instructions. Give them large pieces of white paper for them to design, or mock up, their rough drafts.
Pass out copies or share an overhead transparency of the Visually Drafting Your Instructions sheet. Explain that students will draw separate boxes for each part of the item they want their instructions to cover, following the information on the handout.
Demonstrate how to use the ReadWriteThink Notetaker to document the steps in instructions, sharing the Using ReadWriteThink Notetaker to Draft Instructions handout with the class.
Have students use their notes on the Planning Sheet and their copies of the Visually Drafting Your Instructions handout to begin writing. Students can use the Notetaker to draft their instructions.
After students have outlined their instructions using Notetaker , ask them to print their work. Work cannot be saved in the Notetaker .
For homework, ask students to continue drafting their outlines using the Notetaker . Students should bring printed copies of Notetaker outlines to next session.

Session Three

Review outlines created using ReadWriteThink Notetaker with students.
Ask students to discuss how they will organize their notes into instructions, how many pages they will need, whether they need to include pictures to illustrate instructions.
The Process of Writing a Technical Manual
Instructions: How to Write for Busy, Grouchy People
After students review the site, ask them to write down three things they learned that they will consider as they write their own instructions.
Invite students to share their observations and discuss the advice as a whole class.
Review the expectations for the project using the rubric students created during the previous session. Answer any questions that students have about the project.
Explain the options that students have for creating polished drafts of their work. Point out the available software (e.g., Microsoft Word, Publisher) that students can use to type and format their instructions. (Depending on the class, instructors may need to instruct students on using the software to do this).
inserting Clip Art images.
drawing diagrams of their items using the computer or drawing by hand.
labeling parts or connecting the diagrams to the instructions.
importing images taken with a digital camera.
Ask students to print copies of their instructions when finished.
If additional time is needed, ask students to finish drafting their instructions for homework.
Remind students to bring a copy of their instructions and the related item to the next class.

Session Four

Students will bring a copy of their printed (complete) instructions and their household item.
Pass out copies of the instructions for Conducting a Usability Test and review the instructions with students.
Ask students to use the remaining class time to conduct at least two usability tests. Ensure that students understand that two different students will read and test their instructions for using the household item.
If time allows, students can begin revising their instructions in class and consult with the testers as appropriate.
For homework, students can continue working on revising their instructions. Students will finish revisions during the next session and submit their work.

Session Five

Have students revise their instructions, using the available resources—word processing software, clip art, and so forth.
Encourage students to consult the notes from their usability testing as they revise.
As students revise, circulate through the room, meeting with student to discuss revisions and offer suggestions.
Ask students to print their technical instructions, staple or attach pages as needed, and present final products to the class or school by the end of the session.
Spend additional time exploring document design by exploring alternative publishing options such as pamphlets, brochures, and different-sized documents.
Rather than writing instructions for operating a common household item, ask students to write instructions for completing a basic task, such as making a sandwich or addressing an envelope.
For a humorous break, share this Wendy’s training video and ask students to discuss what was effective and ineffective about those instructions. Be sure to discuss when the video was produced and how the video fit (or didn’t) the needs of the audience at the time it was produced.

Student Assessment / Reflections

Collect students’ worksheets, including the Analyzing Technical Instructions and the Technical Instructions Planning Sheet , and the notes taken during the Usability Test . Review the work for completion and understanding of the basic goals of the lesson, including comprehension of the role that audience and purpose play in effective technical writing.
During class discussion and students’ work in pairs, listen for comments that show students can think critically about the goals and effective strategies for technical writing in general and specifically for instructions.
For a formal assessment, use the rubric created by the class during Session Two, which was based on the the Sample Technical Instructions Rubric .
Student Interactives
Lesson Plans

Useful for a wide variety of reading and writing activities, this outlining tool allows students to organize up to five levels of information.

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Technical Writing Examples for Students - Learn How to Write Technically & Clearly

Trent Lorcher
Categories : Help with writing assignments paragraphs, essays, outlines & more
Tags : Homework help & study guides

Technically, That’s not Technical

Extract the metallic pin in the like manner Odysseus extracted the Wooden Horse plan from his mind.
Think of the fire as a tree that you really need to chop down and the extinguisher as your ax. Aim accordingly.
Much like a tender chicken must be roasted slowly, so must the fire extinguisher lever be pressed.
Sweep the extinguisher from side to side much in the same way Emily Dickinson uses her many-colored broom .

Thanks for teaching me all these literary devices. I hope you find them as useful as I have. As I ran out of the burning building, I realized I should have focused a little more on technical writing.

Technically, This Is Technical (Writing)

Technical writing is a type of writing that helps someone solve a problem or acquire necessary information about a specific subject. Examples of technical writing include instruction manuals, recipes, how-to guides, text books, multimedia presentations, and operating instructions. Every occupation and field of study has its own language that’s incorporated into specialized reports and other written work. This, too, is considered technical writing. The following is an example on how to write technically:

Know your audience - This is true for all types of writing. You must know to whom you are writing. If you’re writing, for example, an instruction manual on how to program a cell phone for the general public, you’re going to use words that most people will understand. If you’re writing the same manual for a group of software designers for Verizon Wireless, you’re going to use more technical terms and more complex functions.
Write an introduction - Keep the introduction short. Let the reader know who needs to read it and why they need to read it. If the reader belongs to the “who” group and your “why” solves his problem, then you have just grabbed his attention. (See the introduction to this how-to-example.)
Be direct - Readers of technical writing are not looking for a life-changing literary experience. They have a problem. They want you to solve it. If it’s an instruction or how-to manual, use the imperative voice. If it’s a technical analysis or a report for the boss, leave out any unnecessary words .
Use space - If this example was one long paragraph instead of a numbered list, you would have clicked off it immediately. Brains like order and space. Small paragraphs are good. Numbered or bulleted lists are great. If a specific order is required, use numbers; otherwise, use bullets.
Try it before you submit it . It’s a good idea to test your technical writing, especially if it involves instructions. You can also have a friend try it. The directions must be clear enough for someone else to follow. Your tester/guinea pig/editor may point out ambiguous instructions or unclear explanations that you may not have discovered.

Technically, These Are Great Examples

Here are some technical writing examples for students to get started practicing.

Write two instruction manuals on how to use Facebook, Twitter, or any of those other social media things high school kids are so good at. Write the first manual for people like your Uncle Ned who goes to his mailbox to check his e-mail. Write the second manual for your peers.

Take a multi-step assignment from one of your classes and rewrite the instructions. Make the instructions step-by-step. Show the newly written instructions to your teacher and make sure you captured the essence of the assignment. He or she may want a copy of them. Ask for money in return.

Write a contract regarding chores around your house. Be sure to define all terms. Be specific in what you will do and what is required of the head of household. If you can get your parents to sign the contract, watch out. They probably found a loophole.

Using your class schedule, write a course catalog. Another option is to write a survival guide for a class you are taking. Use humor, if you’ve got it.

Rewrite a school policy.

Write an annual report on your accomplishments during the current school year. Be sure to provide data.

Write specific instructions on how to complete an ordinary task.

Write a recipe. This is harder than it seems. The directions must be specific enough for someone to make the food properly.

These are just a few technical writing examples for students that would make for a great assignment. I hoped they have helped you think of other possibilities as well.

Jerz, Dennis G. “ Instructions: How to Write for Busy, Grouchy People .” Setonhill.edu. 10 November 2002. Accessed 25 May 2011.
Image by Wokandapix from Pixabay

This post is part of the series: Writing Made Easy

Writing isn’t as hard as you think.

How to Make an Outline: Components of the Writing Process
How to Write in the Active Voice & When to Write in Passive Voice
Getting Technical With Technical Writing
Analyze This: Write a Chapter Analysis that Will Amaze Your Teacher

Technical Writing for Beginners – An A-Z Guide to Tech Blogging Basics

If you love writing and technology, technical writing could be a suitable career for you. It's also something else you can do if you love tech but don’t really fancy coding all day long.

Technical writing might also be for you if you love learning by teaching others, contributing to open source projects and teaching others how to do so, too, or basically enjoy explaining complex concepts in simple ways through your writing.

Let's dive into the fundamentals and learn about what you should know and consider when getting started with technical writing.

In this article, we’ll be looking at:

What Technical writing is

Benefits of Technical Writing

Necessary skills to have as a Technical Writer

The Technical Writing Process

Platforms for publishing your articles

Technical Writing Courses

Technical Writing forums and communities
Some amazing technical writers to follow
Final Words and references

What is Technical Writing?

Technical writing is the art of providing detail-oriented instruction to help users understand a specific skill or product.

And a technical writer is someone who writes these instructions, otherwise known as technical documentation or tutorials. This could include user manuals, online support articles, or internal docs for coders/API developers.

A technical writer communicates in a way that presents technical information so that the reader can use that information for an intended purpose.

Technical writers are lifelong learners. Since the job involves communicating complex concepts in simple and straightforward terms, you must be well-versed in the field you're writing about. Or be willing to learn about it.

This is great, because with each new technical document you research and write, you will become an expert on that subject.

Technical writing also gives you a better sense of user empathy. It helps you pay more attention to what the readers or users of a product feel rather than what you think.

You can also make money as a technical writer by contributing to organizations. Here are some organizations that pay you to write for them , like Smashing Magazine , AuthO , Twilio , and Stack Overflow .

In addition to all this, you can contribute to Open Source communities and participate in paid open source programs like Google Season of Docs and Outreachy .

You can also take up technical writing as a full time profession – lots of companies need someone with those skills.

Necessary Skills to Have as a Technical Writer

Understand the use of proper english.

Before you consider writing, it is necessary to have a good grasp of English, its tenses, spellings and basic grammar. Your readers don't want to read an article riddled with incorrect grammar and poor word choices.

Know how to explain things clearly and simply

Knowing how to implement a feature doesn't necessarily mean you can clearly communicate the process to others.

In order to be a good teacher, you have to be empathetic, with the ability to teach or describe terms in ways suitable for your intended audience.

If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself. Albert Einstein

Possess some writing skills‌‌

I believe that writers are made, not born. And you can only learn how to write by actually writing.

You might never know you have it in you to write until you put pen to paper. And there's only one way to know if you have some writing skills, and that's by writing.

So I encourage you to start writing today. You can choose to start with any of the platforms I listed in this section to stretch your writing muscles.

And of course, it is also a huge benefit to have some experience in a technical field.

Analyze and Understand who your Readers are

The biggest factor to consider when you're writing a technical article is your intended/expected audience. It should always be at the forefront of your mind.

A good technical writer writes based on the reader’s context. As an example , let's say you're writing an article targeted at beginners. It is important not to assume that they already know certain concepts.

You can start out your article by outlining any necessary prerequisites. This will make sure that your readers have (or can acquire) the knowledge they need before diving right into your article.

You can also include links to useful resources so your readers can get the information they need with just a click.

In order to know for whom you are writing, you have to gather as much information as possible about who will use the document.

It is important to know if your audience has expertise in the field, if the topic is totally new to them, or if they fall somewhere in between.

Your readers will also have their own expectations and needs. You must determine what the reader is looking for when they begin to read the document and what they'll get out of it.

To understand your reader, ask yourself the following questions before you start writing:

Who are my readers?
What do they need?
Where will they be reading?
When will they be reading?
Why will they be reading?
How will they be reading?

These questions also help you think about your reader's experience while reading your writing, which we'll talk about more now.

Think About User Experience

User experience is just as important in a technical document as it is anywhere on the web.

Now that you know your audience and their needs, keep in mind how the document itself services their needs. It’s so easy to ignore how the reader will actually use the document.

As you write, continuously step back and view the document as if you're the reader. Ask yourself: Is it accessible? How will your readers be using it? When will they be using it? Is it easy to navigate?

The goal is to write a document that is both useful to and useable by your readers.

Plan Your Document

Bearing in mind who your users are, you can then conceptualize and plan out your document.

This process includes a number of steps, which we'll go over now.

Conduct thorough research about the topic

While planning out your document, you have to research the topic you're writing about. There are tons of resources only a Google search away for you to consume and get deeper insights from.

Don't be tempted to lift off other people's works or articles and pass it off as your own, as this is plagiarism. Rather, use these resources as references and ideas for your work.

Google as much as possible, get facts and figures from research journals, books or news, and gather as much information as you can about your topic. Then you can start making an outline.

Make an outline

Outlining the content of your document before expanding on it helps you write in a more focused way. It also lets you organize your thoughts and achieving your goals for your writing.

An outline can also help you identify what you want your readers to get out of the document. And finally, it establishes a timeline for completing your writing.

Get relevant graphics/images

Having an outline is very helpful in identifying the various virtual aids (infographics, gifs, videos, tweets) you'll need to embed in different sections of your document.

And it'll make your writing process much easier if you keep these relevant graphics handy.

Write in the Correct Style

Finally, you can start to write! If you've completed all these steps, writing should become a lot easier. But you still need to make sure your writing style is suitable for a technical document.

The writing needs to be accessible, direct, and professional. Flowery or emotional text is not welcome in a technical document. To help you maintain this style, here are some key characteristics you should cultivate.

Use Active Voice

It's a good idea to use active voices in your articles, as it is easier to read and understand than the passive voice.

Active voice means that the subject of the sentence is the one actively performing the action of the verb. Passive voice means that a subject is the recipient of a verb's action .

Here's an example of passive voice : The documentation should be read six times a year by every web developer.

And here's an example of active voice : Every web developer should read this documentation 6 times a year.

Choose Your Words Carefully

Word choice is important. Make sure you use the best word for the context. Avoid overusing pronouns such as ‘it’ and ‘this’ as the reader may have difficulty identifying which nouns they refer to.

Also avoid slang and vulgar language – remember you're writing for a wider audience whose disposition and cultural inclinations could differ from yours.

Avoid Excessive Jargon

If you’re an expert in your field, it can be easy to use jargon you're familiar with without realizing that it may be confusing to other readers.

You should also avoid using acronyms you haven't previously explained.

Here's an Example :

Less clear: PWAs are truly considered the future of multi-platform development. Their availability on both Android and iOS makes them the app of the future.

Improved: Progressive Web Applications (PWAs) are truly the future of multi-platform development. Their availability on both Android and iOS makes PWAs the app of the future.

Use Plain Language

Use fewer words and write in a way so that any reader can understand the text.‌‌ Avoid big lengthy words. Always try to explain concepts and terms in the clearest way possible.

Visual Formatting

A wall of text is difficult to read. Even the clearest instructions can be lost in a document that has poor visual representation.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This rings true even in technical writing.

But not just any image is worthy of a technical document. Technical information can be difficult to convey in text alone. A well-placed image or diagram can clarify your explanation.

People also love visuals, so it helps to insert them at the right spots. Consider the images below:

First, here's a blog snippet without visuals:

Here's a snippet of same blog, but with visuals:

Adding images to your articles makes the content more relatable and easier to understand. In addition to images, you can also use gifs, emoji, embeds (social media, code) and code snippets where necessary.

Thoughtful formatting, templates, and images or diagrams will also make your text more helpful to your readers. You can check out the references below for a technical writing template from @Bolajiayodeji.

Do a Careful Review

Good writing of any type must be free from spelling and grammatical errors. These errors might seem obvious, but it's not always easy to spot them (especially in lengthy documents).

Always double-check your spelling (you know, dot your Is and cross your Ts) before hitting 'publish'.

There are a number of free tools like Grammarly and the Hemingway app that you can use to check for grammar and spelling errors. You can also share a draft of your article with someone to proofread before publishing.

Where to Publish Your Articles

Now that you've decided to take up technical writing, here are some good platforms where you can start putting up technical content for free. They can also help you build an appealing portfolio for future employers to check out.

Dev.to is a community of thousands of techies where both writers and readers get to meaningfully engage and share ideas and resources.

Hashnode is my go-to blogging platform with awesome perks such as custom domain mapping and an interactive community. Setting up a blog on this platform is also easy and fast.

freeCodeCamp has a very large community and audience reach and is a great place to publish your articles. However, you'll need to apply to write for their publication with some previous writing samples.

Your application could either be accepted or rejected, but don't be discouraged. You can always reapply later as you get better, and who knows? You could get accepted.

If you do write for them, they'll review and edit your articles before publishing, to make sure you publish the most polished article possible. They'll also share your articles on their social media platforms to help more people read them.

Hackernoon has over 7,000 writers and could be a great platform for you to start publishing your articles to the over 200,000 daily readers in the community.

Hacker Noon supports writers by proofreading their articles before publishing them on the platform, helping them avoid common mistakes.

Just like in every other field, there are various processes, rules, best practices, and so on in Technical Writing.

Taking a course on technical writing will help guide you through every thing you need to learn and can also give you a major confidence boost to kick start your writing journey.

Here are some technical writing courses you can check out:

Google Technical Writing Course (Free)
Udemy Technical Writing Course (Paid)
Hashnode Technical Writing Bootcamp (Free)

Technical Writing Forums and Communities

Alone we can do so little, together, we can do so much ~ Helen Keller

Being part of a community or forum along with people who share same passion as you is beneficial. You can get feedback, corrections, tips and even learn some style tips from other writers in the community.

Here are some communities and forums for you to join:

Technical Writing World
Technical Writer Forum
Write the Docs Forum

Some Amazing Technical Writers to follow

In my technical writing journey, I've come and followed some great technical writers whose writing journey, consistency, and style inspire me.

These are the writers whom I look up to and consider virtual mentors on technical writing. Sometimes, they drop technical writing tips that I find helpful and have learned a lot from.

Here are some of those writers (hyperlinked with their twitter handles):

Quincy Larson
Edidiong Asikpo
Catalin Pit
Victoria Lo
Bolaji Ayodeji
Amruta Ranade
Chris Bongers
Colby Fayock

Final words

You do not need a degree in technical writing to start putting out technical content. You can start writing on your personal blog and public GitHub repositories while building your portfolio and gaining practical experience.

Really – Just Start Writing.

Practice by creating new documents for existing programs or projects. There are a number of open source projects on GitHub that you can check out and add to their documentation.

Is there an app that you love to use, but its documentation is poorly written? Write your own and share it online for feedback. You can also quickly set up your blog on hashnode and start writing.

You learn to write by writing, and by reading and thinking about how writers have created their characters and invented their stories. If you are not a reader, don't even think about being a writer. - Jean M. Auel

Technical writers are always learning . By diving into new subject areas and receiving external feedback, a good writer never stops honing their craft.

Of course, good writers are also voracious readers. By reviewing highly-read or highly-used documents, your own writing will definitely improve.

Can't wait to see your technical articles!

Introduction to Technical Writing ‌‌

How to structure a technical article ‌‌

Understanding your audience, the why and how

‌‌ Technical Writing template

I hope this was helpful. If so, follow me on Twitter and let me know!

Hey there! You're welcome to my blog - Here I pen down articles specifically targeted at newbies in tech and front end web development and technical writing. If you're an expert, you could also use a thing or two.

If you read this far, thank the author to show them you care. Say Thanks

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technical-writing

Bay College - ENGL 145 - Technical and Report Writing

Online OER text adapted for use in ENGL 145 - ENGL 145 …

Online OER text adapted for use in ENGL 145 - ENGL 145 Technical and Report Writing by Amber Kinonen for Bay College.

© 2017 Bay College and Content Creators. Except where otherwise noted this work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Business English I gives students a firm and thorough foundation in the …

Business English I gives students a firm and thorough foundation in the fundamentals of business writing by focusing on grammar basics, mechanical skills in writing, sentence structure, proofreading and editing skills, and vocabulary development.

Content guide covers reflecting equity, inclusion, student representation, and pronouns in business.

This task was developed by high school and postsecondary mathematics and design/pre-construction …

This task was developed by high school and postsecondary mathematics and design/pre-construction educators, and validated by content experts in the Common Core State Standards in mathematics and the National Career Clusters Knowledge & Skills Statements. It was developed with the purpose of demonstrating how the Common Core and CTE Knowledge & Skills Statements can be integrated into classroom learning - and to provide classroom teachers with a truly authentic task for either mathematics or CTE courses.

This course focuses on an exploration of the role that communication plays …

This course focuses on an exploration of the role that communication plays in the work of the contemporary engineering and science professional. Emphasis is placed on analyzing how composition and publication contribute to work management and knowledge production, as well as the “how-to” aspects of writing specific kinds of documents in a clear style. Topics include: communication as organizational process, electronic modes such as e-mail and the Internet, the informational and social roles of specific document forms, writing as collaboration, the writing process, the elements of style, methods of oral presentation, and communication ethics. Case studies used as the basis for class discussion and some writing assignments. Several short documents, a longer report or article, and a short oral presentation are required.

Design Discourse: Composing and Revising Programs in Professional and Technical Writing addresses …

Design Discourse: Composing and Revising Programs in Professional and Technical Writing addresses the complexities of developing professional and technical writing programs. The essays in the collection offer reflections on efforts to bridge two cultures — what the editors characterize as the "art and science of writing" — often by addressing explicitly the tensions between them. Design Discourse offers insights into the high-stakes decisions made by program designers as they seek to "function at the intersection of the practical and the abstract, the human and the technical."

Learn how to create everything from work instructions to user manuals. We’ll …

Learn how to create everything from work instructions to user manuals. We’ll help you avoid the most common pitfalls of tech writing, from poor planning to outdated publishing. This manual is written by the CEO and Lead Writer at IFixit, an openly-licensed repair manual. IFixit works with technical writing classes to add to IFixit content while allowing students to engage in real-life technical writing projects.

This textbook is for a workplace communication course at Central New Mexico …

This textbook is for a workplace communication course at Central New Mexico Community College. This course was developed for students in Applied Sciences degree programs who would like to learn more workplace writing skills instead of English composition skills. The textbook includes basic workplace communication skills such as emailing and other professional communication. It is a synthesis of several OER resources and is tailored very specifically to the students at CNM.

Experimental Biology - Communications Intensive

This course is the scientific communications portion of course 7.02, Experimental Biology …

This course is the scientific communications portion of course 7.02, Experimental Biology and Communication. Students develop their skills as writers of scientific research, skills that also contribute to the learning of the 7.02 course materials. Through in class and out of class writing exercises, students explore the genre of the research article and its components while developing an understanding of the materials covered in the 7.02 laboratory.

Students take part in a hypothetical scenario that challenges them to inform …

Students take part in a hypothetical scenario that challenges them to inform customers at a local restaurant of how their use and disposal of plastics relates/contributes to the Great Pacific garbage patch (GPGP). What students ultimately do is research information on the plastics pollution in the oceans and present that information as a short, eye-catching newsletter suitable to hand out to restaurant customers. This activity focuses on teaching students to conduct their own research on a science-technology related topic and present it in a compelling manner that includes citing source information without plagiarism. By doing this, students gain experience and skills with general online searching as well as word processing and written and visual communication.

This course is designed to improve the student’s ability to communicate technical …

This course is designed to improve the student’s ability to communicate technical information. It covers the basics of working with sources, including summarizing and paraphrasing, synthesizing source materials, citing, quoting, and avoiding plagiarism. It also covers how to write an abstract and a literature review. In addition, we will cover communication concepts, tools, and strategies that can help you understand how engineering texts work, and how you can make your texts work more effectively. This course is limited to MIT graduate engineering students based on results of the Graduate Writing Exam.

Howdy or Hello?: Technical and Business Communications - Revised Pilot Edition

Technical writing courses introduce you to some of the most important aspects …

Technical writing courses introduce you to some of the most important aspects of writing in the worlds of science, technology, and business—in other words, the kind of writing that scientists, nurses, doctors, computer specialists, government officials, engineers, and other professionals do as a part of their regular work. The skills learned in technical writing courses can be useful in other fields as well, including education and social sciences.

An Introduction to Technical Communication

This Pressbook provides an introduction to and examples of technical communication. It …

This Pressbook provides an introduction to and examples of technical communication. It is aimed at college-level and professional learners.

Welcome to Mindful Technical Writing: An Introduction to the Fundamentals, an open …

Welcome to Mindful Technical Writing: An Introduction to the Fundamentals, an open textbook designed for use in co-requisite course pairings of developmental writing and introductory technical writing, or indeed in other lower-division college writing courses that focus on building study skills alongside effective workplace and academic writing skills. It offers a no-cost alternative to commercial products, combining practical guidance with interactive exercises and thoughtfully designed writing opportunities.

This book’s modular design and ample coverage of topics and genres means that it can be used flexibly over semester-long or stretch courses, allowing instructors and students to select the chapters that are most relevant for their needs. By blending new material with reviews of key topics, such as academic integrity, the chapters provide fresh perspectives on matters vital to the development of strong writing skills.

This book was made possible through grant support from Montana Technological University and the TRAILS OER program, funded by the Office of the Commissioner for Higher Education, Montana University System.

You're probably wondering what this "technical writing thing" is. Someone may even …

You're probably wondering what this "technical writing thing" is. Someone may even have told you, "it's this course where they make you write about rocket science and brain surgery." Well, not really, as you will see in a moment. Actually, the field of technical communication is essential in a wide range of fields and occupations. It is a fully professional field with degree programs, certifications, and—yes!—even theory. It's a good field with a lot of growth and income potential; and an introductory technical-writing course for which this book has been developed is a good way to start if you are interested in a career in this field.

Open Technical Writing: An Open-Access Text for Instruction in Technical and Professional Writing

This book presents technical writing as an approach to researching and carrying …

Open WR 300 Workplace and Technical Writing Syllabus Documents

Folder of openly licensed course documents including syllabus and assignment prompts. Course …

Folder of openly licensed course documents including syllabus and assignment prompts.

Course description: Instruction and practice in professional workplace writing, with emphasis on genre, audience and collaboration.

Pingus Penguins: Writing Good Instructions

Students use the free computer game Pingus to learn how engineers, specifically …

Students use the free computer game Pingus to learn how engineers, specifically environmental engineers, use their technical writing skills to give instructions and follow the instructions of others. Students learn to write instructions to express their ideas in clear, organized ways using descriptive, un-ambiguous sentences, as an example of one type of technical writing that important for engineers. The students write instructions enumerating how to beat a game level, which represents surveying that level for environmental problems. As a test of their instructions, students review each others' instructions and offer suggestions for improvement, and then revise their instructions to make them better. Students also see some examples of environmental problems.

Writing Center
How to Set Expectations for Technical Writing Assignments

Setting Expectations for Technical Writing Assignments (Explanation and Powerpoint)

What this resource is about: .

This resource discusses how to set expectations for technical writing and provides PowerPoint slides as an example of a lecture that can be adapted to meet the specific needs of any technical writing assignment.

Why clarify expectations explicitly?

Students have varied experiences in writing from high school and university. While most instructors assume that students have adequate skills in writing, having different assignments, classes, and individual evaluators makes it difficult for students to know what is expected of any one assignment. I have found that students do not really understand what is expected of their writing in my class, and most have little experience in technical writing. Explicitly stating expectations helps the students learn technical writing and doesn’t leave them guessing.

Reflection from Dr. Pew:

There’s no one way to write correctly. Expectations for writing courses will be different depending on the context, discipline, course, and learning outcomes. In my classes, I expect students to write a research paper, which may be the first time they have encountered this specific type of writing at this level. My goal is to be as transparent as possible.

I give this lecture to my mechanical engineering classes (EMEC 405, 465, and 462) and use it as an outline when I introduce the writing assignments in those classes. By setting expectations early, students can understand the required level of detail and get a sense of how they will be assessed.

This lecture is one component of how I deliver assignment expectations. I also give them a problem statement and grading rubric that align with what I’ve outlined here so that students can reference multiple documents that reinforce my expectations. We also do in-class peer review of individual sections of the papers. This requires them to complete sections far in advance of the final due date, forces them to review their work with others, and gives them the opportunity to ask me questions about improvement.

This PowerPoint contains detailed specifications for the type of technical writing needed in my mechanical engineering courses--your context will be different and will likely need a different style. Feel free to adapt this PowerPoint and remove any content that is overly rigid for your intended project and replace it with your own.

Benefits:

Since using this presentation along with a detailed rubric and peer review, I have noted considerable improvements in student writing ability as well as the quality of their project content. In addition, by completing and grading sections throughout the semester, it allows me to distribute the workload of grading final projects and makes final assessment at the end of the semester easier.

Challenges:

I recognize that this lecture is too much information for students to absorb in one class period. The information must be reiterated throughout their writing process. For that reason, we also do writing groups in class. The students complete each section of their papers and bring them for peer review. They also bring their sections to me for individual feedback so I can reiterate these ideas.

Click here for Dr. Pew's PowerPoint Presentation

The Writing Center

Montana State University P.O. Box 172310 Bozeman, MT 59717-2310

Wilson Hall 1-114, (406) 994-5315 Romney Hall 207, (406) 994-5320 MSU Library (1st floor), (406) 994-4346

[email protected]

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Job Opportunities FAQ & How To

Department of English

Dietrich college of humanities and social sciences, technical writing program, the technical writing program is a subspecialty of professional writing, focused on the skills for making complex, technical information accessible and navigable to both users and stakeholders..

The Technical Writing Program is a strong fit for students with dual interests in writing and STEM fields, or who wish to strengthen a primary major in STEM with the communication skills expected of team members and managers.

As English’s only Bachelor of Science degree, the major blends coursework in writing, document design, and user experience methods with additional work in computer science, mathematics, and statistics. Students specialize further through elective courses and professional experiences, earning a concentration in either science and medical communication, or technical communication.

Technical writers are sought after for their plain language and user experience research skills by software companies, instructional design firms, hospitals and insurers, and in engineering and federal government positions.

Declare Technical Writing

Professional & Technical Writing

Explore Technical Writing

Primary major, additional major, technical writing faculty.

Undergraduate Admissions

Questions? Reach out to Laura Donaldson, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Programs and Academic Advisor at [email protected]

Want To Visit? Schedule a visit to the Technical Writing Program through this form.

Spotlight: Wilson Ekern

Meet wilson. .

Wilson (Class of 2021) majored in Technical Writing in the Department of English. He also graduated with an additional major in German Studies.

What was your favorite English course and why?

Style. It really teaches you the tools for writing clearly and communicating your ideas effectively.

Learn more about Wilson!

Faculty and Staff Resources
Current Student Resources
Carnegie Mellon University Press
Arts Greenhouse
Oakland Review

Certified Technical Writer

Effective communication is essential in today's business world. Technical writers are professional communicators whose role varies across industries and contexts. They may create manuals and instruction documents, write grant proposals for nonprofit organizations, manage social media accounts, or create compliance documents for pharmaceutical companies. They may work in industries as different as aeronautical engineering and healthcare or be self-employed. With skills and experience, technical...

Northern Maine Community College

Details + objectives, course code: ges2110.

What you will learn

Writing to meet the needs of your audience, including writing with clarity and focus
The differences between technical writing and other types of writing
Ethical issues in technical writing
Advanced grammar rules and effective research methods
Writing effectively for websites and social media
Developing strategies to prepare for the Certified Professional Technical Communicator exam

How you will benefit

Obtain a professional writing portfolio to showcase your work to current and potential employers
Be prepared for technical writing jobs in a variety of industries like software companies, nonprofit organizations, marketing agencies, and more
Receive a certificate of completion and prepare to sit for the CPTC exam

How the course is taught

Self-paced, online course
6 Months to complete
Open enrollment, begin anytime
125 course hours
Introduction to Technical Communication
Your Role as a Technical Writer
Common Types of Technical Writing
The Seven Principles of Good Writing
Writing as a Process
Organization
Rough Draft
Revising and Editing
Writing for the Web and Social Media
Certification
How to Find a Job in Technical Writing (Optional Lesson)

Instructors & Support

Janet Underwood

Janet Underwood is a seasoned professional with more than 20 years of experience as a senior technical writer. Janet started her career as an English teacher. She then went on to work as an editor and writer for several internationally known trade publications before marrying her love of technology with her passion for writing to become a technical writer. Janet has developed technical documentation for major corporations in the computer, information technology, telecommunications, financial, medical industries, U.S. government agencies, and public utilities organizations. She has also written several books used as textbooks for college technical writing courses and has been an adjunct professor.

Lynn Atkinson

Lynn Atkinson earned a B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in 1993 and an M.A. in English with an emphasis in rhetoric in 1996. A published writer and editor, including contributions to college textbooks, she considers her greatest accomplishment educating thousands of students at UTA, DeVry, Tarrant County College, Southeast Career Institute, and Everest College. She has also been nominated for and awarded "Outstanding Teacher" at several of these institutions. Lynn has developed or co-developed several writing curriculums, won writing contests and conducted over 10,000 hours of tutoring.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to complete this course. This course is designed to prepare you for a career as a technical writer. You do not need any prior experience or training in this field.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

PC: Windows 8 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.10 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox is preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Microsoft Word Online
Adobe Acrobat Reader .
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.
Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment. The following textbooks will be shipped to you approximately 7-10 business days after enrollment:

Technical Communication: A Reader-Centered Approach , by Paul V. Anderson
Technical Writing for Success , by Darlene Smith-Worthington and Sue Jefferson

The following eBook will be provided to you approximately 7-10 business days after enrollment:

Technical Communication Today , by Richard Johnson-Sheehan (eBook)

Please note: You will receive a digital book if the physical book is on backorder.

What does a technical writer do?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, technical writers, also called technical communicators, prepare instruction manuals, how-to guides, journal articles, and other supporting documents to communicate complex and technical information more easily. Technical writers also develop, gather, and disseminate technical information through an organization's communications channels. Indeed.com reports some notable examples of technical writing job duties, including:

Instruction manuals
E-learning content
Product specifications
Product descriptions
Press releases
Business proposals
Job descriptions

What is technical writing?

Indeed.com states that technical writing is a form of communication professionals use to convey information about specialized topics. A technical writer might create content to provide instructions or explain technical concepts regarding environmental regulations, computer applications, or medical procedures. Some of the most common industries that rely on technical writing include:

Engineering
Computer software and hardware
Consumer electronics
Aeronautics
Medical and healthcare
Biotechnology

What is a technical writer's salary?

According to Lightcast, the annual median salary for a technical writer has been $80,800 over the last 12 months.

Does this course prepare you for a certification?

Yes. You will prepare for the (CPTC) Certified Professional Technical Communicator exam offered by the Society for Technical Communication (STC).

When can I start this course?

This course is open enrollment, so you can register and start the course whenever you are ready. Access to your course can take 24-48 business hours.

How long does it take to complete this course?

After you register, you will receive (6) months to complete the course. The time allotted for completion has been calculated based on the number of course hours.

What if I don't have enough time to complete the course within the time frame provided?

If you are unable to complete the course, contact your Student Advisor to help you work out a suitable completion date. Please note that an extension fee will be charged. If you are funded through a third-party organization, approval may also be required.

What kind of support will I receive?

Our courses are designed to accommodate various learning preferences. Depending on the course structure, you may get different forms of support. Self-paced courses are designed to be user-friendly and independent, minimizing the need for external support. In courses with instructors, our direct platform support feature includes opportunities for questions, discussions, and remediation, with email and phone support available for select courses. Our student advising team is available to guide you on program requirements and administrative requests, but they do not provide assistance with course content. Our goal is to provide you with the necessary support for success, whether it's through self-paced exploration, direct communication, or guidance from our advising team.

What happens when I complete the course?

Upon successfully passing the final exam, you will be awarded a certificate of completion from the school or organization that you registered through.

Am I guaranteed a job?

ed2go courses will help you gain the skills you need to obtain an entry-level position in most cases. However, you should always research the job market in your area before enrolling.

Can I get financial assistance?

ed2go courses are non-credit, so they do not qualify for federal aid, FAFSA, and Pell Grant. In some states, vocational rehab or workforce development boards may provide funding to take our courses. Additionally, you may qualify for financial assistance if you meet certain requirements. To learn more about financial assistance.

How can I get more information about this course?

If you have questions that are not answered on our website, representatives are available via LIVE chat. You can also call us at 1-877-221-5151 during regular business hours to have your questions promptly answered. If you are visiting us during non-business hours, please send us a question using the "Contact Us."

Related Courses

MS in Technical Communication

Students in the MS in Technical Communication (previously called the MS in Scientific & Technical Communication) develop the knowledge and skills to advance in the field of technical communication while specializing in an area of interest. The program prepares students for positions in online design, software/hardware documentation, information architecture, medical communication, and more.

Graduate Handbook

Review our Certificate & MS handbook for current requirements and policies.

MS Program Requirements

The MS in Technical Communication requires 30 credits and requires coursework within and beyond the Department of Writing Studies to support students pursuing niche knowledge in areas of interest such as information design, public health, or policy.

Core Courses (15 Credits)

MS students complete the same five core courses as Certificate students:

WRIT 5001 : Foundations and Futures of Technical Communication (3 credits)
WRIT 5112 : Information Design (3 credits)
WRIT 5501 : Usability and Human Factors in Technical Communication (3 credits)
WRIT 5561 : Editing and Style for Technical Communicators (3 credits)
WRIT 5662 : Writing with Digital Technologies (3 credits)

Elective Course (3 Credits)

The elective course allows MS students to specialize their studies in an area of interest. Students select one of the following courses based on their goals and course availability:

WRIT 4562 : International Professional Communication (3 credits)
WRIT 4573W : Writing Proposals and Grant Management (3 credits)
WRIT 5664 : Science, Medical, and Health Writing (3 credits)

Outside Coursework (9 Credits)

MS students complete nine credits of coursework (typically three 3-credit courses) outside of the Department of Writing Studies. Outside coursework allows students to further specialize and expand their knowledge and skills. Many of our students pursue courses related to the health sciences, user experience and usability, information design, and pedagogy.

Capstone Course (3 Credits)

All MS students must complete WRIT 8505 : Professional Practice. This course allows students to synthesize what they’ve learned in the MS program to develop a professional portfolio. WRIT 8505 is offered each spring, and we encourage students to complete the course during or near their final term in the program.

Course Cadence

Students typically take one to two courses per term. Students select the number of courses per term that works best for their schedule, and the course load can change between terms as other priorities arise. Current and upcoming graduate-level courses are available in Schedule Builder .

Catalog Requirements

Bright pink tree blossoms in front of Johnston Hall

College Resources for Graduate Students

Visit CLA’s website for graduate students to learn about collegiate funding opportunities, student support, career services, and more.

Student Services Career Services Funding & Support

COMMENTS

Technical Writing One: In-class exercises
We designed this section to accompany the in-class portion of Technical Writing One. If you stumbled on this section and are not currently taking the in-class portion of Technical Writing One, this section might be rather challenging to understand. These exercises will also be far more meaningful if you've completed the pre-class work.
16 Technical Writing Prompts for Students » JournalBuddies.com
3. Keep Your Writing "Evergreen". It's typically also important to make sure that technical writing is as timeless as possible. Many technical documents are not updated very frequently—and those that are updated tend to only have small edits made (rather than the entire thing being rewritten).
Introduction to Technical Writing
There are 4 modules in this course. Technical Writing seamlessly blends the art of communication with the nuances of technology. Tailored for a diverse audience, including writers, communicators, engineers, and IT professionals, this course serves as a beacon, guiding participants toward the creation of effective technical documents tailored to ...
8 Technical Writing Examples to Inspire You
The different types of technical writing have unique characteristics that you can easily learn and master effectively. 1. User Manuals. User manuals or instruction manuals come with various products, such as consumer electronics like televisions, consoles, cellphones, kitchen appliances, and more.
Technical Writing
This open textbook offers students of technical writing an introduction to the processes and products involved in professional, workplace, and technical writing. The text is broken up into sections reflecting key components of researching, developing, and producing a technical report. Readers will also learn about other professional communication, designing documents, and creating and ...
Technical Writing
Technical Writing One and Technical Writing Two consist of two parts: pre-class lessons. in-class lessons with a facilitator and other students. The pre-class lessons provide a solid educational experience, which the in-class lessons enhance. That said, the pre-class lessons on their own are still valuable. Ordinarily, we expect organizations ...
PDF Technical Writing Syllabus
Use professional technical writing conventions of clean and clear design, style, and layout of written materials. Gather and apply researched information that is appropriate to your field, as demonstrated by reading and analyzing documents, and citing sources correctly. Write clearly, correctly, and concisely.
Mindful Technical Writing: An Introduction to the Fundamentals
According to the preface, "Mindful Technical Writing" is designed for courses with a variety of focuses, including developmental, technical, workplace, and academic writing. At 770 pages, the textbook can realistically only be used by selecting chapters relevant to specific course outcomes. Topics covered include an introduction to technical ...
1: Introduction to Technical Writing
Technical writing is an audience-centered means of communication that provides a reader with clear and easy access to information. In the business world, time equates to profit, and profit is the force behind all professional interactions. The technical writer and reader have a vis-à-vis relationship.
Open Technical Writing: An Open-Access Text for Instruction in
This book presents technical writing as an approach to researching and carrying out writing that centers on technical subject matter. Each and every chapter is devoted to helping students understand that good technical writing is situationally-aware and context-driven. Technical writing doesn't work off knowing the one true right way of doing things—there is no magic report template out ...
ENGL210: Technical Writing
This course covers internal workplace communications, external business-to-business and business-to-consumer writing skills, presentations and how to use visuals effectively, writing clear instructions and process documents, and using social media effectively. Because the goal of this course is to improve your ability to write clear ...
ENGL 288 A: Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing
ENGL 288A is a 5-credit writing course that focuses on professional and technical writing. In this course you will read, write, and review a wide variety of technical and professional documents, including task documents, technical reports, business emails, cover letters, and résumés. ... 10% In-class activities: Each activity is worth one ...
Facilitating Technical Writing Courses
Technical Writing Two Facilitators: Course Introduction. The embedded video in this section introduces Technical Writing Two. The following videos cover the activities in Technical Writing Two: Exercise 1: Writing is Rewriting. Exercise 2: Illustrations.
11 Technical Writing Examples & Samples in 2024
Examples of this type of technical writing include step-by-step process guides, internal wikis, KPI and goal reporting, OKRs, and HR policies. 4. Technical Marketing Communications. Most technical marketing communications fall under the B2B (business to business) writing umbrella.
Types of writing assignments for engineering courses
Open-ended Design. Challenge students to design a device or solution associated with a stated design objective. The writing component of the assignment lies in the explanation of the design. This writing task allows students to create their own design and further engage with technical concepts and procedures as they explain how their design works.
Writing Technical Instructions
Learning to write technical instructions is challenging. Writers must consider audience, purpose, context, length, and complexity—plus the specific content of the instructions, such as the steps in using a stapler. In this lesson, students walk through the process of creating technical instructions by first analyzing existing instructions.
Technical Writing Examples for Students
Examples of technical writing include instruction manuals, recipes, how-to guides, text books, multimedia presentations, and operating instructions. Every occupation and field of study has its own language that's incorporated into specialized reports and other written work. This, too, is considered technical writing.
Technical Writing for Beginners
Technical writing is the art of providing detail-oriented instruction to help users understand a specific skill or product. And a technical writer is someone who writes these instructions, otherwise known as technical documentation or tutorials. This could include user manuals, online support articles, or internal docs for coders/API developers ...
English 305: Advanced Technical Writing Course
Course type: Self-paced Available Lessons: 148 Average ... Lesson 1 - English 305 - Assignment 1: Technical Writing Sample English 305 - Assignment 1: Technical Writing Sample: Video
Technical and Business Writing Lesson 1
Technical Writing Textbook Announcement. Remember: You do not need to purchase a textbook for this class. Your textbook for this course is Technical and Professional Writing Genres: A Study in Theory and Practice by Michael Beilfuss, Staci Bettes, and Katrina Peterson. It is an open educational resource published under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
OER Commons
IFixit works with technical writing classes to add to IFixit content while allowing students to engage in real-life technical writing projects. More Less. Subject: ... Folder of openly licensed course documents including syllabus and assignment prompts. Course description: Instruction and practice in professional workplace writing, with ...
How to Set Expectations for Technical Writing Assignments
This resource discusses how to set expectations for technical writing and provides PowerPoint slides as an example of a lecture that can be adapted to meet the specific needs of any technical writing assignment. ... and use it as an outline when I introduce the writing assignments in those classes. By setting expectations early, students can ...
RPW 304 Technical Report Writing
Projects. I use the term projects to categorize assignments that are significant undertakings that require development and refinement time that may span several weeks of the semester.You will complete 2 projects this semester that collectively contribute 800 possible points to your course grade.. Both projects connect to the same core topic, which itself ties to the challenge of communicating ...
English 2311: Introduction to Technical Writing
Course Outcomes. Students completing ENGL 2311 successfully should be able to do the following: Analyze the audience, purpose, and context of technical communication projects, including cultural and ethical considerations. Create technical documents of varied genres to solve practical problems. Write effective technical prose.
Technical Writing
Technical Writing Program The Technical Writing Program is a subspecialty of professional writing, focused on the skills for making complex, technical information accessible and navigable to both users and stakeholders. ... Wilson (Class of 2021) majored in Technical Writing in the Department of English. He also graduated with an additional ...
Certified Technical Writer
She has also written several books used as textbooks for college technical writing courses and has been an adjunct professor. Lynn Atkinson. Lynn Atkinson earned a B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in 1993 and an M.A. in English with an emphasis in rhetoric in 1996. A published writer and editor, including ...
MS in Technical Communication
The MS in Technical Communication requires 30 credits and requires coursework within and beyond the Department of Writing Studies to support students pursuing niche knowledge in areas of interest such as information design, public health, or policy. Core Courses (15 Credits) MS students complete the same five core courses as Certificate students:

RELATED TOPICS

8 Technical Writing Examples to Inspire You

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What Exactly is Technical Writing?

8 Technical Writing Examples to Get You Started

1. User Manuals

2. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

3. Case Studies & White Papers

4. API Documentation

5. Press Releases

6. Company Documents

7. Annual Reports

8. Business Plans

Becoming an Expert Technical Writer

Join 5000+ Technical Writers

Open Technical Writing: An Open-Access Text for Instruction in Technical and Professional Writing

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Table of Contents

Ancillary Material

About the Contributors

Contribute to this Page

ENGL210: Technical Writing

Course Syllabus

Unit 1: Audience Analysis

Unit 2: Internal Communication: Writing Memos and Emails

Unit 3: External Communication: Formal Letters

Unit 4: Using Visuals to Convey Information

Unit 5: Process Documentation

Unit 6: Writing Proposals

Unit 7: Communicating on the Internet

Study Guide

Course Feedback Survey

Certificate Final Exam

Quick links

ENGL 288 A: Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing

Facilitating Technical Writing Courses

Facilitator video guides

Technical Writing One

Technical Writing Two

Virtual class logistics

The Whatfix Blog | Drive Digital Adoption

11 Technical Writing Examples & Samples in 2024

What Are Common Examples of Technical Writing?

What Is Technical Writing?

Types of Technical Writing

1. End-User Technical Writing

2. Expert-to-Expert Technical Writing

3. Process Documentation Writing

4. Technical Marketing Communications

What’s the Difference Between Business Writing & Technical Writing?

11 Examples of Technical Writing in 2024

1. User Manuals

2. Software Installation Guides

3. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

4. API Documentation

5. Service Level Agreements (SLA)

6. Press Releases

7. Case Studies & Whitepapers

8. Company Documents

9. Request for Proposal (RFP)

10. Annual Reports

11. Business Plans

Types of writing assignments for engineering courses

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

Conceptual Writing

Explain-a-Problem

How Stuff Works

Real-world Example

Design-a-Problem

Open-ended Design

Writing Technical Instructions

Featured Resources

From Theory to Practice

Common Core Standards

State Standards

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

Materials and Technology

Preparation

Student Objectives

Session One