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1 intro to technical writing
This document discusses technical writing and compares it to other types of writing. It defines technical writing as writing that transfers information about a topic to audiences with varying levels of knowledge to ensure clear understanding. The document notes technical writing is practical, has defined audiences and purposes, and uses effective language. It also provides qualities needed for technical writers, such as writing skills, training, language abilities, teaching skills, and professionalism. Finally, it discusses how jargon is formed through new words, borrowing terms, and appropriating common language.
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1 intro to technical writing
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- 2. is a typeof writing where the author is writing about a particular subject that requires direction, instruction, or explanation. This style of writing has a very different purpose and different characteristics than other writing styles such as creative writing, academic writing or business writing. WHAT IS TECHNICAL WRITING?
- 3. Technical writing transfers informationabout a situation, product, service, or concept, by written, oral, or visual means, to audiences of varying levels of technical knowledge, so that each member of the audience clearly understands the message.
- 4. Transfers information, utilitarianor occupational, employing appropriate vocabularies and styles is related to the workplace. Seeks to produce action/reaction in or for a clearly defined audience Seeks to approach a single meaning. WHAT DOES TECHNICAL WRITING DO?
- 5. Is practical writingdone in response to a request, an invitation, or a need, for a specific named audience Has optimal readability and special packaging Uses effective language to encourage productive relationships between technologies and their users Presents information within the world of work for a specific audience, purpose, and application. from the Institute of Technical Communication (workshop) June, 1998
- 6. W - Width (towhat extent) extent or scope of the letter, article or report helps the writer to set the limits of his writing WRITING PARADIGM
- 7. R - Register (whatlanguage) based on the type of reader/s whom the writer expects to read e.g. of languages: group of audience - medicalese company of lawyers - legalese computer specialists - computerese accountants/auditors - commercialese
- 8. I - Intention (why) writermust have a single purpose: to inform to entertain to persuade must be guided by such purpose
- 9. T - Tenor (whattone) must be singular tone jubilant sad optimistic depends upon: occasion circumstances attitude of the speaker
- 10. I - Information (what) mostlyare informative entertaining and persuasive business communication has bits of information to offer
- 11. N - Needsof the Audience (what needs/whose needs) not to impress, but to express adapts writing to ones audience does not brag about all that you know, but in a manner to provide what the audience needs
- 12. G – Genre(which kind) expository - explains e.g. business report descriptive - characterizes e.g. product's specifications narrative - tells a story e.g. firm's history argumentative - convinces or actuates e.g. print advertisement
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- 14. If you reallywant to succeed as a technical writer you should be skilled in information architecture and design, typography, training material development, illustration etc. A good writer should always show his expertise in writing technical documents and reports. SOLID WRITING CAPABILITY
- 15. Usually to becomea content writer you need to have a Technical Writing Certification or at least Bachelor’s or Master’s degree on Computer Science, Creative Writing, English, Journalism, Chemistry or Engineering. TRAINING
- 16. You should beable to convey your message in short. The more precise your content the more people will consider it to be an effective one. Sometimes, technical contents are meant for non- technical people. In that case the writer must try to understand what the people are looking for and which approach will best suit their purpose. LANGUAGE SKILLS
- 17. A good writermust have the ability to teach and lead the readers. Thus, through their write-up they should make them understand what you are trying to say. TEACHING SKILLS
- 18. While writing you shouldalways concentrate or else, the writing flow may get disturbed. CONCENTRATION ABILITY
- 19. Technical writers needto interact with different people like, editors, project managers, web designers, graphic designers, clients, subject matter experts, engineers, photographers, accountants, programmers as well as marketers. This is why; they should have good communicating skill. INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
- 20. Never react rudelyif someone criticizes you. Sometimes, clients and editors may give negative feedback but take it lightly. Often they may ask you to rewrite and force you to write according to their instructions. But try to avoid opposing them. TAKE CRITICISM LIGHTLY
- 21. While working they shouldmaintain professionalism and should handle the occupational hazards with dignity. PROFESSIONALISM
- 22. The more youwill work, the more you will acquire knowledge from the relevant domain and you will get accustomed with different terminologies. EXPERIENCED
- 23. TECHNICAL VS CREATIVEWRITING
- 24. METHODS OF FORMING WORDS ORCREATING JARGON
- 25. 1) A newword is created (neologism) 2) A word/jargon is borrowed from another jargon-group (jargon blending) 3) A word is appropriated from common language (strictly speaking, this is variation of 2 above). HOW IS A JARGON FORMED? THERE ARE THREE TYPICAL METHODS:
- 26. The easiest wayto create a jargon is to create a new word. Creating a new word allows you to say, “This is our word. It belongs to our jargon-group. Only those within this group can understand the meaning of this word; conversely, understanding this word is a necessary process in becoming a part of this group. Once an individual is a part of this group, only then may that person engage in a debate about the meaning of this jargon.” THE JARGON FORMATION/CREATION PROCESS, TYPE 1: NEOLOGISMS
- 27. Another way ofthinking about this statement is to recognize that learning jargons is part of the jargon-initiation process. As we learn a jargon, we simultaneously become enmeshed within that jargon-group (you can’t learn a jargon without stepping into the jargon-group that uses that jargon–the two processes go hand-in- hand).
- 28. Another way toform a jargon is to borrow a jargon that is already being used by another jargon-group. Inevitably, this appropriation creates: 1) confusion (for those standing outside the two or more groups) 2) a battle between the two (or more) jargon- groups for the “true meaning” of the jargon (sometimes this battle is implicit, but it almost always eventually becomes explicit). TYPE 2: JARGON APPROPRIATION/BORROWING
- 29. There area variety of reasons as to why jargon borrowing takes place; however, it should be said that the most common reason is the ease of using a term that is already established. Sometimes it’s just easier to use a word that people already know, rather than getting people to accept and understand a new, “made up” word. Most often, jargons are borrowed to be used as metaphors (to give a brief example, the jargons “bug” (a biological jargon) and “virus” (a medical/biological jargon) are borrowed by the computer jargon-group because, via metaphor, they help users to picture how these computer programs work–more on this later).
- 30. The third (andmost difficult) jargon- formation method is to borrow a common- language word. While this method is common, it is, in fact, much more visible in its “reversed” form. In other words, it’s much more common to see a highly specialized jargon to become popularized, so that it eventually becomes a part of common language (which process, eventually, causes the jargon to lost its force within its original jargon-group). TYPE 3: COMMON LANGUAGE SIPHONING
- 31. Borrowing a commonlanguage term can be quite difficult for a jargon-group, because it inevitably causes confusion (“Wait, did you mean–?”). So, when following this method, jargon-groups must develop ways in which to counter this confusion. A common example is the use of a physical zone. When individuals enter this zone, they know to “switch” from common-language use to jargon-group use.
- 32. The classic exampleof such a zone is a hospital. Hospitals use common- language words with specialized jargon meanings. So, when a nurse (for example) enters the hospital building, automatically, she knows (without even thinking about it), that those common language words will be used now in the medical-jargon meaning.
- 33. The physical processof entering the hospital building is a reminder of “jargon switching.” Likewise, when she leaves the hospital building, she knows that the common language usage will now have to be used.