Technical Writing

Definition, Characteristics/ properties, Purpose, Formal elements of a technical report, Progress

Report, Project Proposal,

Definition:

Technical writing is a specialized, structured way of writing, where information is presented in a format
and manner that best suits the psychological needs of the readers, so that they can respond to a
document as its author intended and achieve the purpose related to that document. The process of
gathering information from experts and presenting it to an audience in a clear, easily understandable
form is called technical writing.

OR

Technical writing is the presentation of information that helps the reader solves a particular problem.
Technical communicators write, design and/or edit proposal, web pages, lab reports, newsletters and
many other kinds of professional documents.

Characteristics of Technical Writing

Technical writing is an important part of everyone's career. Writing well is difficult and time consuming
and writing in a technical way about technical subjects even makes it more difficult. People write to
propose projects, to document their own actions, to help other understand the research, to analyze and
solve problems, to describe procedures and objects. If done well, technical writing is an exciting,
fulfilling experience but if done poorly, it is frustrating, even harmful to career development. Technicality
in writing is based upon the following points

There are six basic properties of Technical writing

1. Clarity
2. Accuracy
3. Comprehensiveness
4. Accessibility
5. Conciseness
6. Correctness

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1. Clarity

Technical document must convey a single meaning that the reader can understand. Unclear Technical
writing is expensive. They vital communication link among the various employees is usually the report,
if this link is weak, the entire project may be jeopardized. Unclear technical writing can be dangerous
e.g. unclear instruction on how to operate machinery.

2. Accuracy

Unclear writing can cause many problems and even inaccuracy in the report. If you mean to write
40,000 don’t write 400,000. If you mean to refer to fig 3.1 don’t refer to fig 3.2. Slightest error can
confuse or even annoy the reader of the report. If the reader suspects that you are slanting information
they have the right to doubt the entire document.

3. Comprehensiveness:

When writing technically, all the information should be provided, its background must be described and
clear description of any process, or method of carrying out a specific work, should also be given. It also
includes results, conclusions and recommendations.

4. Accessibility:

It means the ease with which the readers can locate the information they seek.

To increase Accessibility, include headings and lists in the report. A table of contents, list of illustrations
glossary and index are preferred.

5. Conciseness:

Technical writing is meant to be useful. The longer a document is, the more difficult it gets to use it.
Even it takes more of the user's time.

Conciseness works against clarity and comprehensiveness. Solution to this conflict is to create a
balance between the requirements of clarity, conciseness and comprehensiveness. In short, in T.W
every aspect of the subject is discussed in optimized detail. Document must be long enough to be
clear. It must give the audience purpose and object but no extra details. Technical writing can be
shortened 10-20% by eliminating unnecessary phrases and choosing short words and sentences.

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6. Correctness

Qualities of technical report writing also include correctnes. Good technical report must also be
correct. It must be free from grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, and should have appropriate
format standard. If a report contains grammatical errors, the reader will doubt the accuracy of the
information in the report. Technical writing is meant to convey information and to persuade the
audience. To accomplish these goals it must be clear auccurate, easy to access and must be
economical and correct.

If you mean to write "the three persons: person 1, person 2 and person 3 attended a session" but you
use commas instead of the colon, your readers might think 6 people attended the session, not 3.

Purpose of technical writing - why study technical report writing

Technical writing has two basic purposes:

1. To inform
2. To persuade

A tech. report can be used for the physical description of a new machine, the steps in a particular
process, or the results of an experiment.

For example; A writer not only describes two sites for a factory but also persuades readers to accept
one of them as the best i.e. to prove your point. The document that achieves these purposes is called
technical writing.

Functions of Technical Writing also include the following points:

a. Reassure recipients that you are making progress, that the project is going smoothly, and that it
will be completed by the expected date.
b. Provide their recipients with a brief look at some of the findings or some of the work of the
project.
c. Give the recipients a chance to evaluate your work on the project and to request changes.
d. Give you a chance to discuss problems in the project and thus to forewarn recipients.

Force you to establish a work schedule so that you'll complete the project on time. It gives the writer a
motivation to work more and produce results more efficiently

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Formal elements of a technical report

Those components which are usually included in a report in business and industry

1. Letter of transmittal
2. Title page
3. Abstract
4. Table of contents
5. List of illustrations
6. Executive summary
7. Glossary and list of symbols
8. Appendix

1. Letter of transmittal

The components of a report are not written in the same order in which they appear e.g. the letter of
transmittal is the first thing the reader sees, but it is probably the last to be created.

It introduces the purpose and content of the report to the principle reader. It gives you an opportunity to
emphasize whatever you think, your reader will find particularly in the attached material. It enables you
to point out any errors or omission in the material.

Transmittal letter contains the following element.

 A statement of title and purpose of report.

 A statement of who authorized the project and when
 A statement of method used in the project or of the principal results, conclusion and
recommendations.
 An acknowledgement of any assistance you received in preparing the material.

2. Title page

Usual elements are

 Title
 Name and position of writer
 Name and position of principle reader

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  Date of submission

A good title must be informative. It. answers two basic questions

1. What is the subject of the report

2. What type of report is it? E.g. sea pollution - control devices

Define the type of report by using a generic term such as analysis, recommendations e.g summary,
review etc. For a simple title page, centre the title (typed in full capital letter) about a third of the way
down the page, then add the readers and writer's position, the organization’s name and date.

3. Abstract

It’s like a brief technical summary, usually not more than 200 words of the report. Its directed to readers
who are familiar with the technical subject and need to know whether to read the full report or not. This
can use technical terminology and refer to advanced concepts. Basic types of abstract are descriptive
and informative abstracts. The descriptive abstract sometime called topical or table of contents
abstract. It does not provide the import results, conclusion or recommendations. It lists the topic
covered giving equal coverage to each. The informative abstract states the problems the scope and
methods, and the major results, conclusion or recommendations.

4. Table of contents

It enables different readers to turn to specific pages to find the information they want. Well
organized report becomes ineffective if table of contents, is not clear. T.O.C provide only guide to
report's structure, coverage and pagination. The headings that appear in the report are listed in
T.O.C

For effective T.O.C make sure the report has effective headings.

5. List of illustrations

It is a T.O.C for the figures and tables of a report. If the report contains figures but not tables, it is
called the list of figures
But if the report contains tables but not figures so is called the list of tables only
List of illustrations may be on the same page as the table of contents, or may be on the separate
page. If it begins on a separate page, it should be listed in the table of contents.

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 6. Executive summary

Sometimes called executive overview or the management summary, it is a one page condensation of a
report. Managers don’t need a detailed and deep understanding of various projects undertaken in their
organization because of limitations in time and specialization. The background of the project is also
discussed clearly herein. The specific problem that is to be solved through the project is clearly
discussed; also the conclusion and recommendations are discussed in a full separate paragraph.

7. Glossary and list of symbols

a gloss is an alphabetic list of definitions. It is useful if you are addressing a multiple audience that
includes readers who will not be familiar with the technical vocabulary used in the report. An
asterisk or any other notation can be used along the word to tell the audience that the word is
defined in glossary. It is generally placed at the end of the report just before the appendix. If the
glossary is a brief one, it can be placed right after the table of contents.

A list of symbols is structured like glossary, but rather than defining words and phrases, it defines
the symbols and abbreviations used in the report.

Like glossary, the list of symbols may be placed before the appendices or after the table of content.

8. Appendix

An appendix is any section that follows the body of the report (and the list of references or bibliography,
glossary or list of symbols). Appendices provide information that is too bulky to be presented in the
body or that will interest only a small number of readers. For conciseness in the report, this information
is separated from the body. Examples of the kind of material that are usually found in the appendix
include maps, large technical diagrams or charts, computations, test data and texts of supporting
documents. Appendices are usually lettered, rather than numbered and are listed in the table of
contents.

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Progress Reports -

Progress reports inform management about the status of the project. It is submitted at regular intervals
throughout the life of the project. It lets the reader know whether work is progressing satisfactorily, that
is within the project’s budget and time limitations.

Planning the progress report

 Consider the audience

Most readers are not fully informed about all aspects of the project. To understand the progress made
to date and the problems that are anticipated, readers must fully grasp what the project involves. If the
report goes only to your immediate supervision, you can assume that he probably knows technical

If the report goes a greater distance from you, you should assume that the reader does not know the
technical details and perhaps not the technical concepts. In other words, you must go into as much
details as necessary to inform your specific [Link] related to the project.

 Research the situation

To plan the project, you must select the categories that you need to discuss the project usually two
major categories are budget and schedule. But many other categories are possible.

 Visual aids

Visual aids are as effective for progress reports as for any other type. If you need to use a table, graph
or illustration, do so.

 Follow the usual form for progress reports

1. Progress reports usually follow the form shown in the outline below. Sometimes you will add
special

1. Introduction
1. Purpose of report
2. Purpose of the project
2. Work completed
3. Work scheduled

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Initial progress reports:

An initial progress report contains a brief introduction and a body that describes the work.

 Writing the introduction:

Begin by stating the purpose of report. A single sentence can name the project, define time period
covered by the project and tell the purpose; to inform readers about current status of the project.
Mention the project, objectives and scope and name the major work areas.

 Writing the work completed section

In the work completed section, specify the time period and divide the project into major tasks. Second
level head will identify the tasks in this and subsequent reports.

 Writing the work schedule section

The work schedule section again specifies, the time period and repeats second level and third level
head from work completed section. If the readers require a more detailed chronology of future work,
divide this section into two parts:

1. Work schedule for next report period

2. Work proposed for future.

Subsequent progress reports

Second and succeeding progress reports maintain continuity and refresh the readers memory by
adding a new section, a summary of work completed prior to the present reporting period.

I. Introduction
II. Summary of work previously completed - dates
III. Work completed dates
IV. Work scheduled - dates

Adding special sections

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Sometimes other sections need to be added. If readers want specific information on some aspects of
the project that they particularly want to control, you should provide that information e.g. budget or any
other item of special concern can easily be given a main heading of its own and a thorough accounting.

Project Proposal:

A document which persuades its readers to accept the writer's idea is called a proposal. The RFP asks
for both a technical proposal and a cost proposal.

There are two kinds of proposals.

1. External Proposal
2. Internal proposal

A. External Proposal:

In external proposal, one firm responds to a request from another firm on the government for a solution
to a problem. It ranges from lengthy (100 pages or more) to a short (4-5 pages).

A firm writes external proposals to win contracts for work. Government agencies and large and small
corporations issue a request for proposal which explains the project and lists its specifications.
Companies who receive the RFP writes proposals. A team assembles a document that shows that the
company has the managerial expertise, technical knowhow and appropriate budget to develop the
project.

After receiving all the proposals, the firm that requested them turns them over to a team of evaluators,
who after judging the technical management and cost sections, select the best proposal.

Planning the External proposal

To write an external proposal, you must consider your audience, research the situation, use visual aids,
and follow the usual form of this type of document.

1. Consider the audience:

Usually your audience express problem to you in a written statement (an RFP) or in an interview. You
must assess their technical awareness and write accordingly. To write to them effectively, one should

1. address each need that they have expressed

2. explain in clear terms how your proposal fills their needs
3. Explain the relevance of technical data.

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2. Research the situation:

To write the proposal effectively you must clearly understand your cutomer's needs by as well as your
own service. You must research their needs by means of interviewing them or by reading their printed
material.

3. Use visual aids:

Many types of visual aids e.g table, maps etc may be appropriate to your proposal. Your goal is to
convince the decision makers that only your way is the best approach; good visuals are direct and
dramatic, drawing your client into the document.

Writing the external proposal - Organizing

To write an external proposal, follow the usual form for writing the proposals. The four main parts of a
proposal are:

a. Executive summary:

The executive summary contains information designed to convince executives that the proposers
should receive the contract. It should present the content of technical, managerial and financial sections
in clear terms. This section is often designed to make non technical people feel comfortable with the
proposal.

b. Writing the technical section:

A proposal's technical section begins by stating the problem to be solved. The proposers must clearly
demonstrate that they understand what the customer expects. The proposal should describe its
approach towards solving the problem.

c. Writing the management section:

This section describes the personnel who will directly be related to the project. The proposal writer must
explain what technical personnel and levels of management will be responsible for the success of the
project. In a large external proposal, this section often contains organization charts and resumes. In
short proposal, this section usually explains qualifications of personnel and firm's success with other
similar projects.

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d. Writing the financial section

The financial section provides a breakdown of the costs for every item in the proposal. Often this
section is not just a table of costs. At times a brief introduction and the table may be all you need, but if
you need to explain the significance of certain figures, then do so.

B. The Internal proposal

In an internal proposal, an employee on department urges someone else in the company to accept an
idea or to fund equipment on research. There are two types of internal proposals:

1. Assigned Proposal
2. Uncolicited Proposal

1. Assigned proposal:

In assigned proposal an employee writes solution for a given problem. He does not have to establish
the problem.

2. Unsolicited proposal:

In unsolicited proposal the writer writes the solution of a problem which he has discovered himself.

Planning the internal proposal

The goal of the proposal is to convince the person or group in authority to allow the writer to implement
his idea. To achieve this goal, the writer must consider the audience, use visual aids, understand
organizational principles and design a format.

I. Consider the audience

Writer considers the audience of a proposal in at least three ways; according to their involvement, their
knowledge and their authority.

a. How involved is the audience

In most cases, readers either have assigned the proposal or they are unaware of the problem. In
assigned proposal, the writer does not have to establish that the problem is a problem; but he or she

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does have to show how the proposal will solve the problem. If the proposal is not assigned then he first
convinces the audience that the problem is a problem then he offers a convincing solution to the
problem.

b. How knowledgeable is the audience.

The audience may or may not have the concepts and facts involved in the proposal. If the audience is
less knowledgeable, take care to define terms, give background and use common examples.

c. How much authority does the audience have?

The audience may or may not be able to order implementation of your proposed soultion. A manager
might assign the writer to investigate some problem, but most likely the manager will have to take the
proposal to a higher authority before it is approved.

II. Consider your own position

Your own position mirrors the audience position. If you have been assigned to write the proposal, you
don’t have to establish that the problem is a problem, but you do have to show how your proposed
solution matches the dimension of the problem. If you have discovered the problem then you have to
establish that the problem is a problem and then explain your solution.

III. Use visual aids

Since the proposal probably will have multiple audiences, visual aids can enhance its impact. Visuals
can support any part of the proposal - the problem, the solution, the implementation or even the
benefits.

Writing / Organizing the internal proposal

The writer should organize the proposal around four questions.

What is the problem?

Describing the problem is a key part of proposals. You must establish three things about the problem.

a. The data

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 b. The significance
c. The cause

Designing the proposal

To design a proposal, select an appropriate format, either formal or informal. A formal proposal will
have a title page, table of contents and summary. The formats for an informal proposal can be a memo
report on some kind of pre-printed form. The format depends on company policy and on the distance
that the proposal must travel in the hierarchy-usually the shorter the distance, the more informal the
format. Also, the less significant the proposal, the more informal the format is.

Use the introduction to orient the reader

The introduction must orient the reader to the writer the problem and the solution. Introductory sections
often contain a separate summary paragraph that ______ the main prints of the body. If the body
contains section on the solution, benefits, cost, implementation and the rejected alternatives, the
summary should cover the same prints.

Use the discussion to convince your audience

The discussion section contains all the detailed information that you must present to convince the
audience. A common approach functions this way:

The problem

1. Explanation of the problem

2. Causes of the problem

The solution

1. Details of the solution

2. Benefits of the solution
3. Ways in which the solution satisfy criteria

The context

 Schedule for implementing the solution

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 Personnel involved
 Solutions rejected

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